Zambia country overviewThis country synthesis report is based on a detailed country report, which may be accessed through our dynamic report builder is available here.
A. Household energy demand and use A.1 introduction Zambia, with a population of 9,959,037, is a landlocked country, with borders to Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe.The climate is almost uniform through out the country, receiving between 600 to 1500mm of rainfall and with temperature range from 10 to 30 deg Celsius. The climate of Zambia comprises dry cool winters from May to July and warm wet summers from November to March. Zambia, with a total area of 752,614 sq km, is mostly high plateau with some hills and mountains. The minimum altitude is 329m at the Zambezi river, rising to the Mafinga Hills (2301m).
Natural resources include: copper, cobalt, zinc, lead, coal, emeralds, gold, silver, uranium, hydropower. Arable land and permanent crops account for less than 10% of the land.
Environmental problems include air pollution and resulting acid rain in the mineral extraction and refining region; chemical runoff into watersheds; deforestation; soil erosion; desertification and lack of adequate water treatment.
Zambia has one of the highest prevalence of poverty in the world. Currently over 70% of the population is described as poor. Despite the consistent implementation of macroeconomic and structural policies, the levels of p poverty continue to rise .in 1998,73% of Zambians were below the poverty line .The proportion of the population that was poor in 1998 was 56 % in urban areas and 83% in rural areas. A.2 cooking In Zambia, households on average cook three meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) a day. In some areas where food and/or energy availability is low, cooking may take place only once or twice per day. Most common meals, for breakfast include tea or porridge with bread, boiled sweet potatoes or cassava, buns, or the food left from the previous night. For lunch and dinner meals could include stiff porridge (nshima), cassava or potatoes, served with beans, beef, fish, chicken, peas or vegetable stew. Some of these foods take several hours to cook , thus using a lot of energy. The most common methods of cooking are frying, boiling and roasting. Cooking devices include three stones fireplace, metal charcoal stoves, improved charcoal stoves, and electric cookers. In urban areas charcoal is used by more than 80% of the population, whilst in rural areas more than 90% use firewood for cooking. (Living Conditions in Zambia-1998) There have been stove projects by some women NGOs, and an effort by UBWATO (an organisation being run by some former employees of CARE International), to produce and market improved cook stoves (Ziko). However, the impact has minimal A.3 Space heating Space heating is a significant energy service during the cold season (between May and July). The weather is almost uniform across the country and space heating is needed in most regions, except for areas in Luangwa valley and Siavonga (near lake Kariba). Electric fires are used, but are too expensive for most households, and many are not connected to grd electricity. Metal charcoal stoves are used by most people for space heating in urban areas, whilst only 25% using woodfuel, through lack of fuel availability. In rural areas around 90% use wood-burning three-stone fires. In both rural and urban areas, LPG and kerosene appliances and fuel are too expensive and are not readily available. Space heating appliances using coal are not available on the Zambian market. Coal delivery costs are very high; fuel used in Lusaka has to be transported about 400km from Maamba, making it more expensive than firewood and charcoal A.4 Hot water Water at 50 degrees Celsius may be required for washing dishes, clothes, and for personal hygiene. In low-income households, people are frugal with hot water (compared to high-income households) because of the energy requirement, and water or income scarcity. It is estimated that poor households use about 10-20 litres per household per day. Large containers are used to heat water on three stone fireplace or charcoal stove and, in more affluent households, on electric heaters. The few households who use kerosene for cooking, especially those that are not electrified, may use this fuel for heating small quantities of water too. Kerosene stoves are not suitable for heating large quantities of water e.g. for washing clothes, so if large quantities of water are required, users have to heat small quantities several times. A.5 lighting Lighting is an important energy service for all households, requiring a selection of appropriate appliances. Fixed indoor and external lighting meets most needs, and portable lighting sources are used in work areas, and other rooms, such as bedrooms. Good lighting is particularly important for studying.
Sources of lighting with estimated daily hours of utilisation in urban and rural areas are shown in the table below
| | Firewood | Kerosene | Electricity | | Urban (hr/day) | - | 2 | 3.5 | | Rural (hr/day) | 3.5 | 1 | - |
In urban areas low-income households can only afford electricity for lighting, especially for low-income households in rented houses comprising multiple families.
Fuel options for lighting include: - Wood sticks - It is estimated that of 1.2 million rural households in 1998, around 11% used wood as the only source of lighting.
- Candles: These are used occasionally during electric cuts and, in some areas, the use is associated with festivals and religious functions.
