IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v156y2021ics0301421521003463.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Energy poverty in rural West Africa and its determinants: Evidence from Senegal and Togo

Author

Listed:
  • Gafa, Dede W.
  • Egbendewe, Aklesso Y.G.

Abstract

This research evaluates the levels and the determinants of energy poverty in rural West Africa using countrywide primary data for Senegal and Togo. The study estimates and compares various indicators for measuring energy poverty and a newly proposed multidimensional measure. The results suggest that rural energy poverty levels vary from 31.2 to 98.5 percent in Senegal and 53.5 to 98.8 percent in Togo. Measures that are based on per capita energy consumption generate higher energy poverty rates in rural Senegal than Togo due to the relative scarcity of fire wood and the relatively larger household size in Senegal. Multidimensional and expenditure-based energy measures generate higher energy poverty in rural Togo than Senegal, reflecting the higher per capita income and greater access to modern energy sources in Senegal compared to Togo. Household income, fertility and the type of fuel used are the main drivers of household energy poverty in both countries. Furthermore, rural households tend to have greater energy consumption when the decisions about energy purchase are made jointly by male and female household members. Thus, public policies that improve rural households' income, foster women's participation in decision-making, and provide affordable energy would help reduce energy poverty in both countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Gafa, Dede W. & Egbendewe, Aklesso Y.G., 2021. "Energy poverty in rural West Africa and its determinants: Evidence from Senegal and Togo," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:156:y:2021:i:c:s0301421521003463
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2021.112476
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421521003463
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.enpol.2021.112476?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. Waddams Price, Catherine & Brazier, Karl & Wang, Wenjia, 2012. "Objective and subjective measures of fuel poverty," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 33-39.
    2. Sovacool, Benjamin K. & Mukherjee, Ishani, 2011. "Conceptualizing and measuring energy security: A synthesized approach," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(8), pages 5343-5355.
    3. Setu Pelz & Shonali Pachauri & Sebastian Groh, 2018. "A critical review of modern approaches for multidimensional energy poverty measurement," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Energy and Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 7(6), November.
    4. Alkire, Sabina & Foster, James, 2011. "Counting and multidimensional poverty measurement," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(7), pages 476-487.
    5. Behera, Bhagirath & Rahut, Dil Bahadur & Jeetendra, Aryal & Ali, Akhter, 2015. "Household collection and use of biomass energy sources in South Asia," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 468-480.
    6. Crentsil, Aba Obrumah & Asuman, Derek & Fenny, Ama Pokuaa, 2019. "Assessing the determinants and drivers of multidimensional energy poverty in Ghana," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    7. Legendre, Bérangère & Ricci, Olivia, 2015. "Measuring fuel poverty in France: Which households are the most fuel vulnerable?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 620-628.
    8. LaBelle, Michael Carnegie, 2017. "In pursuit of energy justice," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 615-620.
    9. 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.
    10. Kanagawa, Makoto & Nakata, Toshihiko, 2008. "Assessment of access to electricity and the socio-economic impacts in rural areas of developing countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(6), pages 2016-2029, June.
    11. Khandker, Shahidur R. & Barnes, Douglas F. & Samad, Hussain A., 2012. "Are the energy poor also income poor? Evidence from India," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 1-12.
    12. 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.
    13. Hills, John, 2011. "Fuel poverty: the problem and its measurement," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 39270, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    14. Pachauri, Shonali & Spreng, Daniel, 2011. "Measuring and monitoring energy poverty," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(12), pages 7497-7504.
    15. Marti­nez, Daniel M. & Ebenhack, Ben W., 2008. "Understanding the role of energy consumption in human development through the use of saturation phenomena," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(4), pages 1430-1435, April.
    16. Akpalu, Wisdom & Dasmani, Isaac & Aglobitse, Peter B., 2011. "Demand for cooking fuels in a developing country: To what extent do taste and preferences matter?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(10), pages 6525-6531, October.
    17. John Hills, 2012. "Final report of the Hills Independent Fuel Poverty Review: Getting the Measure of Fuel Poverty," CASE Reports casereport72, Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion, LSE.
    18. Alkire, Sabina & Santos, Maria Emma, 2014. "Measuring Acute Poverty in the Developing World: Robustness and Scope of the Multidimensional Poverty Index," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 251-274.
    19. Ntaintasis, E. & Mirasgedis, S. & Tourkolias, C., 2019. "Comparing different methodological approaches for measuring energy poverty: Evidence from a survey in the region of Attika, Greece," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 160-169.
    20. Mirza, Bilal & Szirmai, Adam, 2010. "Towards a new measurement of energy poverty: A cross-community analysis of rural Pakistan," MERIT Working Papers 2010-024, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    21. Uche M. Ozughalu & Fidelis O. Ogwumike, 2019. "Extreme Energy Poverty Incidence and Determinants in Nigeria: A Multidimensional Approach," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 142(3), pages 997-1014, April.
