Browsing by Author "Anditi, Christer Adelaide"

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    Co-designing gendered energy innovations for urban informal settlement households in Kenya : a case study of Mathare Valley informal settlement
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2023-03) Anditi, Christer Adelaide; Musango, Josephine Kaviti; Ndevu, Zwelinzima; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences. School of Public Leadership.
    ENGLISH SUMMARY: Energy innovation processes are gender-blind, which impedes energy innovation adoption in informal urban settlement households. While renewable energy innovations can significantly decrease carbon emissions and improve livelihoods, 80% of Africa depends on biomass for their energy needs, and only 43% have access to electricity, resulting in high energy insecurity. The impact of energy insecurity disproportionately affects women more than men. In cities, emergent inequalities are higher among poor populations living in informal settlements. For example, 60% of Nairobi’s population lives in informal settlements. Despite the global development approach to integrating informality, the current energy policy in Kenya is bifocal: rural-urban. It does not recognise informal settlement households’ uniquely gendered characteristics and their role in energy innovation adoption. Moreover, the policy lacks instruments for interrogating and implementing gendered energy needs. This study applies design thinking in mainstreaming gender in energy innovation processes to promote adoption. Three objectives achieved include: contextualising gendered energy innovations in informal urban settlements in Kenya, exploring dissemination channels for gendered energy innovations in Kenya, and co-designing an actor-network structure for gendered energy innovations in informal urban settlements in Kenya. This transdisciplinary case study of the Mathare Valley informal settlement in Nairobi develops a novel tool named Gender Mainstreaming Model for Innovation Adoption (GeMMIA) to interrogate the role of gender across the innovation process systemically. The overall methodology is mixed methods and uses cross-sectional data. A survey of 207 households in Mathare unveils the dimensions of gender in this informal urban settlement. Semi-structured interviews with multiple stakeholders and key informants map their journeys as they interact with innovations. Subsequently, an analysis of the user journey maps explores the decision-making process, which is then used as a guide to facilitate a focus group discussion. The multi-stakeholder focus group discussion proposes dissemination strategies for gendered energy innovations, including the need to interrogate informal agency. The ensuing multi-stakeholder design thinking workshop examines value translation across the energy chain through a quasi-experiment. The result is an actor-network structure that integrates informal agency with formal systems to promote energy innovation dissemination. The study finds that, indeed, informal settlements in Africa are uniquely gendered in several ways: women are less exposed to energy innovations, there are higher mortality rates in women and children, poor technical skills training and low participation of women in energy projects. The survey results indicate that in Mathare, although women make household energy decisions, the men pay for the energy fuels and devices in the home. Female-headed households have lower incomes than male-headed households. In addition, there is a high level of illiteracy, eminent use of poor energy sources and overall, household gender dynamics are relational. The proposed strategies in addressing emergent gender concerns across the energy innovation process are mainly women-specific and integrated. They address strategic energy needs for women but also appreciate the gender interdependency within the household. The co-designed actor network reveals stronger ties between the users and the informal community representatives than with the formal system. The study integrates these two agencies and maps their networks and value translation. In conclusion, the study contributes to systems and target transdisciplinary knowledge in the energy sector. Transdisciplinarity is essential in understanding contextual user dynamics, and while it is necessary to address women-specific inequalities, including men in development endeavours is just as fundamental. The study proposes strategies for disseminating gendered energy innovations to adopt for informal settlements in Kenya, an actor-network to test in the settlements, and develops a gender mainstreaming tool as a policy instrument.