- Kerosene: Wick lamps, lamps with mantles, pressure lanterns. Most of the 98% of non-electrified rural households use kerosene as a source of fuel for lighting. The traditional wick lamp is inefficient and produces excessive smoke
- Torches powered by dry cell batteries: Torch batteries are used by most non-electrified households, but do not provide general house lighting
- DC incandescent or fluorescent lights powered by car batteries or other DC power system. Batteries (12 or 24 V) are usually charged at the nearest town or village
- Solar electricity: solar lanterns. In a very small percentage of households, 12V batteries are charged from solar home systems
- Grid electricity: Incandescent and fluorescent lights. Not all households are connected to the electricity grid due to lack of resources by the Zambian government to extend the grid. Some households especially in urban areas are also poor to afford the connection fee even in areas where grid electricity is available.
Refrigeration is required for the storage of perishable foods such as meat and vegetables, allowing users to buy in bulk, which saves money and time.
Space cooling is a significant in Zambia, though most low-income households cannot afford this service. Air conditioning is not generally available for those on low incomes, though a few have fans, both urban and rural poor.
The main fuels used for refrigeration are electricity and kerosene, using either refrigerators or deep freezers (a freezer used for freezing food). Electricity is the preferred choice for refrigeration. Very few people in non-electrified homes possess cooling appliances of any sort due to lack of appliances and cost of fuel. A.7 Communications and entertainment services Communication devices include; radios, mobile and landline telephones, computers, hi-fis, television sets, tape and video recorders, use grid electricity, solar, dry cell or lead acid batteries.. In rural areas, 6% of radios use batteries. Though batteries do not last long, and are considered expensive, some electrified households continue to use battery-operated radios because they do not have access to either inverters or DC adaptors. In order to reduce costs, and prolong the lifetime of dry cell batteries, many low-income households use these sparingly, for example, people will listen to important broadcasts such as news bulletin, stories, and sport.
Telephone services are used between relatives, friends and colleagues located in different areas (for both social and business purposes). The energy requirements for fixed line telephones draw the necessary power from the transmission lines. A.8 Household appliances Energy use is dependent on access. Where grid electricity is available, it is used for televisions, radios and pressing irons. Solar power and car batteries are also used for TV, radios and pressing irons, although the initial cost of the batteries (especially solar batteries) is high for most low income households, and battery recharging services may not be locally available. Solar Home Systems have a high initial investment requirement which most of the poor households cannot afford. Stoves use mainly charcoal, firewood, kerosene and crop residues. A.9 Energy for micro-enterprises To earn incomes or supplement household income, householders operate various micro-enterprises for which: electricity, solar power and kerosene are used to cool drinks for sale, electricity, charcoal and firewood are used to provide heat for hair salons. Electricity and diesel are used to provide energy for welding. Solar power and electricity are used to charge batteries for customers. Manual power and electricity are used to run the sewing machines. Three stone fireplaces are used to provide heat to boil the meat sold to customers. Entertainment at music functions and hand speakers for announcements in different ceremonies and market activities require electricity. A.10 Summary and conclusions Household energy demand is largely governed by the rural/urban divide and by poverty. In rural areas, biomass and residues are used by the overwhelming majority of low-income households for cooking, water heating, space heating, and small enterprise. For the very poor, biomass fuels may also be used for lighting. Charcoal is widely used in urban areas for cooking, water heating, space heating and small enterprise. There are a wider range of energy services available in urban areas, including refrigeration, communications, grid-powered lighting etc. but these services are constrained by high costs - especially for appliances. A high proportion of both urban and rural households use kerosene for lighting. B. Household energy supply B.1 introduction Fuels used for cooking in households in Zambia are firewood, charcoal, kerosene, electricity, cow dung, and crop residues. While charcoal is the main fuel for cooking in urban areas (80%), fuelwood is predominantly used in rural areas; urban areas 25%, rural areas 90% (Living Conditions in Zambia-1998). Kerosene is used by nearly all non-electrified households for lighting. Grid electricity is still not available to 80% of households in Zambia, and in some areas wood fuel resources are limited. Where wood fuel is available at no cost to the consumer, it tends to be the cooking fuel of choice. LPG and coal are not used to any extent due to cost and lack of availability. B.2 wood Costs-in urban areas wood is sold. There are health hazards associated with the use of wood for cooking due to poor combustion resulting to excessive smoke emission to the surroundings.
Wood is used by more than 90 percent of the Zambian population (estimated at nearly 1.8m), amounting to around 4.0 MTOE (1999), mainly in rural households particularly to meet thermal energy needs for cooking, space heating, micro enterprise process heat provision and water heating throughout the year (2000 census preliminary report). While it is generally assumed that most wood is collected at no cost, there are some areas where wood has to be paid for due to scarcity, and there is also an opportunity cost due to the time required in fuelwood collection.
