IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/ssefpa/v8y2016i3d10.1007_s12571-016-0570-1.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Links between energy access and food security in sub Saharan Africa: an exploratory review

Author

Listed:
  • Phosiso Sola

    (C/O World Agroforestry Centre
    World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF))

  • Caroline Ochieng

    (Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI))

  • Jummai Yila

    (C/O World Agroforestry Centre)

  • Miyuki Iiyama

    (World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF))

Abstract

Three quarters of the population in Sub Saharan Africa lacks access to modern energy, and relies instead on biomass fuels for cooking and heating. The environment and health implications of the use of biomass fuel has been widely documented in the literature, and has raised the topic of energy access in various policy and development arenas. Still, the impact of energy access on food security at the household level has not been explored in detail; consequently the two sectoral policies remain unaligned. Our aims for this review were to document how lack of access to energy can impact on food security through influence on dietary choices and cooking practices; and how reallocation of household resources from food to energy procurement causes a switch to biomass energy forms of lower grade. We searched the literature for published peer-reviewed articles available through major online publication databases, initially identifying 132 articles but finally reviewing a set of 19 that met our criteria. While most studies suggested that fuelwood scarcity can affect food security through three hypothesised pathways, very few of them provided empirical data to support this argument. Overall, the review found coping measures for woodfuel scarcity to be highly contextual and influenced by geography, household economy and labour availability. Due to the limited number of studies with detailed data, it was not possible to perform a comparative analysis that could support or refute a hypothesis that lack of access to energy can impact on food security. More rigorous studies on this topic are needed which could provide evidence for policy action.

