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Determinants of energy use in the informal food
sector
Nthabiseng Mohlakoana, Jiska de Groot, Abigail Knox & Hans Bressers
To cite this article: Nthabiseng Mohlakoana, Jiska de Groot, Abigail Knox & Hans Bressers (2018): Determinants of energy use in the informal food sector, Development Southern Africa, DOI: 10.1080/0376835X.2018.1526059To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/0376835X.2018.1526059
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Published online: 29 Sep 2018.
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Determinants of energy use in the informal food sector
Nthabiseng Mohlakoana a, Jiska de Groot b, Abigail Knox cand Hans Bressers d
a
Department of Governance and Technology for Sustainable Development, University of Twente, Enschede, Netherlands;bEnergy Research Centre, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa;cDepartment of Sociology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa;dDepartment of Governance and Technology for Sustainable Development, University of Twente, Enschede, Netherlands
ABSTRACT
Although enterprises in the informal food sector require energy to transform, cook and process food, energy-use patterns in this sector are not well understood by policymakers and the local-level authorities who regulate their trading activities. This paper reviews relevant literature and presents empirical data collected in Rwanda, Senegal and South Africa on the use of traditional and modern energy sources by informal food sector operators. Our sample includes male- and female-operated enterprises in the urban centres of three African countries where the informal food sector is important, not only for providing the convenience of affordable and readily prepared meals, but also as a source of income for women and men in developing countries. Multiple fuel-use and energy-stacking strategies are common among informal food enterprises and policy needs to acknowledge this if it is to intervene in ways that will benefit both enterprises and regulators.
KEYWORDS
Informal food sector; gender; energy stacking; traditional energy; modern energy
1. Background
A large body of literature supports claims that access to energy advances development, including the establishment and growth of enterprises (Clancy et al., 2002; Cecelski, 2003; Cabraal et al., 2005; Philips & Bhatia-Panthaka, 2007; ENERGIA, 2011; Akpan, 2013). Furthermore, the lack of access to energy at the household level, as well as for income-generating activities, is associated with high levels of poverty, low productivity, heavy workloads and a high exposure to health risks (Picolotti & Taillant, 2010). Modern energy services, which include energy carriers such as electricity, LPG and pet-roleum, are high on the political agenda as they are associated with stimulating sustainable development and reducing poverty through providing energy for cooking, heating and cooling, lighting, mechanical power and mobility.
The informal sector is one of the mechanisms used by the poor in developing countries to create income-generating opportunities. In the context of developing countries, micro-enterprises owned and operated by men and women are a common strategy to generate income and for day-to-day survival (da Silva et al.,2014). In most developing countries,
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CONTACT Nthabiseng Mohlakoana n.mohlakoana@utwente.nl https://doi.org/10.1080/0376835X.2018.1526059
the informal economy is the most important source of employment, in large part due to the ease of entry and participation. Despite the informal sector forming a large part of the economy in several African countries, it is largely ignored in many development initiatives and policy frameworks (Benjamin & Mbaye,2012; Pavlovic,2016).
There is an important gender dimension to this, as unequal access to economic oppor-tunities by men and by women is more prominent in the global south than it is in the global north. There are various contextual factors that contribute to such inequality, including low literacy rates among women and girls, cultural differences that emphasise male dominance and female subservience, which are a result of traditional cultures, man-ifesting themselves in the economic culture (Minniti & Naudè,2010). This has led to a rise in the interest in female entrepreneurship, especially in the global south as observed by Minniti & Naudè (2010). Programmes that contribute to female entrepreneurship in the global south target women, often in vulnerable situations, to uplift their households and to bring economic growth and elevate the wider community (Kevane & Wydick, 2001; Luke & Munshi,2011).
This paper focuses specifically on the informal street-food sector. In Sub-Saharan Africa, this sector is dominated by women, where they are active in food preparation and processing (Graffham et al.,2005; Nackerdien & Yu,2017). Informal food enterprises have an important role in providing an income for poor women, which contributes to pro-viding food, shelter and children’s education, and play a key role as food-energy support instruments in urban landscapes (Acho-Chi,2002; Fasoyiro, 2011; da Silva et al.,2014). Although energy is an important input in the informal food sector, little is known about the dynamics of energy use by enterprises in this sector. A critical review by de Groot et al. (2017) revealed that most studies simply restate the type of energy used for cooking, heating and cooling as part of another discussion.
