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TaTEDO Efforts Enhance Sustainable Energy Access for the Majority in Tanzania
Introduction Energy is central to human life and access to clean, affordable, and reliable energy has a profound impact on economic and social wellbeing. It is essential input
to improving income, health, education and women empowerment. However, Tanzania is characterized by very low access to cleaner and modern energy services. Over 80% of the Tanzanian population lives without access to modern energy technologies and services. This is a bottleneck in achieving millennium development goals (MDGs) as estimates indicates that 80% of the Tanzanian population will remain without access to clean cooking fuels or improved cook stoves in 2015. Additionally, if electrification programmes follow the current trend and investments, the urban electrification gap will remain above 50% and the rural gap will remain above 90% in 2015.
Sustainable energy can contribute to poverty alleviation and assist in addressing the MDGs, while providing modern improved energy services to the poor. This is particularly true of decentralized small-scale renewable energy technologies that are made locally and operate on the basis of small scale solar, thermal, wind or animate power options. Such systems can not only provide energy that is affordable to the poor but can also be a source of employment and enterprise creation for both the rural and urban poor in Tanzania. In addition to this, they do not require large investments as would large scale electricity generation and distribution. Such technologies are conducive for engaging the local communities to participate and take an active role in their development. This can only be realized through provision of a proper policy, regulation, technical and business capacity building. Currently, less than 10% of the households in Tanzania use LPG or an improved cook stoves; whereas less than 40% of urban, and less than 3% of rural households have access to electricity; and less than 10% of schools, clinics and hospitals in rural areas have access to grid electricity or a sufficient alternative power supply to meet energy needs. It is with this in mind and the understanding that access to energy is a fundamental right not a privilege, TaTEDO has been collaborating with different stakeholders and partners to contribute in improving the energy situation in Tanzania.
The organization TaTEDO is a sustainable energy development organization based in Dar es salaam, Tanzania with Zonal Offices in Shinyanga and Moshi towns, and activities in more than
ten (10) Regions, 30 Districts and 70 villages in Tanzania. The organization has more than twenty years’ experience actively involved in sustainable energy development projects and programmes in rural areas. It is also hosting national and regional networks and is affiliated to several local and international sustainable energy development partners and networks. In this regard, TaTEDO executes its work based on the experience and knowledge drawn from such networks and partners at local, national and international levels.
The organization vision is to be the leading social enterprise organization facilitating majority access to sustainable energy technologies and services. TaTEDO’s Mission is to facilitate increased access to sustainable energy technologies and services in Tanzania, while enhancing financial sustainability in partnerships with communities, entrepreneurs, and other stakeholders for environmental conservation and poverty reduction.
Goals of the organization are to:
The overall objective of TaTEDO is to enable majority of the population, particularly women in rural areas to access sustainable modern energy technologies and services that contribute to poverty reduction, sustainable development and climate change mitigation and adaptation. Selected Energy Access Achievements. The organization has been collaborating with different partners, in the efforts to enable the majority in Tanzania to access sustainable energy services through two energy carriers and related technologies; solid biofuels and electricity; on solid biofuels, efforts have been on efficient cook stoves and charcoal production. More than 2 million Stoves have been disseminated with support of TaTEDO and more than 1500 stoves artisans trained. On electrification efforts have been on promoting stand alone and mini grid based renewable energy technologies. More than 800 technicians have been trained and several thousand systems sold and installed with TaTEDO support. Major focus has been to build capacity for assessment, designing, installation, maintenance of technologies, businesses and marketing for individuals, institutions, organizations, Local Government Authorities and entrepreneurs. Building local institutional framework for delivering energy services.
The success of TaTEDO activities is not only our own efforts but a joint work of different partners at international, national and local levels who in one way or another have contributed to the efforts of increasing access to sustainable modern energy services in rural and urban communities. The organization is sincerely grateful to the generous support from her development partners especially to the Royal Norwegian Government EU, HIVOS, UNEP, WIP of Germany, ETC of the Netherlands, REA, EEP, Government of Tanzania etc.
