Happy at Work in Africa? Measuring Hedonic Well‑Being Among Water Carriers in Rural Kenya Using the Experience Sampling Method

Submitted by Jane Nyawira Maina on
EfD Authors:
Cook, Joseph
Kabubo-Mariara, Jane
Despite work’s importance in people’s overall sense of purpose in life, several studies measuring momentary well-being find that people are very unhappy while at work. These studies have focused on workers in industrialized countries doing paid labor in the formal sector. For a large fraction of humanity, however, “work” is smallholder farming, tending cattle, and collecting water and fuelwood. We measure momentary well-being with the Experience Sampling Method in a sample of 195 subjects in rural Kenya. Subjects were the household’s main water carrier; 93% were women.
Peer Reviewed
Water

Africa needs context-relevant evidence to shape its clean energy future

Submitted by Petra Hansson on
EfD Authors:
Hoka, Helen
Steckel, Jan
Mulugeta, Yacob
Gujba, Haruna

Aligning development and climate goals means Africa’s energy systems will be based on clean energy technologies in the long term, but pathways to get there are uncertain and variable across countries. Although current debates about natural gas and renewables in Africa are heated, they largely ignore the substantial context specificity of the starting points, development objectives and uncertainties of each African country’s energy system trajectory.

Peer Reviewed
Energy, Policy Design

Grid electrification should be combined with complementary infrastructure for greater social and economic benefits

Submitted by Petra Hansson on
EfD Authors:
Kilimani, Nicholas
Bbaale, Edward
Jeuland, Marc

Key findings: While electricity is a key to economic development, nearly 600 million people in sub-Saharan Africa live without electricity.

This study analyses the socioeconomic benefits of electrification in Uganda.

The findings show that grid connectivity increases the number of work hours, female employment, household expenditure (meaning that the household is able to buy more of the goods that it needs), and key educational outcomes. 

Furthermore, the benefits from grid connectivity increase with time.

Research Brief
Energy, Policy Design

Does access to electricity accelerate home-based business creation in rural Ethiopia?

Submitted by Petra Hansson on
EfD Authors:
Hassen, Sied
Fentie, Amare

KEY MESSAGES

Most of the businesses in rural areas are home-based, i.e., the household runs businesses such as food sales, restaurants, mobile, and electronics shops, barbering, etc., within their residence. Rural households’ business ownership increased from 17.5% in 2011 to 28.5% in 2016. We found that:

Research Brief
Energy, Policy Design
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