Rural Development Feature
As investors, manufacturers and town and city residents continue to grapple with the reality of endless power failures, people in Chitala Village, Traditional Authority (T/A) Khombedza in Salima and their counterparts in Makunganya Village in the area of T/A Mulumbe in Zomba have power all day every day. They are using solar energy thus the word “blackouts” does not exist in people from the two villages. Our reporter Watipaso Mzungu Jnr visited the two villages and he writes:
There can hardly be any meaningful economic development in a country where its electricity system is not reliable. Economic development has been intrinsically coupled to electricity use.
In Malawi, though, severe power shortages and rolling blackouts have become a daily occurrence around the country as the antiquated power grid is continuously stretched beyond its means.
In 2009, Consumers Association of Malawi (Cama) decided to drag Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom) to court over its catchphrase—power all day everyday—because, according to consumers’ watchdog, the label was a mockery to consumers as a day hardly passes without experiencing a blackout.
But while people in urban areas, industries and manufacturers struggle to come to terms with the sickening blackouts, people in Chitala Village in T/A Khombedza in Salima and Makunganya Village in T/A Mulumbe in Zomba have power all day every day generated from the sun—solar power.
People from the two villages do not even know what the words blackout and power outage stand for because that does not exist in their vocabulary.
Jane Kwazizira Banda, 45, of Chitala Village used to spend K800 per month on kerosene only to light his house and K900 to charge his mobile phone.
The village is about 20 km away from Salima, but Banda used to cycle or even board a bus to the town to charge his phone battery. A mobile phone is fast becoming a necessity and so she couldn't do without it.
But the situation is completely different today. Banda's house has light 24 hours every day generated from solar.
“It was not easy to provide for my family while at the same time maintain my cell phone. It seemed to me that the gadget was consuming more money than what I would spend on toiletries and other basic needs for my family,” Banda said in an interview.
Malawi’s electricity uptake
Despite energy being lifeblood of economic development of every nation, access to electricity in Malawi remains low.
Statistics show that only 8 percent of the total population has an access to electrical energy. Of this, only one percent is in the rural areas.
The situation presented above means that the majority of the country’s population has no access to any form of electricity.
Usually, the unserved population tends to rely on other alternative energy sources for their convenience and common among such sources include paraffin for lighting; firewood and charcoal for cooking.
Unfortunately though, these energy sources have contributed negatively to environmental degradation across the country.
Solar energy seen from this perspective of alternative sources offers a potentially attractive solution to the energy problems that Malawi is currently facing.
Currently, it is estimated that only about 0.02 percent of the population has access to solar electricity.
Speaking in Chitala Village last year when he officially launched the project that Centre for Community Organization and Development (CCODE) initiated to improve energy services delivery in the rural communities, Minister of Natural Resources, Energy and Environment Grain Malunga said this is far below the SADC overall average of 20 percent.
Malunga observed that if Malawi is to achieve meaningful economic development, rural transformation, production enhancement and poverty reduction, there is urgent need to increase access to electricity by the rural populace.
“All the developed countries have reached where they are today because they, first of all, developed their energy sector,” he said adding, “For Malawi and other countries in the region, the full potential of the energy sector has remained far from being realized”.
Very unfortunate indeed to note that electricity generation and consumption in Malawi have steadily risen, placing an increased burden on a transmission system that was not designed to carry such a large load.
Growth in electricity demand and investment in new power plants has not been matched by investment in new transmission facilities.
It is a fact that very few major transmission projects have been constructed and, as a result, transmission capacity has failed to keep pace with the expansion of power demand.
People will continue enduring these blackouts because since 2000 nothing happened in terms of adding capacity.
“Malawians will have to wait for five or more years because it's not like equipment for hydropower is taken from the shelves--(not readily available),” Malunga told the media in April this year.
It is doubtful, therefore, to assume that at least a target of 10 percent access rate of electricity will be achieved through rural electrification by the year 2010 as stated in the Energy Policy Document.
But as every Malawian is looking with keen interest how government will achieve this, CCODE executive director, Siku Nkhoma, believes promoting the use of renewable energy sources such as solar electricity is one of the most convenient forms of alternative energy sources.
Solar power is quickly gaining popularity all over the globe. It is said to be growing at a rate of 2 percent per year, and if the figures continue to grow, solar energy will be the preferred source of energy worldwide, the May 7, 2008 issue of Energy Bulletin says.
Government of Malawi had last year removed taxes on importation of all solar equipment as a way of enhancing affordability and adoption of solar energy.
Most modern nations are encouraging people to rely on this renewable resource so that they can save more and help conserve the environment.
Energy and women
Energy is a major component of the quality of life and it is becoming increasingly evident that renewable coupled with energy efficiency are important elements of a sustainable future.
As more and more women take part in matters of national development, it is imperative to equip them with skills relevant for transforming their lives.
It is with this spirit in mind that Ccode sent a ten-member team of semi-illiterate women to Barefoot College in India where they read for solar installation and maintenance for six months.
The technical expertise these women acquired from their training has started bearing fruits last year when they installed solar power in their respective areas of Dedza, Salima and Zomba districts.
Ccode director said with financial assistance from Trocaire, UNDP Global Environment Fund (GEF), Cara Malawi, and Barefoot College of India, her organization targets 135 families in Chitala and Chimonjo villages in Salima, 100 families in Kaphuka in Dedza while 81 families in Makunganya village in Zomba.
“The success of this pilot project will help us determine our next step to try to make this source of energy reach as many as households as possible. The advantage is that we use semi-illiterate women in their localities to learn how to maintain in case of faults and other problems.
“This, in a way, is to try to empower women with skills necessary for transforming their livelihoods,” said Nkhoma.
In March this year, these semi-illiterate women made Malawi proud when Ccode emerged the winner of the Best Rural Electrification Project after beating 75 other contenders from different African countries with its outstanding work in what has been dubbed as "Ccode-Barefoot College Project".
At the award presentation, which took place on Wednesday, March 17 in Johannesburg, South Africa at Sandton Hotel, Africa Energy Awards said the award recognises excellence in energy service delivery Malawi has demonstrated that it is committed to provide affordable electricity to the rural masses.
Solar power appears to be the most affordable form of energy for the rural people as hydroelectric power is not just expensive but also unreliable. And women involvement in energy issues is also a form of empowerment as they can now work as solar engineers in their respective areas.
As Industrious women in Makunganya attested, solar power has brought a difference in their socioeconomic lives.
“I’ve opened a barbershop from where I’m earning more than what some employees in town don’t receive,” said Maduka.
“People can come to have their hair cut anytime. We don’t have blackouts here and this helps our business to remain stable,” she boasts.
Thus, while barbershops are closing in Ndirande, Namiwawa residents are grumbling over the continued and sickening blackouts, there is power all day everyday in the rural areas of Salima, Dedza and Zomba. The word “blackouts” does not exist in Chitala, Chimonjo and Makunganya villages, thanks to Barefoot Women Solar Engineers Village Electrification Project.
End
No comments:
Post a Comment