Pamela Jagger, Ph.D., Professor in the School for Environment and Sustainability at the University of Michigan, will present the EEEP Seminar Series, “Pathways to Household Energy Transitions in Africa” on February 5, 2025.
Abstract:
Energy access is a formidable challenge in sub-Saharan Africa where more than 760 million people lack access to electricity and 80% of people lack access to clean cooking facilities. Africa lags far behind other Global South regions in the transition to clean household energy. Rapid population growth and slow energy transitions mean that Africa is the only region where the absolute number of people experiencing energy poverty will increase in the coming decades. Urgent and effective strategies are needed to bring clean household energy technologies to households. Over the past 10 years, we have conducted a series of quantitative program evaluation studies in collaboration with governments, non-governmental organizations, and social enterprises to assess the impact of efforts to increase electricity access and reduce reliance on polluting cooking fuels. We synthesize the results of studies on the impact of solar technology promotion in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Malawi, and household cooking energy interventions in Malawi, Rwanda, and Zambia. Adoption of solar technologies is a promising pathway to providing limited electricity access. While the number of households with solar technologies is rapidly increasing, most systems have exceptionally low capacity, suggesting limited potential for increased productivity through solar technology adoption. Clean cooking interventions are hindered by unreliable fuel and stove supply chains, sustained adoption of improved or clean stoves, and complex patterns of fuel/stove stacking within households. Reductions in air pollution burden and energy expenditures remain elusive. This portfolio of studies offers insights for policy makers, donors, and the private sector as they continue to engage in strategies to move households in sub-Saharan Africa towards sustainable energy for all.
Bio:
Pam Jagger is an applied political economist whose research focuses on the dynamics of poverty and environment interactions in low-income countries. She leads the interdisciplinary Forest Use, Energy, and Livelihoods (FUEL) Lab, and is the Director of the National Science Foundation funded Energy Poverty PIRE in Southern Africa (EPPSA), a 5-year collaborative program to support research and training on the topic of energy access in Southern Africa. Over the past decade, Jagger has conducted quantitative impact evaluation studies of household energy interventions, including clean cooking interventions in Rwanda, Zambia, and Malawi. She has also led research on energy access in rapidly urbanizing low-income settings in Myanmar. Contributing new knowledge on the effectiveness of programs and policies for improving energy access for the poor and ultra-poor is a major focus of her work. She regularly engages with the policy makers and practitioners. Jagger is a Professor in the School for Environment and Sustainability at the University of Michigan with a joint appointment in the Gerald Ford School of Public Policy. She has worked as a policy research scholar with the World Bank, Resources for the Future, the International Food Policy Research Institute, and the Center for International Forestry Research. She has lived and worked in Malawi, Uganda and Zimbabwe.