Another significant aspect identified through this study was a lack of acknowledgement of the critical interface between energy use, climate change, and livelihood strategies at various levels in Malawi. This has created an ineffective framework for laws and policies to improve the deployment of renewable energy and access to climate finance in Malawi.63 The lack of alternative affordable energy sources contributes to a high consumption of charcoal more especial in the urban areas and other biomass sources in rural areas. The lack of alternative livelihoods for the majority of people in Malawi also contributes to environmental degradation. In the absence of good crops, rural populations usually resort to destructive practices such as cutting trees and charcoal production for their earnings (Kaunda and Mtalo, 2013).
An effective policy for any sector in Malawi should consider how poverty and livelihoods are addressed and/or can be addressed by the local communities and households. For example with reference to climate change, as depicted in figure 7.8, there is a variety of actors and factors that exist at various scales (local, national, international) external to the household, which are simultaneously impacted by climate variability and change, and which impact on household livelihood strategies.
Livelihood strategies are seen as an outcome of assets and/or capital at household level, the shocks and stressors64 affecting these, as well as the policy and institutional environment in which all these elements interact (Kirrane et al., 2012).
Arguably, policies and laws within this sustainable livelihood framework (and in all instances) have many functions some of which include to direct resources and focus to priority areas, direct investments to appropriate sectors and actors, provide strategies for overcoming the barriers and constraints faced by households and
63 On a global scale, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCCs) Assessment Report 5 noted that a viable climate resilient pathway would be to enhance renewable energy use, which could increase energy access for billions of people currently without access to safe and efficient energy hence boosting employment, and cost savings relative to fossil fuels. However, it was also noted that that the current CDM design is neither pro-poor nor contributes to sustainable development since the CDM does not have any requirements for monitoring and verification of development impacts as required for emissions reductions (Agrawal et al., 2014: pp. 797). These issues highlighted that even though there is acknowledgement that climate change and climate variability worsen existing poverty and exacerbate inequalities, the understanding of the impacts of climate change on livelihoods and poverty still required closer examining (i.e. the complexities of poverty and the lives of poor and non-poor people, as well as the multifaceted and cross-scalar intersections of poverty and livelihoods with climate change are not well understood).
64 Livelihood stressors include climate variability and change; high poverty levels; socio-economic and political marginalisation; rapid population growth; increased pressure on natural resources, especially land and water; limited livelihood opportunities; and illness, which then contribute to vulnerability.
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institutions to achieve their full potential (e.g. financial costs, and skills and education deficits), harmonise strategies being promoted by a range of actors to avoid conflicts and improve the collection and dissemination of technical and non-technical information (i.e. promote awareness).
Note: H = human capital; N = natural capital; F= financial capital; P = physical capital; S = social capital.
Figure 7.8 Sustainable livelihoods framework Source: Kirrane et al., 2012
Biomass (use and availability) is not only an energy issue but a livelihood issue due to the various communities’ high dependence on biomass. With projections showing that Malawi’s population is on the increase whilst the supply of biomass is on the decrease, various socio-economic issues can be anticipated in Malawi (e.g. urban migration). In other countries and settings, biomass energy might not have a significant bearing on livelihoods because of the availability of alternative energy sources. However, in Malawi biomass production and consumption is intrinsically linked to agriculture, water, human health, energy, fisheries, wildlife, forestry and gender equality issues hence closely aligned to the country’s socio-economic development prospects at different levels. A preliminary preview of the main strategies and projects in Malawi related to climate change however show an
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omission of the inextricable link between biomass, energy demand and climate change and the role that renewable energy can play to make this link sustainable.
