Women, children bear brunt of energy poverty
Lazarus
Sauti
Opening the National
Dialogue for a consumer driven renewable energy policy hosted by Ruzivo Trust at Holiday Inn, Harare on 15
September 2016, Partson Mbiriri, the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Energy and Power Development,
said 60 percent of households in Zimbabwe do not have access to electricity.
Sadly, he added that this energy poverty in the country affects women and
children more than men. Speaking during the same event, Dr Sosten Ziuku of the Ministry of Energy and Power Development
said women and children spend more hours’ per week collecting firewood. “Girls are also missing school hours as they
fetch for firewood due to the patriarchal nature of our society,” he said. Selma
Machacha from Masvingo said village police (mapurisa
asabhuku), for instance, are arresting women who are cutting down trees. As
such, women and girls are forced to fetch firewood during the night, putting
their lives at risk. “We often make these
trips alone, putting our dear lives at risk of snake bites, injuries and sexual
harassment,” she said, adding that women and children who are unable to
find sufficient wood are also likely to suffer from domestic violence.
Vulnerable to diseases
Most households in
Zimbabwe depend on solid fuels such as wood, charcoal, crop or other
agricultural waste, animal dung, shrubs and straw, saw dust, gel and coal for their cooking and heating needs due to energy
shortages. The Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MISC)
2014 noted that 73.9 percent of households in the country still
rely on such fuels as their primary cooking and heating energy sources. Smoke from traditional
wood fires is the silent killer of some four million people
per year, and women and girls are most affected due to their household roles in
the kitchen. According to a United Nations Children Fund report, Clear
the air for children: The impact of air pollution on children, air
pollution is strongly associated with
respiratory conditions such as pneumonia, bronchitis and asthma and in 2012, air pollution was linked with 1 out of every 8
deaths, globally – or around 7 million people. This shows
that energy poverty is not only exposing girls and women to gender violence,
but also exposing them to diseases caused by indoor and outdoor air pollution.
Invest in
renewable energy sources
Renewable Energy
Consultant, Tendayi Marowa, said women and children are affected directly by
energy poverty, but sadly their needs are ignored when renewable energy affairs
are discussed. “This must change if we
are to achieve gender equality,” he advised, urging the government to
invest in clean energy sources as an effective way to improve energy access as
well as empower girls and women. Marowa also said women, as the most vulnerable
group, should be at the forefront of the struggle to ensure that renewable and
other clean energy sources are developed, a fact supported by the Labour and Economic Development Research
Institute of Zimbabwe (LEDRIZ), in its policy brief (December, 2015). The Clear
the air for children report also noted that cutting back on fossil fuel
combustion and investing in renewable energy sources can help reduce both air
pollution and greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change. “The multiplier effect of reducing fossil
fuel combustion on the wellbeing of children and women stands to be enormous,”
said the report.
Improve policies, transform the lives of women
Ngaatendwe Murimba of Ruzivo Trust said since more households in
Zimbabwe use open fires to cook, improvements in policies in this area have the
potential to improve lives and protect women from diseases and all forms of
abuse. Marowa added that improvements in policies will also address barriers to
effective adoption of renewable barriers. Such barriers, he said, include
absence of renewable energy targets, lack of regulatory and institutional
framework as well as lack of regulatory framework on renewable energy procurement
models, high cost of generation and development risks.
Significantly, Engineer
Tobias Mudzingwa of the Zimbabwe Energy
Regulatory Authority (ZERA) said Zimbabwe is in the process of crafting a
renewable energy policy to provide the sector with guidelines as well as an
avenue for creating a more conducive environment for attracting investment. “The policy will ensure that women and other
citizens are well catered when it comes to energy and safety issues,” he
added. As the regulatory authority, affixed Mudzingwa, we are also encouraging all
renewable energy service providers to get their products tested and certified
by the Standard Association of Zimbabwe
(SAZ) before they are put on the market.
Knowledge is power
Murimba said women,
especially in rural areas in the country need knowledge about renewable energy
technologies. He also urged individuals, political and business leaders and
other key stakeholders in the energy sector to conscientise rural communities
on the dangers of cutting trees as well as the problems associated with using
solid fuels such as cow dung, wood fuels and maize cobs. Murimba added: “There is also need to continue educating
girls and women about sexual abuse, as well as the dangers linked with fetching
firewood at night.” The Labour and
Economic Development Research Institute of Zimbabwe policy brief said “knowledge is power and as such additional
cutting-edge research and development is required in supporting renewable
energy investments, given that the sector is relatively new to Zimbabwe in
comparison with other countries.”
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