This paper presents the results of afield survey among informal street-food enterprises in three African countries (Rwanda, Senegal and South Africa). In order to understand the energy needs and preferences of these enterprises, it explores the specific energy prefer-ences and sources they use. Particular focus is given to the gender dynamics within this sector, and whether this is one of the factors that influence energy preferences among the women and men operating such enterprises. By specifically addressing the informal street food sector, this study contributes to the small but growing body of empirical evi-dence on gender and energy use for productive ends.
This paper will also highlight the energy use preferences and patterns of such enter-prises and make policy recommendations that consider the complex nature of energy use in this sector.
The paper is structured as follows. Section2will discuss the relevant literature, followed by the research methodology in Section3. Section4then presents the studyfindings, fol-lowed by a discussion and conclusions in Section 5. In the conclusions, we restate the paper’s key findings, areas for future study and offer some recommendations.
2. Literature review
This section reviews relevant literature to outline the current status regarding energy use in the informal food sector. Although the empirical evidence presented in this paper is based on data collected in Rwanda, Senegal and South Africa, the literature reviewed primarily relates
to studies on the informal sector in Sub-Saharan Africa (Qase,2000; Dejene,2007; Kimemia & Annegarn,2013; Kushnir & Amin,2013; Tshuma & Jari,2013; Matinga et al.,2015).
2.1. Energy for productive uses– the informal food sector
Several studies indicate that the informal food sector relies on using energy in order to survive (Qase,2000; Clancy et al.,2002; Kimemia & Annegarn,2013; Matinga & Anne-garn, 2013). A significant observation from these studies is that enterprises in this sector use different energy sources and that the choice is determined by several factors which include but are not limited to the type of product sold, geographic location, custo-mer taste preferences and the spatial planning rules within a city. In the context of Sub-Saharan Africa, among the most used energy sources are traditionalfirewood, mainly for barbequing meat, as well as charcoal (Matinga et al.2015; de Groot et al.,2017).
Although the informal food sector uses a variety of energy sources, traditional sources of energy such as wood, charcoal and paraffin are more common than modern energy ser-vices such as LPG and electricity (Tedd et al.,2001).
The lack of an affordable and reliable energy supply can hinder the success of any enter-prise, especially those in the informal food sector since these are more vulnerable due to their reliance on energy to prepare and process the food they are selling. The lack of formal supplies of both modern and traditional energy sources and services leads to energy inse-curity, which also means that enterprises in this sector do not benefit from energy regu-lations that may make energy use affordable. In the African context, this is a sector dominated by women and it is therefore important to observe how energy access impacts on their use of energy compared to that of men in this sector. Some of the litera-ture indicates that a lack of reliable and affordable energy supplies can lead to losses and a lack of profitability for entreprises operating in the informal sector, and especially for those operated by women as they are more vulnerable to energy poverty than men (Clancy & Dutta,2005; Haan,2016).
2.2 Gender and energy
In developing countries, energy access and use is not always equal for men and women due to a number of reasons including unequal access to resources that would otherwise enable women to afford energy services and own appliances (Clancy et al.,2002). Men and women often have different energy needs for productive, domestic and nurturing tasks, and these influence the way they access various energy sources and services. Use of traditional energy sources, such as wood and charcoal, by women is often common in societies where women have fewer employment opportunities, lower education levels and fewer land tenure rights than men (Skutsch,1998; Clancy et al.,2002; Matinga,2015). It is there-fore highly likely that when such women establish enterprises, particularly in the informal food sector, they often opt to use traditional energy sources because they are less expensive than modern energy sources such as electricity and gas1(Practical Action,2014).
Lack of access to modern and efficient energy sources has several negative consequences on the user’s health including respiratory diseases from using wood and charcoal (WHO,
1
2006; Matinga,2010). It is important to note that, due to their vulnerability arising from a lack of appropriate energy services, women that rely on traditional energy sources in developing countries are more likely to experience health difficulties associated with use of such energy sources.