    22. Barnes, Douglas F. & Khandker, Shahidur R. & Samad, Hussain A., 2011. "Energy poverty in rural Bangladesh," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 894-904, February.
    23. Sadath, Anver C. & Acharya, Rajesh H., 2017. "Assessing the extent and intensity of energy poverty using Multidimensional Energy Poverty Index: Empirical evidence from households in India," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 540-550.
    24. John Hills, 2012. "Getting the measure of fuel poverty: Executive summary," CASE Briefs 31, Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion, LSE.
    25. J. Lelieveld & J. S. Evans & M. Fnais & D. Giannadaki & A. Pozzer, 2015. "The contribution of outdoor air pollution sources to premature mortality on a global scale," Nature, Nature, vol. 525(7569), pages 367-371, September.
    26. Kaygusuz, K., 2011. "Energy services and energy poverty for sustainable rural development," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(2), pages 936-947, February.
    27. Pachauri, S. & Mueller, A. & Kemmler, A. & Spreng, D., 2004. "On Measuring Energy Poverty in Indian Households," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 32(12), pages 2083-2104, December.
    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. Cheng, Zhiming & Guo, Liwen & Smyth, Russell & Tani, Massimiliano, 2022. "Childhood adversity and energy poverty," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    2. Djeunankan, Ronald & Njangang, Henri & Tadadjeu, Sosson & Kamguia, Brice, 2023. "Remittances and energy poverty: Fresh evidence from developing countries," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    3. Huang, Yatao & Jiao, Wenxian & Wang, Kang & Li, Erling & Yan, Yutong & Chen, Jingyang & Guo, Xuanxuan, 2022. "Examining the multidimensional energy poverty trap and its determinants: An empirical analysis at household and community levels in six provinces of China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    4. Abbas, Khizar & Butt, Khalid Manzoor & Xu, Deyi & Ali, Muhammad & Baz, Khan & Kharl, Sanwal Hussain & Ahmed, Mansoor, 2022. "Measurements and determinants of extreme multidimensional energy poverty using machine learning," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 251(C).
    5. Richard S. J. Tol, 2023. "Navigating the energy trilemma during geopolitical and environmental crises," Papers 2301.07671, arXiv.org.
    6. Ang'u, Cohen & Muthama, Nzioka John & Mutuku, Mwanthi Alexander & M’IKiugu, Mutembei Henry, 2023. "Analysis of energy poverty in Kenya and its implications for human health," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    7. Leduchowicz-Municio, A. & López-Gozález, A. & Domenech, B. & Ferrer-Martí, L. & Udaeta, M.E.M. & Gimenes, A.L.V., 2022. "Last-mile rural electrification: Lessons learned from universalization programs in Brazil and Venezuela," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    8. Xiahui Che & Minxing Jiang, 2021. "Economic Policy Uncertainty, Financial Expenditure and Energy Poverty: Evidence Based on a Panel Threshold Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-12, October.
    9. Okorie, David Iheke & Lin, Boqiang, 2022. "Association of energy poverty and catastrophic health expenditure," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 253(C).
    10. Zhao, Yujia & Shuai, Jing & Wang, Chaofan & Shuai, Chuanmin & Cheng, Xin & Wang, Yilan & Zhang, Zumeng & Ding, Liping & Zhu, Yongguang & Zhou, Na, 2023. "Do the photovoltaic poverty alleviation programs alleviate local energy poverty? —Empirical evidence of 9 counties in rural China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 263(PD).
    11. Yuxiang Xie & E. Xie, 2023. "Measuring and Analyzing the Welfare Effects of Energy Poverty in Rural China Based on a Multi-Dimensional Energy Poverty Index," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-21, September.
    12. Raad Al-Tal & Muntasir Murshed & Paiman Ahmad & Abdelrahman J. K. Alfar & Mohga Bassim & Mohamed Elheddad & Mira Nurmakhanova & Haider Mahmood, 2021. "The Non-Linear Effects of Energy Efficiency Gains on the Incidence of Energy Poverty," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-20, October.
    13. Arkadiusz Piwowar, 2022. "Energy Poverty as a Current Problem in the Light of Economic and Social Challenges," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(22), pages 1-9, November.
    14. Abdulrasheed Zakari & Jurij Toplak & Luka Martin Tomažič, 2022. "Exploring the Relationship between Energy and Food Security in Africa with Instrumental Variables Analysis," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(15), pages 1-14, July.
    15. Qi, Haozhi & Huang, Xucheng & Sheeraz, Muhammad, 2023. "Green financing for renewable energy development: Driving the attainment of zero-emission targets," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 213(C), pages 30-37.
    16. Lan, Jing & Khan, Sufyan Ullah & Sadiq, Muhammad & Chien, Fengsheng & Baloch, Zulfiqar Ali, 2022. "Evaluating energy poverty and its effects using multi-dimensional based DEA-like mathematical composite indicator approach: Findings from Asia," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    17. Murshed, Muntasir & Ozturk, Ilhan, 2023. "Rethinking energy poverty reduction through improving electricity accessibility: A regional analysis on selected African nations," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 267(C).
    18. Shi, Hongxu & Xu, Hao & Gao, Wei & Zhang, Jinhao & Chang, Ming, 2022. "The impact of energy poverty on agricultural productivity: The case of China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    19. Lyu, Yanwei & Wu, You & Zhang, Jinning, 2023. "How industrial structure distortion affects energy poverty? Evidence from China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 278(C).
    20. Siyou Xia & Yu Yang & Xiaoying Qian & Xin Xu, 2022. "Spatiotemporal Interaction and Socioeconomic Determinants of Rural Energy Poverty in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(17), pages 1-15, August.
    21. Drago, Carlo & Gatto, Andrea, 2023. "Gauging energy poverty in developing countries with a composite metric of electricity access," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).