Suggested Citation

  • Phosiso Sola & Caroline Ochieng & Jummai Yila & Miyuki Iiyama, 2016. "Links between energy access and food security in sub Saharan Africa: an exploratory review," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 8(3), pages 635-642, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:ssefpa:v:8:y:2016:i:3:d:10.1007_s12571-016-0570-1
    DOI: 10.1007/s12571-016-0570-1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s12571-016-0570-1
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s12571-016-0570-1?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. Hiemstra-van der Horst, Greg & Hovorka, Alice J., 2008. "Reassessing the "energy ladder": Household energy use in Maun, Botswana," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(9), pages 3333-3344, September.
    2. Abebe Damte & Steven F. Koch & Alemu Mekonnen, 2011. "Coping with Fuel Wood Scarcity: Household Responses in Rural Ethiopia," Working Papers 201125, University of Pretoria, Department of Economics.
    3. Dewees, Peter A., 1989. "The woodfuel crisis reconsidered: Observations on the dynamics of abundance and scarcity," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 17(8), pages 1159-1172, August.
    4. Arnold, J.E. Michael & Kohlin, Gunnar & Persson, Reidar, 2006. "Woodfuels, livelihoods, and policy interventions: Changing Perspectives," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 596-611, March.
    5. Soussan, John & Evan Mercer, D. & O'Keefe, Phil, 1992. "Fuelwood policies for the 1990s," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 20(2), pages 137-144, February.
    6. Madubansi, M. & Shackleton, C.M., 2006. "Changing energy profiles and consumption patterns following electrification in five rural villages, South Africa," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(18), pages 4081-4092, December.
    7. Palmer, Charles & Macgregor, James, 2009. "Fuelwood scarcity, energy substitution, and rural livelihoods in Namibia," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 14(6), pages 693-715, December.
    8. 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.
    9. Brouwer, Inge D. & Hoorweg, Jan C. & van Liere, Marti J., 1997. "When households run out of fuel: Responses of rural households to decreasing fuelwood availability, Ntcheu District, Malawi," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 25(2), pages 255-266, February.
    10. Kohlin, Gunnar & Sills, Erin O. & Pattanayak, Subhrendu K. & Wilfong, Christopher, 2011. "Energy, gender and development: what are the linkages ? where is the evidence ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5800, The World Bank.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mwambo, Francis Molua & Fürst, Christine & Nyarko, Benjamin K. & Borgemeister, Christian & Martius, Christopher, 2020. "Maize production and environmental costs: Resource evaluation and strategic land use planning for food security in northern Ghana by means of coupled emergy and data envelopment analysis," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    2. Shupler, Matthew & Mwitari, James & Gohole, Arthur & Anderson de Cuevas, Rachel & Puzzolo, Elisa & Čukić, Iva & Nix, Emily & Pope, Daniel, 2021. "COVID-19 impacts on household energy & food security in a Kenyan informal settlement: The need for integrated approaches to the SDGs," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    3. Sambodo, Maxensius Tri & Novandra, Rio, 2019. "The state of energy poverty in Indonesia and its impact on welfare," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 113-121.
    4. Esther O. Lamidi, 2019. "Household composition and experiences of food insecurity in Nigeria: the role of social capital, education, and time use," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 11(1), pages 201-218, February.
    5. Karanja, Alice & Gasparatos, Alexandros, 2019. "Adoption and impacts of clean bioenergy cookstoves in Kenya," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 285-306.
    6. Alina Vysochyna & Natalia Stoyanets & Grzegorz Mentel & Tadeusz Olejarz, 2020. "Environmental Determinants of a Country’s Food Security in Short-Term and Long-Term Perspectives," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-15, May.
    7. Dalia Fadly & Francisco Fontes & Miet Maertens, 2023. "Fuel for food: Access to clean cooking fuel and food security in India," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 15(2), pages 301-321, April.
    8. Prakash, Kushneel & Munyanyi, Musharavati Ephraim, 2021. "Energy poverty and obesity," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    9. Harry Hoffmann & Götz Uckert & Constance Rybak & Frieder Graef & Klas Sander & Stefan Sieber, 2018. "Efficiency scenarios of charcoal production and consumption – a village case study from Western Tanzania," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 10(4), pages 925-938, August.
    10. Caleb Wright & Roger Sathre & Shashi Buluswar, 2020. "The global challenge of clean cooking systems," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 12(6), pages 1219-1240, December.
    11. Boateng, Godfred O. & Balogun, Mobolanle R. & Dada, Festus O. & Armah, Frederick A., 2020. "Household energy insecurity: dimensions and consequences for women, infants and children in low- and middle-income countries," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 258(C).
    12. Dungang Zang & Fanghua Li & Abbas Ali Chandio, 2021. "Factors of Energy Poverty: Evidence from Tibet, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-20, August.
    13. Gebrehiwot , Tagel & Hassen, Sied, 2022. "Impact of Energy Access on Food Security and Child Nutrition: Panel Data Evidence from Rural Ethiopia," EfD Discussion Paper 22-11, Environment for Development, University of Gothenburg.
    14. Yahaya Sani & Miklas Scholz, 2022. "Interplay of Water–Energy Security and Food Consumption Patterns towards Achieving Nutrition Security in Katsina State, North-Western Nigeria," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-20, April.
    15. Koomson, Isaac & Danquah, Michael, 2021. "Financial inclusion and energy poverty: Empirical evidence from Ghana," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    16. Nathan Morrow & Luca Salvati & Andrea Colantoni & Nancy Mock, 2018. "Rooting the Future; On-Farm Trees’ Contribution to Household Energy Security and Asset Creation as a Resilient Development Pathway—Evidence from a 20-Year Panel in Rural Ethiopia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-24, December.