Most wood is burnt on open fires, with low efficiencies, although in order to improve efficiency and save fuel, some households are adopting improved wood stoves with efficiencies reaching 30%. Improved stoves (ceramic and metal ceramic) can be bought from the market at 5 Euro or can be self built (mud stoves). B.3 Crop residues / dung Crop residues/dung are mainly used in rural areas where wood is scarce. In households with cattle, people make cow dung cakes and leave them to dry, or they collect dry cow dung from the cattle grassing fields. During dry season, when there is not enough grass for grazing, cow dung becomes scarce. Cow dung is mainly used in the Western and Southern provinces of Zambia. Crop residues are mainly available during the harvesting season and this varies from place to place.
Cow dung/crop residues are wood substitutes used by an estimated 21, 000 households for cooking, water heating and space heating. Households that rely on crop residues and dung for fuel often use three stone fireplace stoves. Dung is not commercialised.
It is estimated that 400,000 toe/annum of residues are produced, based on the number of cattle in areas where dung is used and crop production for the year 2000 (Central Statistic Office Agriculture and Pastoral Production 1999/2000). B.4 charcoal Charcoal is a very important household energy resource in urban areas of Zambia. The charcoal is produced in rural areas from trees harvested from natural forests. It is found in almost all urban areas of Zambia where transporters from rural areas supply using trucks carrying about 150 bags each weighing about 40kg. The supply of charcoal to urban areas is very reliable, only decreasing during the rainy season. In urban areas more than 80% of the population uses charcoal for cooking, water heating and space heating. Nearly half a million households use a total of 628,000toe annually in the household sector. The cost of charcoal is around 90-100 ?/toe
Traditionally charcoal is burnt in metal charcoal stoves with low efficiencies of below 15 percent. A growing small percentage of households have adopted improved charcoal stoves with higher efficiencies of more than 30 percent, such as the Ziko stove, promoted by CARE International. The lifetime of traditional metal stoves is about six months while that of improved stoves is about 18 months. The prices also vary, metal traditional stoves costs about 3 Euro, whereas improved stoves prices averages about 5 Euro.
Charcoal is produced from wood cut from natural forest by rural charcoal producers who use traditional earth mound kilns. It is then packed into 40kg bags and transported to urban areas where it is either sold wholesale in bags or in small quantities of one kg by charcoal vendors or households. (The Lusaka Charcoal Supply Stabilisation Project Disaster) B.5 coal The proportion of low-income households using coal for cooking is very small. Although Zambia mines coal in the southern part of the country, coal is not available for household cooking due to high delivery costs, which make coal more expensive than firewood and charcoal. The economic and financial costs of supplying coal briquettes on a commercial bases and consumer acceptance are not clear. A recent coal briquetting pilot project has not come up with tangible outputs to commercialise the production of coal briquettes. Appliances that use coal, such as stoves and water heaters, are not readily available on the Zambian market and the government has not attempted to promote coal as a domestic fuel. B.6 kerosene Kerosene is widely accessible, in many areas of Zambia, where it is estimated that around 1.3m households use it. Affordability of kerosene and its appliances are the major constraints, particularly in rural areas, where it cannot compete effectively with freely available energy sources such as wood, crop residues and cow dung. Space heating with kerosene is a very expensive means of heating in both economic and foreign exchange terms. This is exacerbated by the increasing price of kerosene due to the devaluation of the local currency (Kwacha).
Cooking with kerosene is the most expensive common means of cooking in both economic and foreign exchange terms. The stoves are relatively cheap, with an efficiency of around 45%. The disadvantages include the smell from kerosene, which sometimes taints the foods and the smoke it produces. There is research which indicates that approximately 4% of the fuel is not burned, and enters the atmosphere as very fine particles with a high concentration of hydrocarbons. Large concentrations of CO are also observed. Another disadvantage of using these cheap kerosene stoves is that they are not durable, and have been blamed for a number of fire accidents and burns.
The most common device for lighting in most low-income households is the kerosene lamp locally known as koloboi. This is simple in design because one only needs a bottle with a lid and a hole is made in the lid to accommodate the wick. The wick can be anything from a thread to a piece of cloth. It is highly polluting.
