About this project
Overview
The Government of Ghana aims to provide energy access to communities with a population of 500 and above, but isolated communities (rural or island) have no access to electricity. This project analysed the factors enhancing women’s empowerment through energy access, and investigated productive uses of energy in informal food preparation and processing sectors owned by women and vulnerable populations.
The project assessed the impact on energy access, gender, and the political economy of the energy sector in these communities, and explored how to enhance the role of the private sector in scaling-up energy access for all.
“When women gain access to clean and affordable energy services they gain tremendous improvement in their health, and opportunities to earn an income are enhanced.”— Samuel Gyamfi, Principal Investigator
What we did
Objectives
- Assess factors enhancing women’s empowerment through energy access in rural Ghana.
- Investigate productive uses of energy in informal food preparation and processing sectors owned by women.
- Assess the impact on energy access, gender and the political economy of the energy sector in disadvantaged communities.
- Explore how to enhance the role of the private sector in scaling-up energy access.
Scope
- Sample: 604 households across 13 island/lakeside communities in 4 administrative districts (Volta lake area)
- Methodology: Community-Based Participatory Research with quantitative household survey, semi-structured and key-informant interviews, focus group discussions, desk review
How we did it
Methods & Findings
Methods
- Community-Based Participatory Research integrating indigenous values and belief systems.
- Household survey: 604 households across 13 island/lakeside communities in 4 administrative districts.
- Qualitative work: semi-structured interviews, key-informant interviews, focus group discussions, and desk review.
Key findings
- Association between gender and electricity access was statistically significant (p < .05). Access skewed toward males.
- Two female postgraduate students from RCEES received research data support; the team established working relationships with community members and opinion leaders.
- A critical gender audit of existing energy policy in Ghana revealed that policy makers were beginning to acknowledge the need to mainstream gender into energy policy — though without yet a deliberate effort to lessen the burden of energy poverty on women.
- Quantitative data showed both genders suffered serious electricity access challenges in these communities.
What comes next
Lessons & Future Directions
- Access to modern energy services has the ability to improve the socio-economic development of these disadvantaged communities.
- The team continues to investigate policies and practices that perpetuate inequities in access to electricity in island/lakeside communities along the Volta lake, while empowering traditionally marginalised groups.
- The team is working towards engaging community members in focused group discussions to get to the root cause of all forms of limitation to accessing electricity due to geographical location.