As part of the‘2030 Development Agenda’, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
were set in 2015 and adopted by the UN General Assembly (UN,2016). Goal 5 of the
SDGs is specified as ‘Gender Equality’ which encompasses equal access to services and resources, decent work, and representation in political and economic decision-making
processes (UN, 2016). Despite these goals, and efforts through development aid and
country contributions, achieving gender equality remains difficult in most traditional societies where there is a strict division of roles for men and women which often translates to unequal access to assets and services such as energy. Kabeer (2015) asserts that in order to achieve a goal such as gender equality, we need to be aware that‘gender relations, like all social relations, are multi-stranded: they embody ideas, values and identities; they allocate labour between different tasks, activities and domains; they determine the distribution of resources and they assign authority, agency and decision-making power’ (23). In other words, a goal targeting gender equality and women’s empowerment has to consider the complexity of gender relations and their uniqueness in all societies and communities. It is therefore important to acknowledge that this inequality may be an influencing factor in the way men and women access and use energy for their informal food enterprises.
2.3. Energy transitions2
According to the IEA (2014), Sub-Saharan Africa lacks the infrastructure required to ensure reliable access to affordable and sustainable energy services for most of its popu-lation. Many African countries are working towards prioritising electrification using grid and renewable technologies (UN,2016). As such, universal electricity access is seen by many countries as the ultimate development goal. In fact, economic growth is imagined by many to be propelled by access to a stable electricity supply. A widely accepted esti-mation is that up to 1.4 billion people worldwide do not have access to electricity and up to 2.7 billion rely on traditional energy sources for cooking and heating (OECD/IEA, 2010). A recent report claims that‘two in three people in Sub-Saharan Africa, more than 600 million people, currently do not have access to electricity’ (Lucas et al.,2017:6).
Since the provision of electricity or modern energy services is regarded as the
respon-sibility of government in many developing countries (Brew-Hammond, 2010), there is
pressure for such governments to further the transition, or shift, from all forms of tra-ditional energy services to modern energy. This is evident in the energy policies, strategies and development plans of many developing countries. However, implementing such pol-icies is often a challenge when the policy goals are unattainable due to various factors such as a lack of capacity, lack of knowledge of the real energy needs of the intended bene fici-aries and, to some extent, the influence of certain actors in the policy implementation process (O’Toole,2000; Bressers,2007; Mohlakoana,2014). In such cases, transitioning from traditional energy use to modern energy sources is often impossible.
2In the context of this paper, energy transitions refers to a shift from using traditional energy sources such as wood,
The assumption that the availability of and easy access to affordable modern energy such as electricity will automatically result in a shift from traditional sources does not hold true for various energy users (Masera,2000).Figure 1illustrates the typical stages in energy tran-sition models where moving up the energy ladder (from traditional to modern) is mainly influenced by factors such as development initiatives as well as improving socioeconomic status due to access to income (Practical Action,2014; Choumert et al.,2017).
Household energy studies (Hosier & Kipondya, 1993; Masera, 2000; Elias & Victor, 2005; Van der Kroon et al., 2013) repeatedly demonstrate that energy transition in the idealised sense of moving up the ladder from traditional to modern energy is not as straightforward as is often assumed. Due to various factors, low-income households in developing countries are more likely to use multiple sources of energy, determined by the need, affordability and appropriateness of the source. In fact, multiple fuel use in the form of energy stacking (see Figure 2), in which multiple fuel sources are simul-taneously used for a variety of purposes and reasons, is common with users moving back and forth between fuel types to suit theirfinancial and non-financial needs (Chou-mert et al., 2017). As van der Kroon (2016) observes, with increased incomes there is often not an abandoning of traditional sources, but ‘a more diversified energy demand including modern energy sources’ (21).
Continued use of traditional energy sources is common practice in the informal food sector, particularly in developing countries. Our data (Section 4) show that, even though our sample is drawn from urban areas, the respondents use and depend on tra-ditional energy sources as part of their energy mix for some of their food processing oper-ations. Even though some of these enterprises have access to electricity and gas, they continue to use wood alongside other sources.
A study by Kimemia & Annegarn (2013) shows that several factors can indeed lead to energy transitions in the informal food sector. While some enterprises are able to tran-sition from traditional to modern energy sources, such as LPG, due to higher incomes and affordability, others continue to use traditional energy sources, mainly because of
the needs that these sources satisfy. As in any business, enterprises in the informal food sector cater for specific customer needs, and taste has a great influence on these needs. For example, meat barbequed over charcoal or wood has a significantly different taste to meat grilled on a gas stove.
