Gender and energy nexus: service demands and access to various energy sources in Sub-Sahara African countries

Abstract

Gender roles and challenges to service demands and access to various energy sources in Tanzania are not well understood, particularly in rural areas. The study examined gender disaggregated survey on energy demands and access to various energy sources. Documentary review was employed for secondary data collection while self-administered questionnaire and focus group discussions were employed for primary data collection. The most used energy sources include firewood, plant residues and charcoal. Challenges and opportunities in usage of firewood include long distance to the collection point, accidents and decrease in biomass. Collection of firewood is done by females and children. Most of the households use local energy stoves. Most families using firewood are low-income earners and therefore clean energy is affordable to few individuals with high or medium income.