IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v173y2023ics030142152200564x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Making energy justice work for women in rural sub-Saharan Africa: A qualitative diagnostic from Benin, Senegal, and Togo

Author

Listed:
  • Mang-Benza, Carelle
  • Jodoin, Laurent
  • Onibon Doubogan, Yvette
  • Gaye, Ibrahima
  • Kola, Edinam

Abstract

A carbon neutral world by 2050. Few would oppose the idea of embedding justice in the energy systems painted in the emerging net zero scenario. However, how does the lofty ideal of justice translate for communities distant from elite centers of knowledge and power? Focusing on women from rural communities in Benin, Senegal, and Togo, this paper applies the double lens of gender and capability to energy justice principles and addresses the following questions: 1) How do these rural women currently experience energy justice principles? And 2) What energy interventions could enhance these women's capabilities in the future? The findings from our field interviews offer a diagnostic of energy justice for rural women, connecting the limited availability and affordability of energy sources to sustainability concerns in a vicious cycle of resource scarcity and impaired capabilities. We then propose interventions to apply justice principles in the local context and argue that operationalizing energy justice requires making gender equity a cross-cutting dimension in the energy justice framework. We contend that building just energy systems by 2050 would be best achieved by focusing on human capabilities, i.e., promoting people's opportunities to live the life they value over allegedly universal energy metrics.