Especially when it comes to household energy use in developing countries, the expected transition up the energy ladder (seeFigure 1) from traditional to modern energy sources raises a number of issues that are often overlooked by policymakers. Choumert et al. (2017) note that the energy ladder concept ‘sees the energy transition as a series of largely disjointed steps in which households switch from traditional fuels, to transition fuels, andfinally to clean fuels’ (5). Enterprises in the informal food sector are also faced with similar energy transition issues when policymakers see modern energy services as better suited for such enterprises than traditional energy sources. This is accompanied by the assumption that modern energy can guarantee the increased viability of informal enter-prises (Practical Action,2014), implying that these enterprises depend on a single source of energy. Energy policy overlooks the energy-stacking strategies and productive use of energy by enterprises in general– and this is particularly apparent in the informal food sector that is dominated by women. Addressing this can therefore greatly empower women. Some studies (Cabraal et al.,2005; Clancy & Dutta,2005; Matinga & Annegarn,2013) claim that the use of modern energy services improves productivity, reduces drudgery, saves energy costs and frees some time for enterprise owners to engage in other activities.
3. Methodology of the study and basic characteristics of the sample
This paper is based on an ongoing research project entitled‘Productive uses of energy and gender in the informal food sector’. This four-year project is part of the ENERGIA-based3
Gender and Energy Research Programme funded by the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development. For this paper, we present data that were collected during the scoping phase of the research in which 179 enterprises were surveyed (56 in Rwanda, 61 in Senegal and 62 in South Africa). Of the surveyed enterprises, 132 (74%) were owned by women, 45 (25%) owned by men and one (less than 1%) was owned Figure 2.An example of energy stacking by informal food enterprises.
3ENERGIA is the international network on gender and sustainable energy. More information about ENERGIA can be
jointly by a man and woman that were a married couple. We also conductedfifteen in-depth interviews (five per country) to validate information and explore issues that we wanted to include in the questionnaire for the second phase of our study. In line with the project’s Terms of Reference provided by the funding organisation, the project had to focus on African countries, and we selected Rwanda, South Africa and Senegal because of their significant contextual differences.
South Africa and Senegal have an active informal sector, whereas in Rwanda this sector is highly regulated and can be regarded as semi-formal providing income-generating
activities for people without formal employment (Rukundo, 2015). Given the
govern-ment’s drive to formalise the informal sector in Rwanda (Bressers et al.,2016; Pavlovic, 2016), ‘official economic statistics do not fully record trade by the informal sector, which contributes to a significant proportion of economic activity’ (Rukundo, 2015:299). In Senegal, the informal sector was reported to make up around 75% of the total employment in 2012 (Charmes, 2012). In South Africa, ‘the informal sector rep-resents 16.7% of total employment in the country’ (StatsSA,2016:1).
In each country, we conducted our study in urban areas within and near cities because most informal food enterprises operate in such areas due to the high density of customers who are working, living and commuting through such urban areas. We used cluster sampling to explore a range of locations in which the informal food sector is present, includ-ing transport hubs, market places, roadsides and home-based enterprises. In researchinclud-ing the formal sector, enterprises are often selected based on company turnover. However, informal sector enterprises do not usually keep a set of accounts that would provide a means of iden-tifyingflows of income and capital (OECD,2002) and so this option was not possible.
Table 1shows that a total of 179 food enterprises were surveyed. As one of the study’s aims was to explore the gender dimension in this sector, both men and women were tar-geted, and the respondents were approached based on their availability and role in the enter-prise. The main reason for this approach was to ensure that our data and results reflect a true picture of those who participate in informal food enterprises and what their energy needs are. As indicated by various authors (such as Ramani & Heijdermans, 2003; Graffham
et al., 2005; Grant, 2013), women tend to dominate the informal sector and our data
reflect this with 74% of the enterprises where we held interviews owned by women.
4. Findings
4.1. Fuel types used by informal food sector enterprises
As indicated in the previous section, food enterprises in the informal sector use multiple energy sources for various reasons and for different cooking needs. Out of the 179
sur-veyed enterprises, 66% use traditional sources (wood, charcoal and paraffin) and 34%
use modern energy (electricity and gas) as their primary energy sources. Table 1.Research study locations (Total enterprises surveyedn = 179).