Despite these problems, about 17200 toe of kerosene was used to meet household energy needs in 1999.Kerosene is normally distributed through the major oil marketing companies, and is transported using road tankers to service stations, where it is sold. B.7 lpg LPG is produced locally at INDENI (crude is imported) and also imported from South Africa and like any other petroleum fuel it is expensive for the low-income households (around 850?/toe). Appliances, accessories and fuel are expensive and difficult to access and most poor people are unaware of the possibility of using LPG for cooking. There is a perception, among those who do not use LPG, that it is dangerous - mainly due to lack of information on the safe usage of LPG. As a result, LPG is not generally used by low-income households and its use is restricted to industry and the catering trade. Although it is perceived that LPG could be an important household energy source, current limited availability and poor distribution infrastructure limits its use. In the few households where it is used (estimated at less than 500), it is preferred for cooking only, using single burner, high pressure gas cookers. B.8 electricity Electricity is used by 20% of the urban population and 8% of the rural population. A majority of low-income households do not have access to the grid, or are not connected due to the high cost of appliances and/or connection fee. Further, low-income households are finding it increasingly difficult to pay electricity bills as the tariff is increasing. Only about 2% of low-income families use grid electricity for lighting, whilst torch batteries are used by most non-electrified homes to provide occasional illumination. Grid electricity is not used extensively for cooling fans and refrigerators are too expensive for those on low incomes. However, electricity, either grid or batteries, is used extensively for communications - telephone, radio, TV. The main constraints to electricity use are cost and inconvenience - especially where batteries have to be recharged. Solar Home Systems require too high an initial investment for most poor people. B.9 Summary and conclusions Energy supply differs markedly between rural and urban areas.
The constraints on rural use are due to poverty and poor access to low-cost electrification services. Low income households use wood for the majority of their needs, including cooking, space heating, water heating and, for those on very low incomes, for lighting too. Kerosene is also used, but it is more expensive and therefore only used for lighting for those on low incomes. Electricity is only available to those with higher incomes and is mainly decentralised, low voltage and thus used for lighting and communications.
In urban areas, poverty and lack of access to biomass dictate the use of fuels. The main fuels for cooking, space heating and water heating are charcoal and kerosene, as biomass and coal are largely unavailable or too expensive and electricity is only used by those on higher incomes. Those with access to electricity mainly use it for lighting, communications and ironing.
There is recognition that LPG is a valuable household energy resource which has so far not been exploited in Zambia. Though coal is mined in Zambia, it does not have an important role to play in household energy provision. C. Household energy sector governance C.1 introduction Zambia's current macroeconomic framework covers the period 2001-2003 and is supported by the World Bank, IMF, and other bilateral partners .The country is now working on a new programme for the period 2002-2004 with the following envisage macroeconomic indicators: a) An annual GDP growth rate of 4.3% in 2002 and 4.0% In 2003 and 2004 and 4.5% in 2005 b) Improve the country's external sector's viability . One key aspect which has been identified is that energy usage and poverty levels are directly related. Low-income households, for example tend to rely on a different set of energy carriers than do the rich. People living in abject poverty depend on wood, dung and other biomass fuels and use less conventional energy sources, such as electricity. Indoor air pollution, which is a major by-product of traditional energy sources, diminishes the quality of life, especially for women and children. Actions to raise the standards of household energy provision thus form part of this framework. C.2 Household energy sector governance structure In Zambia, the Ministry of Energy and Water Development is responsible for the formulation and implementation of the energy policy, including biomass, whilst the Energy Regulation Board is responsible for regulating matters within the energy sector
The Ministry of Tourism, Environment and Natural Resources is responsible for the formulation of policy on forestry and the environment. The Ministry deals with forestry management and conservation and works hand in hand with the Ministry of Energy on issues of biomass especially on the energy supply side. Health aspects are the responsibility of the Ministry of Health.
Generation and distribution of electricity in Zambia is done by ZESCO, which is a public electricity utility. ZESCO enjoys monopoly in the electricity sector. Kariba North Bank Company, a power generating entity, has been separated from ZESCO and is operating as an Independent Power Producer (IPP). The government still owns the IPP.
However, the government does not manage firewood supply. Rather communities collect firewood or buy firewood from an unregulated market. Sources of wood include: Natural forests, village woodlots, public woodlands, and smallholder farms. Whereas people in rural areas depend on the natural forest resources for their wood supplies, those in urban areas rely on wood vendors. Wood is cut from natural forests and transported by trucks to urban areas.
Charcoal production, trade and use is an industry in excess of ?100 Million per annum in Zambia. Studies done in 1995 put the figure at $49 Million and estimated consumption figures to increase from 0.7 Million tonnes in 1985 to 0.9 Million tonnes in the year 2000. The industry is not managed by any government structure. The industry is in the hands of the informal sector where the government has very limited control.
