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The impact of energy infrastructure projects on poverty
[top] [end]IntroductionWhat effect do ‘infrastructure projects’, such as micro-hyrdro installations, have on poverty? More particularly, what impact do they have on the communities, and on the environment in which they are installed? When, for example, a village has access to electrical or mechanical power, how does energy contribute to economic development at village level? Who are the beneficiaries – who is empowered by energy supply? And exactly what benefits does energy bring? Moreover, how can perceived benefits, and indeed potential negative outcomes, be assessed? There is now ample evidence that when traditional sources of energy have been augmented by modern energy systems, economic development does not always follow. The key need is to plan local energy infrastructure so that it has the maximum impact. What are the pre-conditions for it to be able to do so?This article is based on two case studies of micro-hydro installations in Nepal and Kenya, carried out within an overall project managed by Intermediate Technology Consultants (ITC). Fieldwork for the case studies was carried out by ITDG staff in Kenya and Nepal. The project looked at the relationship between energy and poverty, using the ‘Sustainable Livelihoods Framework’ (see BP46, page 30). This framework is centred on people and their lives, and provides a checklist of important issues – how these are dynamically linked – and the influences and processes at work. [top] [end]The Kenyan projectTungu-Kabiri project is located in Mbuiru village in the Eastern province of Kenya, around 200 km from Nairobi (see BP 45 – Page 6). The Meru people, one of Kenya’s smaller communities, constitute most of the population. People from other communities have moved into in the area, however, resulting in an ethnic mix. Residents have coexisted for a long time and form an integrated, cohesive society. The vast majority of people, around 90%, are under 40 years of age.
At the time of this study, the project was in its early stages. Though significant preparatory work had taken place with the community, the turbine had not been installed. The goal is enterprise creation for income generation via electrification of a commercial centre. [top] [end]The Nepal projectTo reach Pinthali from Kathmandu is a two-hour drive east followed by thirty minutes steep uphill walk. Residents of Pinthali all belong to the Tamang ethnic group.Implementation of the project began in 1997 through the Rural Energy Development Programme (REDP). This programme assists rural communities to establish local energy systems and develop productive enduses that generate income. REDP take a community-based approach, identifying mobilization as a precondition for assistance. Thus the approach is more holistic and akin to the Sustainable Livelihoods approach. The scheme has been running for some time, and provides domestic lighting and entertainment services. [top] [end]Gathering data[top] [end]KenyaBoth studies took their unit of reference as the household. The Kenyan study considered a household as ‘a person or group of persons, generally bound by kinship ties, who live together under a single roof, are answerable to the same household head and share a common source of food.’Ahousehold is defined as poor if it cannot meet the basic needs of its members. The Kenyan study employed a range of formal and informal research methods:
[top] [end]NepalThe fieldwork used the following research methods:
A representative sample of one third of households in Pinthali were selected for the household survey. [top] [end]Comparison of communitiesPinthali is the smaller and the more isolated from infrastructures – roads, health facilities, markets and administrative centres. Many health problems are a result of poor quality drinking water, and health facilities are inadequate in both cases. A lack of irrigation restricts agricultural production. With regard to energy, both villages are dependent on a combination of biomass for cooking and kerosene for lighting (Table 1).
[top] [end]Analysis of case studiesTable 2 compares what the communities wanted to achieve through the micro-hydro installation. It can be seen that many of their aspirations are similar.