Rwanda (n = 56) Senegal (n = 61) South Africa (n = 62)
Main cities/locations Kigali Dakar Cape Town
(Huye) Butare Kaolack Johannesburg
Analysis of the survey results revealed that 90% of enterprises prepared their food pro-ducts on site (enterprise location) and 10% off site (usually at home or elsewhere away from the selling location.
On- and off-site energy use involved a variety of energy sources as can be seen in Table 2. Several factors contribute to the different on- and off-site energy use patterns, including site location, transportation costs, regulation and by-laws. The latter, for example, can force enterprises to prepare some of their products at a different site than where they sell them because local regulations may forbid traditional energy sources at certain locations. As an illustration, one interviewee had decided to sell cooked sheep trot-ters and heads to establish an income. She sells these on the side of the road at a busy inter-section where there are high levels of car and foot traffic at peak hours. However, regulations prohibit openfires on the side of the road in urban areas and so she prepares food at home where she uses a woodfire to burn hair off the skins and to boil water in large pots to clean and cook the meat. Once cooked, she takes it to the roadside location where she sets up a temporary stall (small table, chair, no shelter) to sell to passers-by.
Our sample shows the various energy preferences of enterprises in the three countries. In general, there seems to be a preferred energy source which is usually used in combi-nation with other energy sources as part of that enterprise’s preferred energy mix. Our data indicate that 64% of the enterprises in our sample use multiple sources of energy and only 36% use a single energy source.
In Rwanda, 75% of the enterprises use charcoal as their main energy source for food preparation compared to 48% in Senegal. In South Africa there was a higher preference for gas (40%), whose use was reported by more enterprises than in Senegal (31%) and Rwanda (only 4%). Wood was more often used in South Africa (23%) than charcoal (13%), maybe because the latter is much more expensive than in Senegal and Rwanda. Electricity use was most common in South Africa (19%), reflecting the higher electrifica-tion rates than in the other two countries.
Figure 3shows the most frequently used energy sources by the sampled enterprises, and Table 3shows that electricity was used for a range of services but with varying levels of importance. Lighting was stated as the most important use by 78% of respondents that used electricity in their enterprise, while it was only the second most important application for 19%, and for 2% only the third most important. Electricity lighting is most appreciated by entrepreneurs because of the opportunity it provides to extend working hours and to increase security. The second most important use of electricity as identified by the respon-dents was the boiling of water (48 out of 194 highlighted this), of whom 23% described this as the most important, 65% as second, and 13% as third most important use of electricity. Being able to boil water satisfies various needs of food enterprises such as washing plates and dishes, cleaning the cooking and serving areas, preparing food and hot beverages such as tea or coffee. Although we do not have data on the volumes of water involved, it is important to note that water for different needs requires different energy sources and
Table 2.Enterprises preparing food on- and off-site.
Location Number
On-site 161
appliances. For example, boiling water for preparing tea is done as quickly as possible with an electric kettle, gas stove or paraffin stove. On the other hand, a big drum of water can be slowly heated over a woodfire to prepare sheep heads or for plucking chicken feathers before cooking.
Electricity was also considered useful for charging cell phone batteries. Having use of cell phones is important for the running of informal food enterprises and it is common for customers to place their food orders by calling a food enterprise operator.
Table 3shows that when it comes to cooking, electricity is not the preferred option of enterprises. One of the main reasons for not using electricity for cooking is that it is
expensive compared to wood, which was found to be more affordable by 52% of the
respondents that use it for cooking (seeTable 5).
The energy use patterns discussed above illustrate that the informal food sector’s energy needs cannot rely solely on electricity or any other single energy source. The sector is energy intensive and enterprises have to invest resources such as money in order to access these energy services (Clancy & Dutta,2005).
Our sample had a clear gender imbalance, with 77% of our interviewees being women (Table 4). The main reason for this is that the informal food sector in these African countries is dominated by women (Dejene, 2007; Kushnir & Amin, 2013; Tshuma & Jari, 2013). When it came to the use of energy sources, our sample shows that 85% of the 61 enterprises using modern energy were run by women. Of the enterprises using tra-ditional energy as part of their energy mix, 73% were operated by women and 27% by men. Figure 3.Most commonly used energy sources by enterprises (N = 179).