Efforts of TaTEDO to implement rural energy programmes are potential for enhancing majority energy access, reducing poverty and conserving the environment through the use of improved and efficient modern energy technologies and services. Results of wood fuel programmes implemented by the organization, for example, has shown that households, SMEs and institutions using improved wood fuel technologies can significantly reduce the costs of production and use, hence improve economic situation. The saving of up to 60 % wood and associated cost have been achieved accounting for monetary savings of 900 US$ per institution per year. Households have been able to save up to 70% on firewood and charcoal use. In monetary terms this refers to cost reductions of about 80 US$ for firewood users and about 130 US$ for charcoal users per household per year.
Efforts are made to promote sustainable charcoal production practices in order to reduce forest degradation and deforestation. The improved practices promoted by TaTEDO increase charcoal yield by up to 30% and also produce charcoal from forest and agro residues using simple retorts and briquetting machines.
Similarly, the average production cost of charcoal using improved basic earth mound kilns has been reduced by over 40% from 3 to 1.7 US$ per 30kg bag. In addition, improved charcoal production kilns increased average productivity of charcoal production from 6.6 to 16.4 bags per week from the same quantity of wood. These experiences indicate that there is tremendous benefit and potential for scaling up and replicating strategies for more efficient wood fuel production and use in Tanzania.
With the provision of sustainable energy technologies and services, people have access to a range of basic services including drinking water, health, education, transport, communication, productive activities, reducing gender disparities and environment sustainability. Improved household energy technologies for poor can prevent one death per 1000 people per year (most of them being women) attributed to indoor air pollution from solid biofuels use in the country (WHO, 2009). Sustainable energy technologies and services promoted by TaTEDO have therefore contributed to reduced indoor air pollution because of high acceptance of the technologies in rural areas of Tanzania.
Sustainable energy services enhance economic growth by improving productivity and enabling local income generation through improving agricultural development and non –farm employment. For instance, use of solar PV and wind energy for water pumping to irrigate crops and solar dryer to reduce post harvesting losses while improving quality of agricultural produce lead to increased productivity and better prices in the market. Also use of solar multi-charger systems to charge cell phones improves market accessibility and information to the farmers in un-electrified rural areas. In addition, use of biogas for lighting and cooking may lead to increased farm productivity by application of biogas effluent (slurry) as organic manure while reducing time spent by women on household chores which is currently twice as much as men hours.
The linkages between the production and use of all energy forms are central to the climate change debate particularly the long-term impacts and risks for developing countries with the likely hood that, the poorest population are increasingly vulnerable. Though Tanzania is among the lowest emitters of greenhouse gases, the use of improved efficient stoves can reduce 3.14 tons of Carbon per household per year, amounting to more than a total of 25 million tons of Carbon dioxide avoided in Tanzania per year in total if all households in the proposed programme areas will use efficient stoves.
As a way forward, TaTEDO efforts are focusing on scaling up, replication and commercialization of basic and productive energy use and enhancement of market for sustainable energy technologies and services in several districts of Tanzania as important inputs to the achievement of the MKUKUTA and Kilimo kwanza strategies. This is involving building of technical and business capacities of different target groups (local partners, men and women entrepreneurs and communities) at the local and national levels to facilitate access to modern energy technologies and services; also to build sustained markets for energy technologies and services and mobilize local private capital for sustainability of positive outcomes. The efforts are also exploring the possibilities for marketing carbon credits where possible will be used to subsidize costs for the poor for accessing clean and efficient energy technologies and services.
TaTEDO’s Executive Director Mr. Sawe was quoted explaining that, “Promoting sustainable energy technologies and energy access is a process that requires long term efforts to build effective institutional framework, capacity and financing. Participation and capacity building of local stakeholders (districts, Communities, NGOs and private sector) is crucial for the success of enabling majority to access modern energy services. There are several successful good practices in the country, it is important to assess, document, share and learn from them, in order to build on to scale up and replicate such experiences”.
Nevertheless, the AREED Project Coordinator from TaTEDO Ms. Lilian Njuu mentioned that “Sustainable energy promotion is more effective when beneficiaries are enabled to use energy services productively for income and employment generation, Access to adequate, medium to long term financing(from within and outside) is crucial for achieving scaling up and commercialization of sustainable energy technologies. Well targeted and managed subsidies/tax exemptions are crucial for Sustainable energy technologies and services promotion in Tanzania”.
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