    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. Gafa, Dede W. & Egbendewe, Aklesso Y.G. & Jodoin, Laurent, 2022. "Operationalizing affordability criterion in energy justice: Evidence from rural West Africa," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    2. Ma, Cong & Cheok, Mui Yee, 2022. "The impact of financing role and organizational culture in small and medium enterprises: Developing business strategies for economic recovery," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 26-38.
    3. Husnain, Muhammad Iftikhar ul & Nasrullah, Nasrullah & Khan, Muhammad Aamir & Banerjee, Suvajit, 2021. "Scrutiny of income related drivers of energy poverty: A global perspective," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    4. Recep Ulucak & Ramazan Sari & Seyfettin Erdogan & Rui Alexandre Castanho, 2021. "Bibliometric Literature Analysis of a Multi-Dimensional Sustainable Development Issue: Energy Poverty," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-21, August.
    5. Awan, Ashar & Bilgili, Faik & Rahut, Dil Bahadur, 2022. "Energy poverty trends and determinants in Pakistan: Empirical evidence from eight waves of HIES 1998–2019," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    6. Bezerra, Paula & Cruz, Talita & Mazzone, Antonella & Lucena, André F.P. & De Cian, Enrica & Schaeffer, Roberto, 2022. "The multidimensionality of energy poverty in Brazil: A historical analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    7. Qurat-ul-Ann, Abre-Rehmat & Mirza, Faisal Mehmood, 2020. "Meta-analysis of empirical evidence on energy poverty: The case of developing economies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    8. Abre-Rehmat Qurat-ul-Ann & Faisal Mehmood Mirza, 2021. "Multidimensional Energy Poverty in Pakistan: Empirical Evidence from Household Level Micro Data," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 155(1), pages 211-258, May.
    9. Laldjebaev, Murodbek & Hussain, Azmat, 2021. "Significance of context, metrics and datasets in assessment of multidimensional energy poverty: A case study of Tajikistan," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    10. Chang, Lei & Gan, Xiaojun & Mohsin, Muhammad, 2022. "Studying corporate liquidity and regulatory responses for economic recovery in COVID-19 crises," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 211-225.
    11. Lin, Boqiang & Wang, Yao, 2020. "Does energy poverty really exist in China? From the perspective of residential electricity consumption," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    12. Rafi, Muhammed & Naseef, Mohemmad & Prasad, Salu, 2021. "Multidimensional energy poverty and human capital development: Empirical evidence from India," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    13. Sadath, Anver C. & Acharya, Rajesh H., 2017. "Assessing the extent and intensity of energy poverty using Multidimensional Energy Poverty Index: Empirical evidence from households in India," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 540-550.
    14. Omar, Md Abdullah & Hasanujzaman, Muhammad, 2021. "Multidimensional energy poverty in Bangladesh and its effect on health and education: A multilevel analysis based on household survey data," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    15. Aristondo, Oihana & Onaindia, Eneritz, 2018. "Inequality of energy poverty between groups in Spain," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 431-442.
    16. Ye, Yuxiang & Koch, Steven F., 2021. "Measuring energy poverty in South Africa based on household required energy consumption," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    17. Kahouli, Sondès & Okushima, Shinichiro, 2021. "Regional energy poverty reevaluated: A direct measurement approach applied to France and Japan," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    18. Fu Wang & Hong Geng & Donglan Zha & Chaoqun Zhang, 2023. "Multidimensional Energy Poverty in China: Measurement and Spatio-Temporal Disparities Characteristics," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 168(1), pages 45-78, August.
    19. Uche M. Ozughalu & Fidelis O. Ogwumike, 2019. "Extreme Energy Poverty Incidence and Determinants in Nigeria: A Multidimensional Approach," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 142(3), pages 997-1014, April.
    20. Du, Juntao & Song, Malin & Xie, Bing, 2022. "Eliminating energy poverty in Chinese households: A cognitive capability framework," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 192(C), pages 373-384.

    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:156:y:2021:i:c:s0301421521003463. 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.