The Ministry of Energy and Water Development, through the private sector, are responsible for the availability of kerosene in the country. LPG is commercially available at BOC Gases and other gas companies in Zambia.The government arranges for the importation of spiked crude oil, which is refined in Ndola at the INDENI Refinery, and kerosene and LPG are two of the finished products. There is a fairly well established kerosene distribution network that the oil marketing companies have established, but the structure for the supply of LPG has not been adequately developed. C.3 Government policies/programmes Zambia's energy sector is dominated by reliance on biomass fuels like firewood and charcoal .as a modern source; electricity is natural choice for the country as there is usually excess production capacity in the order of 450MW. Further the bulk of the electricity production potential, which is mainly, hydro based, has not been exploited. The current electricity access nation wide is 20%. In terms of access by residence status, only 48% of the urban population and 2% of the rural population had access to electricity in 1998. The household sector is dominated by firewood and charcoal as the main sources of energy. Reliance on these traditional fuels arises from the high poverty levels .the poverty levels in turn make it difficult for households to make the transition from traditional to modern energy sources. The main focus of government programmes between now and 2010 is therefore to increase access to modern energy services - Increase urban electricity access from 48% in 1998 to 70% by 2010
- Increase rural electricity access from 2%in 1998 to 15% by 2010
- Reduce household charcoal consumption by 30,000 tonnes annually
- Increase the number of households with solar home systems from 400 in2002 to 20,000 by 2010.
- Promote increased use of solar energy in rural schools and rural health centres
- Find a viable alternative to charcoal as an urban household fuel
The government is running a rural electrification project, which aims at extending the supply of electricity in rural areas. The funds are generated from a levy charged on every electricity unit billed. The project has not been successful because not all the funds meant for rural electrification are deposited in the rural electrification fund. However, even if all the funds were used on rural electrification, the funds would not be adequate to increase the national electrification rate from 20% to 35% by the year 2010 as targeted by government.
The project has concentrated on extending the national grid, and this has disadvantaged those living far from the grid. To attract more funds, the government is planning to set up a Rural Electrification Agency, which will be managed by independent management and will promote private sector participation. It is hoped that some donors will finance some of the projects
The problem is further exacerbated by electricity becoming expensive .This is because the value of the local currency against the dollar is a variable in the tariff setting formula. This is as a result of restructuring of the electricity market, which has compelled government to stop, subsidising the tariffs.
Fuel substitution efforts by the government were made for kerosene use for cooking. The government, through cross subsidies, has promoted this through the sale of petroleum products. However there has been no deliberate policy by government to promote LPG as a fuel substitute for charcoal and wood.
As with other petroleum products, distribution of LPG is formalised due to the need for safety precautions. This requires the few LPG distributors and retailers to have licences before they are allowed to sell LPG.
There have been individual efforts for some years to promote the use of biogas, solar home systems, and small hydro. These efforts have been targeted at remote rural areas, which are not likely to be reached by grid electricity in the medium to long term. Recently, new and more organised renewable energy programmes are being initiated by the Government with the support of several donors. To date, however, there have been no government programmes on low-smoke fuels. C.4 Summary and conclusions The Zambian government is committed to a programme of modernisation which will address some of the key environmental and health issues which currently maintain those with low incomes within the poverty trap. The standard poverty-alleviation strategies-macroeconomic growth, human capital investment and income re-distribution-do not address poverty as it relates to energy. If patterns of energy use result in adverse effects on nutrition, health, productivity and the environment, for example, benefits in economic growth are likely to be absorbed only very slowly by poor people. In contrast, programmes that focus directly on creating opportunities for poor people to improve their energy services by increasing use of energy carriers can enable poor households to enjoy both short term and self reinforcing long term improvements in their living standards D. Household energy information D.1 introduction In 1998, a census was commissioned on household energy use. However, the results from this census have not yet been officially published. D.2 Availability and quality of information on the household energy sector Data is available, but is widely dispersed. There is a lot of information on the most common fuels for which money is paid, such as charcoal and electricity. It is more difficult to find information on coal or LPG, which are less common, or for fuels which are gathered, such as wood, dung and agri-residues D.3 Responsibility for collection of household energy information The Ministry of Energy and Water Development Central Statistical Office collected the 2000 Census data, including data on household cooking and lighting energy. D.4 Summary and conclusions It is easy to find information on common fuels on which money is paid but it is very difficult to find information on gathered fuels like firewood, cow dung and agri-residue. Results of the census undertaken by the Central Statistical Office are not released in time and as a result the information available is normally outdated.
Sparknet, May 2004
Categories: Zambia| Country Profiles
|