Within the current institutional set up it is possible for energy components to be recommended or stipulated within major policies and strategies (more especially agriculture based projects as many interventions are based on enhancing the agricultural sector due to its vulnerability to climate change and impact on rural livelihoods). During project and policy development consultations there are opportunities for government policymakers to recommend what the stakeholders and project implementers (i.e. NGOs and International Development Organisations) should include in their projects hence this could present an opportunity to highlight the need for energy aspects to be included in the proposals. This approach of promoting community energy needs and demands in projects cannot only increase the awareness of energy issues amongst communities and stakeholders but it can also improve the penetration and diffusion of renewable energy technologies and development of local energy technologies. M18 and M22 alluded to the fact that NGOs are a valuable source for reaching out and raising awareness in rural communities, and ensuring the sustainability of projects (projects close to the base of NGOs/implementers are shown to be more sustainable than the ones where the NGOs/implementers has no local base). Without such definitive action, the diffusion of alternative energy sources into rural and urban areas will continue to be sluggish and this would be detrimental to the socio-economic aspirations of communities and the country.
The low level of acceptance or reluctance of households to utilise RETs is a major barrier to the wide-scale deployment of RETs. In the case of energy efficient light bulbs, the provision of free light bulbs in the first instance and availability of subsidised light bulbs may be considered as an effective strategy to assist with the adoption of the technology. In the case of energy efficient cook stoves, M25 highlighted that past projects that had distributed free cookstoves did not achieve their required goals as the free cookstoves were neither valued nor well utilised by the beneficiaries. These two scenarios highlighted the challenges related to engaging stakeholders in order to influence behavioural change and initiate the adoption of new technologies.
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Whilst the Malawi energy policy and other renewable energy strategies prominently highlighted the need to encourage investors to invest in the renewable energy sector, little attention was given to the need for renewable energy policies’ need to show an appreciation of the behaviour of stakeholders (consumers) in order to successfully address renewable energy sector challenges. As depicted in figure 7.9, some of the aspects that can influence a community’s acceptability to new technologies include:
1. Relative advantage of the technology- in terms of expediency, saving money, effort and time, and reduced inconvenience in using or adopting an innovation;
2. The cost of renewable energy- from both the initial investment required to purchase the technology and their periodic maintenance costs;
3. Perceived ease of use- the degree to which users easily understand, operate and maintain a new technology;
4. Awareness- the degree to which users are cognizant of the existing new technology and its benefits and drawbacks and can keep track of updates on new technologies. The information gap makes the acceptance of new technology much less likely and it should not be assumed that good renewable energy products sell themselves (i.e. effective marketing plans must be in place to stream information to users, so that they can scrutinise the information to make an informed choice); and
5. Perceived behavioural control- how much control a person has over the behaviour (action), and how confident a person feels about being able to perform or not perform the behaviour (action). Perceived behavioural control is determined by the individual’s beliefs regarding the power of both situational and internal factors to facilitate performing the behaviour (action). The more control an individual feels that he or she has over taking a renewable energy product into consideration, the more likely it is that he or she will do so (Alam, et al. 2014).
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Figure 7.9 Conceptual framework for adoption of renewable energy Source: Alam et al., 2014
A better understanding of the living standards and other socio-economic parameters of the target group/beneficiaries for renewable energy projects/initiatives can therefore assist in developing effective renewable energy policies and regulatory frameworks. As highlighted in Chapter 7.2.5, Nepal’s Rural Energy Policy (2006), Renewable (Rural) Energy Subsidy Arrangement (2009) and Additional Financial Support Mechanism for Micro and Mini Hydro (2011) though successful in enhancing renewable energy deployment in more accessible communities, were not very successful in improving the affordability of RETs for poor households and improving the accessibility of RETs to remote communities. Consequently, this led to an inequitable distribution of RETs and inequitable economic development. To address this challenge, the Subsidy Policy for Renewable Energy (2013) was introduced with refined subsidy rates that varied according to use of technology (domestic, communal, productive), remoteness/accessibility of community, type of renewable energy used (wind, solar thermal, solar photovoltaic, biomass (improved cookstoves), biogas plants, mini and micro hydro power, and improved water mill), and size of renewable energy scheme (i.e. actual power generation and number of actual households connected). The subsidy also covered rehabilitation of damaged projects and personal circumstances (i.e. dispensations for single women, disaster victims,
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conflict affected persons, endangered ethnic groups, etc.). Such a holistic approach highlighted the challenges of renewable energy deployment and policy considerations in less affluent areas where energy use it linked to livelihoods. Malawi, too therefore arguably needs such a holistic approach to improve the deployment and utilisation of renewable energy technologies.