Table 3.On-site electricity use and energy services.
What do you use electricity for? 1st importance 2nd importance 3rd importance Total
Lighting 65 16 2 83
Boiling water 11 31 6 48
Charging cell phone 9 19 17 45
Cooking 5 2 2 9
Playing music 1 1 4 6
Refrigeration 1 1 2
Popcorn machine 1 1
Thesefigures, to a large degree, reflect the sample’s gender ratio and offer only limited evidence that women in this sector tend to use modern energy more than their male counterparts. Further, the data suggest that there is still an overall preference for tra-ditional energy sources among both men and women.
The in-depth interviews and observations reveal that several factors influence the use of energy sources. An important element is the location of an enterprise. Some enterprises operate from structures built by local government authorities as part of ‘formalising’ the informal sector. In some cases, these structures are provided with electricity connec-tions and the condiconnec-tions of use may forbid the use of traditional energy sources. Although it is beneficial for informal enterprises to have access to an electricity connection, it often fails to meet all their energy needs. Such enterprises are often left with no choice but to leave the structures provided by the local authorities and instead operate in open public places with temporary or no shelter.
To explore changes in energy use patterns, respondents were asked about changes in their energy use since starting their enterprise. Most of the enterprises surveyed (84%) had not changed or switched to other energy sources. Further, 95% of enterprises that use wood have always used wood from the time they started the enterprise. This consist-ency was also found for charcoal (84%), gas (78%) and electricity (77%). This finding suggests that there is limited evidence of any fundamental shift taking place in the energy sources people use.
4.2. Advantages, disadvantages and preferred energy sources used by enterprises
Respondents were asked about their perceived or experienced advantages and disadvan-tages of using the various energy sources (Table 5). No significant statistical differences were identified between the advantages and disadvantages identified by men and by women.
Table 5.Advantages and disadvantages of energy sources.
Energy source Top 3 advantages % of responses Top 3 disadvantages % of responses
Wood Cheaper/affordable 52% None 46%
Cooks better 22% Dirty 34%
Saves electricity 19% Expensive 15%
Charcoal Cleaner 39% None 42%
Easily accessible 28% Runs out quickly 33%
Cheaper/affordable 26% Expensive 27%
Gas Cooks better 33% Expensive 46%
Cheaper/affordable 33% Potentially dangerous 33%
Easy to use 27% None 18%
Electricity Easy to use 39% Expensive 52%
Cooks better 32% None 24%
Cheaper/affordable 29% Load shedding 21%
Table 4.Male respondents less likely to use modern energy sources as prime source.
Traditional Modern Total
Male 32 (27%) 9 (15%) 41 (23%)
Female 86 (73%) 52 (85%) 138 (77%)
Table 5 shows that a range of advantages and disadvantages were offered for the different energy sources used by the respondents. Concerning traditional energy sources, respondents liked the affordability of wood (52%), the way it cooks (22%) and that it can be used to save electricity (19%). Interestingly, almost half (46%) of the respon-dents felt that there were no disadvantages in using wood and 52% of responrespon-dents con-sidered it cheaper than other energy sources. Nevertheless, 34% felt that wood was dirty and 15% that it was expensive. Dirty in this context refers to the smoke created as well as the black soot that is often left on cooking utensils when cooking over wood fires. The respondents did not refer to any health-related issues as advantages or disadvantages of using wood, or indeed of any other energy source. This is despite several studies report-ing that exposure to fuelwood smoke can lead to respiratory diseases (Clancy et al.,2002; Fasoyiro,2011; Grimm & Peters,2013).
When it came to charcoal, the main advantages were that it was cleaner (less smoke and soot– identified by 39% of the respondents) and easily accessible (28%).
With regards to modern energy sources, equal numbers of respondents felt that gas cooked better than other energy sources and liked its affordability (33% highlighted each). A further 27% felt it was easy to use. However, 46% of respondents viewed its high cost as a key disadvantage, and 33% considered it a potentially dangerous energy source. When asked about electricity, 39% considered it easy to use and 32% claimed it cooked better. As with gas, the cost of electricity was seen as its major disadvantage (high-lighted by 52% of the respondents).