[top] [end]Impacts in Tungu-Kabiri Project[top] [end]Results so far indicate that the mainbenefit is an increase in social capital. (Social capital means an increase in linkages between people – membership of more formalized groups, relationships of trust, sharing and exchanges.) The formation of a Project Management Committee has boosted community confidence, promoted mobilization and increased solidarity of purpose. Through the committee, finance has been raised from residents of Mbuiru to pay for necessary government permits to allow installation of the MHP. Women are, for the first time, taking a role in formal decisionmaking processes. Local government structures, meanwhile, are aware of the project and are responding with increased cooperation and support.In Mbuiru, at the present time, the Project Management Committee cannot plan household connections for electricity from the MHP, because, under current Kenyan utility law, they are not allowed to sell electricity to a number of households. Ingeniously, the committee and project partners circumvented this law by obtaining a dispensation to supply their commercial centre as one large ‘house’. This is not ideal in terms of technical efficiency – people will charge batteries and carry them home to provide lighting. It is hoped that, as a result of lobbying on behalf of the project and the commitment of the Ministry of Energy, Kenyan law will be changed. [top] [end]Impacts in the Pinthali ProjectOverall, the acquisition of microhydro power has had a positive impact on livelihoods in Pinthali. It was not, however, the use of electrical or motive power that had the greatest effect. Additional irrigation water, a by-product of canal infrastructure to supply the turbine, promoted a significant increase in agricultural production. This boosted financial assets via increased sales of cash-crop garlic. From 649 kg per annum, community garlic sales have risen to 864 kg. The proportion of houses selling garlic has grown from 81% to over 90%.Provision of electric light has permitted people to spend more time tending livestock. Reportedly as a direct consequence, sales of buffalo milk have risen from 800 to 1037 litres per household per annum. As with garlic production, the number of households able to produce a surplus for sale has grown from 2.4% to around 12%. A knock-on effect is that people increasingly use money rather than barter as their preferred form of trade. Combined with the availability of electric light, this has allowed village shops to develop, opening for longer hours and stocking a wider range of goods. Electric lighting has also contributed to building human and social capital. Community and group meetings, as well as cultural events, can take place in the evenings. Hence they are better attended and more effective. Both children and adults, meanwhile, are reported to be benefiting educationally from the opportunity to study and hold evening classes under electric light. In 2001, the MHP Group registered as a cooperative company in which households are shareholders. The process of building – or rebuilding – natural assets, meanwhile, has commenced with the establishment of a tree nursery and a replanting programme managed by the Forest Users Group. Overall then, the community’s well-being has increased and its vulnerability decreased as a result of using the micro-hydro power to develop other physical capital – the irrigation scheme – as well as financial, social, human and natural capital. The area where the project has proved least effective is in identifying productive end-uses for power from the MHP. According to the case study the community only utilizes around 50% of the available power, mainly for lighting. The principal problem has been in identifying and accessing markets that would encourage productive activities to flourish. The local ‘internal’ market within the community remains relatively cash poor. Abiding by a tradition of subsistence, people are more inclined to make rather than purchase goods they need. Urban markets, meanwhile, are distant and difficult to access. The need to identify viable productive end-uses for power produced from energy interventions, and thence to provide appropriate training and support, is a critical observation from the Pinthali project. [top] [end]What lessons can be learned?One lesson from the Pinthali experience is that production must be market driven: there needs to be a proven – hopefully predictable and sustaining – demand for goods. Enterprise is risky and the successful entrepreneur will need good business instincts, based on a thorough understanding of the market. To give an example of some of the questions that should be asked:
Athorough understanding of technical and non-technical issues is required, implying close co-operation between professionals from a range of disciplines. There is a limit to the power available and thus to the number and nature of enterprises. Other proposed activities also require further scrutiny. What, for example, are the implications of providing power to health centres that cannot afford essential drugs or the cold storage required?
Mbuiru is planning to install irrigation and water supply schemes, and the community is in the process of seeking funds to develop them. Microhydropower, irrigation and drinking water supply can be assessed and compared in terms of their potential contribution to building community assets. It may be, for example, that a scheme to provide safe drinking water may have a more positive impact than supplying power. An analysis of ‘competing’ benefits may serve to make the best informed choice of resources. [top] [end]Conclusions[top] [end]Markets and alternativesA lack of market opportunities is patently a stumbling block to building assets in both Pinthali and Mbuiru, exposing what can be assumed to be a common problem for poor communities, particularly isolated rural communities. Three points stand out from the case studies:
[top] [end]Achieving a positive impact
[top] [end]References
[top] [end]Download the original article The impact of energy infrastructure projects on poverty by Rona Wilkinson (131 KB)[top] [end]Contents: Boiling Point 48: Promoting household energy for poverty reduction
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02 July 2007; Last edited:
04 July 2007; Version: 1 | |||||||||||||||
Pagename: TheImpactOfEnergyInfrastructureProjectsOnPoverty @HEDON: RJFA | |||||||||||||||
