Good governing of rural electrification processes in Eastern Africa – The importance of formal and informal institutions

Research Project, 2012 – 2014

The central concern of the project is that many rural electrification projects based on renewable off-grid electricity sources fail despite the fact that a) electrifying rural areas is a political priority, and b) the technical solutions are locally available. According to energy sector actors in Eastern Africa, off-grid energy systems struggle with financial and organizational problems typically originating from poor formal institutions and counter-productive informal institutions nourishing poverty and social inequality, including gender biases. This project identifies and analyzes the main formal and informal institutional constraints to a wider adoption, adaptation and diffusion of small and medium-scale renewable energy technologies in poor rural areas of Tanzania and Mozambique.The goal is to better understand the possibilities for renewable energy systems to meet the needs and demands for local energy, increase opportunities for sustainable rural livelihoods, contribute to poverty alleviation, and have positive effects on social equality, including gender equality. It is a cross-disciplinary research project applying mixed methods and integrated assessments. The researchers come from political science, social and natural environmental science. It is part of the larger research program STEEP-RES hosted by Chalmers University of Technology.

Participants

Collaborations

Funding

Related Areas of Advance and Infrastructure

Sustainable development

Driving Forces

Building Futures (2010-2018)

Areas of Advance

Energy

Areas of Advance

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