Suggested Citation

  • Mang-Benza, Carelle & Jodoin, Laurent & Onibon Doubogan, Yvette & Gaye, Ibrahima & Kola, Edinam, 2023. "Making energy justice work for women in rural sub-Saharan Africa: A qualitative diagnostic from Benin, Senegal, and Togo," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:173:y:2023:i:c:s030142152200564x
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2022.113345
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S030142152200564X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.enpol.2022.113345?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ding, Wenguang & He, Li & Zewudie, Dinka & Zhang, Huilin & Zafar, Tanjia Binte & Liu, Xinde, 2019. "Gender and renewable energy study in Tibetan pastoral areas of China," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 901-913.
    2. Alvial-Palavicino, Carla & Ureta, Sebastián, 2017. "Economizing justice: Turning equity claims into lower energy tariffs in Chile," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 642-647.
    3. Day, Rosie & Walker, Gordon & Simcock, Neil, 2016. "Conceptualising energy use and energy poverty using a capabilities framework," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 255-264.
    4. Ingrid Robeyns, 2003. "Sen'S Capability Approach And Gender Inequality: Selecting Relevant Capabilities," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(2-3), pages 61-92.
    5. Amartya Sen, 1987. "Gender and Cooperative Conflicts," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-1987-018, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    6. Benjamin K. Sovacool & Raphael J. Heffron & Darren McCauley & Andreas Goldthau, 2016. "Energy decisions reframed as justice and ethical concerns," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 1(5), pages 1-6, May.
    7. Munro, Paul & van der Horst, Greg & Healy, Stephen, 2017. "Energy justice for all? Rethinking Sustainable Development Goal 7 through struggles over traditional energy practices in Sierra Leone," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 635-641.
    8. Ding, Wenguang & Wang, Lijun & Chen, Baoyu & Xu, Luan & Li, Haoxu, 2014. "Impacts of renewable energy on gender in rural communities of north-west China," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 180-189.
    9. Williams S. Ebhota & Freddie L. Inambao, 2016. "Electricity insufficiency in Africa: A product of inadequate manufacturing capacity," African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation and Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(2), pages 197-204, June.
    10. Sushil Rajagopalan, 2021. "Who Benefits and How? A Capabilities Perspective on Solar Micro-grids in India," Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(2), pages 316-335, April.
    11. Masera, Omar R. & Saatkamp, Barbara D. & Kammen, Daniel M., 2000. "From Linear Fuel Switching to Multiple Cooking Strategies: A Critique and Alternative to the Energy Ladder Model," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 28(12), pages 2083-2103, December.
    12. Martha Nussbaum, 2003. "Capabilities As Fundamental Entitlements: Sen And Social Justice," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(2-3), pages 33-59.
    13. Anders Melin & Rosie Day & Kirsten E. H. Jenkins, 2021. "Energy Justice and the Capability Approach—Introduction to the Special Issue," Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(2), pages 185-196, April.
    14. Islar, Mine & Brogaard, Sara & Lemberg-Pedersen, Martin, 2017. "Feasibility of energy justice: Exploring national and local efforts for energy development in Nepal," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 668-676.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jayapalan, C. & Ganesh, L.S., 2019. "Environmentalists and their conflicts with Energy Justice – Concept of “Power-Environ” in the Athirappilly HEPP in Kerala," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 215-229.
    2. Samarakoon, Shanil, 2019. "A justice and wellbeing centered framework for analysing energy poverty in the Global South," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 165(C), pages 1-1.
    3. Menghwani, Vikas & Zerriffi, Hisham & Korkovelos, Alexandros & Khavari, Babak & Sahlberg, Andreas & Howells, Mark & Mentis, Dimitris, 2020. "Planning with justice: Using spatial modelling to incorporate justice in electricity pricing – The case of Tanzania," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 264(C).
    4. Shan Zhou & Douglas S. Noonan, 2019. "Justice Implications of Clean Energy Policies and Programs in the United States: A Theoretical and Empirical Exploration," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-20, February.
    5. Feenstra, Mariëlle & Özerol, Gül, 2021. "Energy justice as a search light for gender-energy nexus: Towards a conceptual framework," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    6. Castán Broto, Vanesa & Baptista, Idalina & Kirshner, Joshua & Smith, Shaun & Neves Alves, Susana, 2018. "Energy justice and sustainability transitions in Mozambique," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 228(C), pages 645-655.
    7. Nathan Wood & Katy Roelich, 2020. "Substantiating Energy Justice: Creating a Space to Understand Energy Dilemmas," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-18, March.
    8. Antoinette Baujard & Muriel Gilardone, 2017. "Sen is not a capability theorist," Journal of Economic Methodology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(1), pages 1-19, January.
    9. Wan, Qilong & Qian, Jine & Baghirli, Araz & Aghayev, Aligul, 2022. "Green finance and carbon reduction: Implications for green recovery," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 901-913.
    10. Chiappero-Martinetti, Enrica & Moroni, Stefano, 2007. "An analytical framework for conceptualizing poverty and re-examining the capability approach," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 360-375, June.
    11. Li, Jiajia & Li, Houjian, 2022. "Spiritual support or living support: Which alleviates solid fuel use for rural households in ethnical minority regions of China?," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 189(C), pages 479-491.
    12. Gasper, D.R., 2006. "What is the capability approach?: its core, rationale, partners and dangers," ISS Working Papers - General Series 19187, International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam (ISS), The Hague.
    13. Grewal, Ini & Lewis, Jane & Flynn, Terry & Brown, Jackie & Bond, John & Coast, Joanna, 2006. "Developing attributes for a generic quality of life measure for older people: Preferences or capabilities?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 62(8), pages 1891-1901, April.
    14. Espinoza-Delgado, José & Klasen, Stephan, 2018. "Gender and multidimensional poverty in Nicaragua: An individual based approach," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 466-491.
    15. Kuklys, W. & Robeyns, I., 2004. "Sen’s Capability Approach to Welfare Economics," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 0415, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    16. Joanna Coast, 2019. "Assessing capability in economic evaluation: a life course approach?," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 20(6), pages 779-784, August.
    17. Chiappero-Martinetti, Enrica & Sabadash, Anna, 2014. "Integrating Human Capital and Human Capabilities in Understanding the Value of Education," MPRA Paper 61800, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Punová, Monika & Navrátil, Pavel & Navrátilová, Jitka, 2020. "Capabilities and well-being of child and adolescent social services clients in the Czech Republic," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    19. Jorge A. Paz, 2018. "Vulneración de derechos materiales de niñas y niños en la Argentina. Nivel, estructura y brechas entre unidades subnacionales," Ensayos de Política Económica, Departamento de Investigación Francisco Valsecchi, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina., vol. 2(6), pages 93-125, Octubre.
    20. Yiming Xiao & Han Wu & Guohua Wang & Hong Mei, 2021. "Mapping the Worldwide Trends on Energy Poverty Research: A Bibliometric Analysis (1999–2019)," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(4), pages 1-22, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:173:y:2023:i:c:s030142152200564x. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/enpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.