Louise Waters, Practical Action Consulting As part of the series of regional engagements in South Asia, Smart Villages is organising a workshop on off-grid rural energy provision in Bangladesh. The country has the fastest growing programme in the world with an estimated 70,000 solar home systems (SHS) installed per day. More than 3 million SHS have been installed in off-grid rural areas in the country bringing electricity to an estimated 13 million people. The aim of the workshop is to gain insights from the experience of a wide variety of stakeholders in Bangladesh who are involved in rural off-grid energy provision in the country. This workshop will offer a number of potential lessons to other countries within the region. The workshop provides an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the opportunities presented by expansion of solar home systems (SHS) and mini-grids to off-grid rural communities and the challenges faced in this expansion. During this workshop we will also investigate the potential impact of energy access on rural livelihoods in the country. The workshop is being jointly organised by Smart Villages and Practical Action.

1. The role of domestic energy access
in enabling improved livelihoods
Louise Waters, Practical Action Consulting

2. How (and when) does domestic
energy access enable improved
livelihoods?

3. 7 channels through which domestic
energy access can improve livelihoods
Time
Health
Education
Domestic productive
activities
ICT
Skilled people stay
in rural areasJobs created in
energy access
industry

4. Causal chains - Time
Freed up
time
Less time spent
gathering fuel
Less frequent fuel
purchases
Less time spent
tending to
fire/flame
Labour-saving
appliances
More time spent
doing paid work
More time spent
on agricultural
tasks
More leisure/social
time
More time for
personal/family
careFlexible timing of
household chores
(can do at night)
IMPROVEDENERGYACCESS
Children
spared from
chores

5. Causal chains - Education
Better
educational
achievement
Children better
able to study
after dark
Freed up time
Children
spared from
chores
Better
jobs
Higher school
attendance
Higher
income

6. Causal chains – Domestic
Productive Activities
New income
streams
New productive
activities possible
Higher productivity
More time
available for
productive activity
Better quality
goods/services
Increased
income from
current streams

7. What about reality?
Research: sometimes there is strong
correlation between improved energy access
and improved livelihoods…
…sometimes there is no correlation
Why?

8. Barriers - Time
Freed up
time
Less time spent
gathering fuel
Less frequent fuel
purchases
Less time spent
tending to
fire/flame
Labour-saving
appliances
More time spent
doing paid work
More time spent
on agricultural
tasks
More
leisure/social
time
More time for
personal/family
care
Flexible timing of
household chores
(can do at night)
… if the household
can afford appliances
…if jobs are
available
More
leisure/social
time
More time for
personal/family
care
…if more time
spent will
increase yield

9. Barriers - Education
Better
educational
achievement
Children better
able to study
after dark
Freed up time
Children
spared from
chores
Better
jobs
Higher school
attendance
Higher
income
… if they have
material to study
… if benefits
accrue to
children rather
than adults
… school places
exist?
Fees affordable?
… market for
skilled workers?

10. Barriers – Domestic
Productive Activities
New income
streams
New productive
activities possible
Higher productivity
More time
available for
productive activity
Better quality
goods/services
Increased
income from
current streams
… market for
the goods/
services?
… knowledge/ideas
for new processes?
… skills?
… raw materials?
… infrastructure
to support sales?

11. And what about the energy
access itself?
 Not a binary: “have” / “have not”
 Attributes that matter for the outcome:
Capacity Affordability Duration
Reliability
Legality
Quality
ConvenienceHealth and Safety
…can all be barriers

12. Conclusion
Livelihood impacts need other enabling factors to be in place:
 Physical and social infrastructure
 Knowledge and skills
 A labour market (skilled and unskilled)
 A market for the energy-enabled goods and services
 Financial assistance for households wanting to invest
 Adequate level or quality of energy access
Energy access programmes should consider linking
with other development programmes that address
these factors

13. Role of energy access
beyond the home
 Domestic provision: a crucial part of the energy access
initiative
 However, energy access beyond the home is also essential
 Energy access for enterprise, agriculture and community
facilities are equal parts of the equation

14. Thank you
Louise Waters
www.practicalaction.org/consulting
Total Energy Access
References available on next slide

15. References
Blunck, M.: Productive Uses of Photovoltaic Technology in Rural Bangladesh - Potentials,
Barriers, Recommendations
https://energypedia.info/images/5/53/Productive_use_of_pv_bangladesh.pdf
Pueyo, A. et al: The Evidence of Benefits for Poor People of Increased Renewable Electricity
Capacity: Literature Review
http://eldis.org/go/topics/resource-guides/climate-change/key-issues/pro-poor-electricity-
provision&id=66455&type=Document
Practical Action Consulting, IDS and TERI: Utilising Electricity Access for Poverty Reduction
http://practicalaction.org/utilising
90+ additional references stated in the report
World Bank ESMAP: Beyond Connections: Energy Access Redefined
http://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/energy/publication/energy-access-redefined
EUEIPDF and Practical Action Consulting: Building Energy Access Markets
http://euei-pdf.org/sites/default/files/files/field_pblctn_file/euei_value-
chain_rz_01_web.pdf