4.3. Energy use and reduction of drudgery
According to the energy-use literature, modern energy sources such as electricity and gas are considered the best options for reducing time spent on tasks, both for households and enterprises (Clancy et al.,2002; Matinga,2015; de Groot et al.,2017; Israel-Akinbo et al., 2017). However, the survey results (seeTable 6) show that 48% of those surveyed do not use energy sources that could reduce the time spent on difficult tasks, and 38% see no energy alternatives to the ones they are using. Often, seeing no alternative is a result of enterprises using the only energy source that can fulfil a specific need. From the differences between male and female responses, we can conclude that 10% more women than men do not use energy sources that could reduce the time spent on tasks. On the other hand, slightly more men (47%) than women (35%) saw no alternative to the energy sources they were using. The enterprises that do not use energy sources that could reduce drudgery offered several reasons. The cost of energy sources was a prominent explanation, with 19% of the respondents stating that a‘convenient’ energy source was ‘too expensive’ while 12% said they had‘no access’ to such energy sources.
Table 6.Use of energy sources to reduce time spent on difficult tasks.
Use of energy sources that could
reduce time spent on tasks Male Female
Yes 6 (13%) 20 (15%)
No 18 (40%) 67 (50%)
See no alternative 21 (47%) 46 (35%)
5. Discussion and conclusions
This paper has presented empirical results from fieldwork conducted in South Africa,
Rwanda and Senegal, carried out to determine the types of energy used by enterprises operating in the informal food sector. The main purpose of the paper is to show that, as with households, especially those considered as low-income in developing countries, these enterprises also use a wide variety of energy sources to meet their needs and do not depend on a single source of energy. Our data reveal that 64% of our sample use multiple energy sources in their enterprises, and only 36% use a single source. The paper also presents evidence that, even when there are modern energy sources available to informal food enterprises, these enterprises continue to use traditional energy sources as part of their energy mix. This is for a variety of reasons, which may include location, regulation and customer preferences. The importance of emphasising the need to recognise multiple energy-use patterns in the informal food sector stems from the need to inform policy about this sector. Policies regulating the informal food sector are often blind to the energy needs and use patterns of this sector, and tend to assume that only modern energy services are appropriate. It is therefore impor-tant to make policy recommendations that do not focus solely on the provision of energy services based on the energy transition ladder concept which assumes that users can make a complete shift from traditional sources to modern forms of energy. Understanding the energy-stacking and multiple energy-use strategies of those engaged in the informal food sector can help in better regulating access to cleaner sources of traditional energy services.
The data we collected in Rwanda, Senegal and South Africa reflect the reality that the informal food sector is dominated by women in Sub-Saharan Africa. It is also important to note that up to 600 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa do not have access to electricity (Lucas et al.,2017), of which many still have to rely on traditional energy sources. These women are also more likely to experience health issues due to the negative impacts of
inhaling fuelwood smoke (WHO, 2006; Matinga, 2010). In developing countries,
women have fewer employment opportunities, lower education levels and fewer land tenure rights than men (Skutsch, 1998; Clancy et al., 2002; Matinga, 2015). Our study shows that women and men in the informal food sector use a both traditional and modern energy sources and this is dependent on a variety of factors including the location of enterprise, the type of enterprise, products prepared and sold and customer taste preferences.
In terms of gendered differences that emerged from our study, we saw that more
women than men operate in this sector. We however found that men and women use energy similarly as choices are driven more by the demands of their enterprises and the nature of the informal food sector than by their gender differences. Women and men use both traditional and modern energy sources and services according to the needs of the business.
Acknowledgement
For their contribution to data collection and as members of the consortium, we acknowledge Yacine Gueye-Diagne of ENDA Energie and Robert van der Plas of MARGE NL, Margaret Matinga of Dumanai Energy. For her advice on data analysis we acknowledge Margaret Skutsch.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Funding
This work is supported by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and is part of the Sustainable Energy, Access and Gender programme [grant number 204343-105, NL-KVK-41198677-AFGO_Projectcluster-1007009].
ORCID
Nthabiseng Mohlakoana http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0644-4716
Jiska de Groot http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0413-0051
Abigail Knox http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7607-0086
Hans Bressers http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5706-8039
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