    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. Guta, Dawit Diriba, 2014. "Effect of fuelwood scarcity and socio-economic factors on household bio-based energy use and energy substitution in rural Ethiopia," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 217-227.
    2. Maes, Wouter H. & Verbist, Bruno, 2012. "Increasing the sustainability of household cooking in developing countries: Policy implications," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 16(6), pages 4204-4221.
    3. Lee, Soo Min & Kim, Yeon-Su & Jaung, Wanggi & Latifah, Sitti & Afifi, Mansur & Fisher, Larry A., 2015. "Forests, fuelwood and livelihoods—energy transition patterns in eastern Indonesia," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 61-70.
    4. Takama, Takeshi & Tsephel, Stanzin & Johnson, Francis X., 2012. "Evaluating the relative strength of product-specific factors in fuel switching and stove choice decisions in Ethiopia. A discrete choice model of household preferences for clean cooking alternatives," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(6), pages 1763-1773.
    5. Lohri, Christian Riuji & Rajabu, Hassan Mtoro & Sweeney, Daniel J. & Zurbrügg, Christian, 2016. "Char fuel production in developing countries – A review of urban biowaste carbonization," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 1514-1530.
    6. Gosens, Jorrit & Lu, Yonglong & He, Guizhen & Bluemling, Bettina & Beckers, Theo A.M., 2013. "Sustainability effects of household-scale biogas in rural China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 273-287.
    7. Zulu, Leo Charles, 2010. "The forbidden fuel: Charcoal, urban woodfuel demand and supply dynamics, community forest management and woodfuel policy in Malawi," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(7), pages 3717-3730, July.
    8. Kowsari, Reza & Zerriffi, Hisham, 2011. "Three dimensional energy profile:," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(12), pages 7505-7517.
    9. Matsika, R. & Erasmus, B.F.N. & Twine, W.C., 2013. "Double jeopardy: The dichotomy of fuelwood use in rural South Africa," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 716-725.
    10. Burke, Paul J. & Dundas, Guy, 2015. "Female Labor Force Participation and Household Dependence on Biomass Energy: Evidence from National Longitudinal Data," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 424-437.
    11. van der Kroon, Bianca & Brouwer, Roy & van Beukering, Pieter J.H., 2013. "The energy ladder: Theoretical myth or empirical truth? Results from a meta-analysis," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 20(C), pages 504-513.
    12. Malla, Sunil & Timilsina, Govinda R, 2014. "Household cooking fuel choice and adoption of improved cookstoves in developing countries : a review," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6903, The World Bank.
    13. van der Kroon, Bianca & Brouwer, Roy & van Beukering, Pieter J.H., 2014. "The impact of the household decision environment on fuel choice behavior," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 236-247.
    14. Vásquez Lavin, Felipe & Barrientos, Manuel & Castillo, Álvaro & Herrera, Iván & Ponce Oliva, Roberto D., 2020. "Firewood certification programs: Key attributes and policy implications," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    15. Rui Xing & Tatsuya Hanaoka & Yuko Kanamori & Toshihiko Masui, 2017. "Greenhouse Gas and Air Pollutant Emissions of China’s Residential Sector: The Importance of Considering Energy Transition," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-17, April.
    16. Abebe Damte & Steven F. Koch & Alemu Mekonnen, 2011. "Coping with Fuel Wood Scarcity: Household Responses in Rural Ethiopia," Working Papers 201125, University of Pretoria, Department of Economics.
    17. Rahut, Dil Bahadur & Das, Sukanya & De Groote, Hugo & Behera, Bhagirath, 2014. "Determinants of household energy use in Bhutan," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 661-672.
    18. Charlie Shackleton & Gisele Sinasson & Opeyemi Adeyemi & Vusumzi Martins, 2022. "Fuelwood in South Africa Revisited: Widespread Use in a Policy Vacuum," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-14, September.
    19. Lindgren, Samantha, 2021. "Cookstove implementation and Education for Sustainable Development: A review of the field and proposed research agenda," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    20. Tafadzwa Makonese & Ayodeji P Ifegbesan & Isaac T Rampedi, 2018. "Household cooking fuel use patterns and determinants across southern Africa: Evidence from the demographic and health survey data," Energy & Environment, , vol. 29(1), pages 29-48, 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:spr:ssefpa:v:8:y:2016:i:3:d:10.1007_s12571-016-0570-1. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.