Does Large-Scale Infrastructure Investment Alleviate Poverty? Impacts of Rwanda’s Electricity Access Roll-Out Program

Lenz, Luciane; Munyehirwe, Anicet; Peters, Jörg; Sievert, Maximiliane

doi:10.1016/j.worlddev.2016.08.003

Cited by 200 publications

(162 citation statements)

References 24 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

126

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Access to modern and sustainable energy and increased energy efficiency are fundamental for eliminating poverty [43]. Some studies have examined the causal relationship between electrification and human wellbeing [47][48][49][50] revealing evidence of the positive relationship between access to electricity (T7.1) and household income (T1.1 and T1.3) in Bangladesh, Nepal, Brazilian Amazon and Rwanda, respectively. Improved efficiency in the use of biomass (T7.3) in developing countries could help to meet a growing energy demand with renewable sources, reducing energy poverty (T1.1 and T1.2) [51].…”

Section: Sdg1 In Focus-poverty Eradicationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating Synergies and Trade-Offs among Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Explorative Analyses of Development Paths in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa

et al. 2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract:Understanding the linkages between multiple targets of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) may help to integrate different sectoral programmes and develop coherent cross-sectoral policy to explore synergies. Synergy is interaction among two or more actions, which will lead to an impact greater or less than the sum of individual effects. Therefore, synergy can be positive or negative (trade-off). This paper aims at developing an analytical framework to evaluate sectoral linkages and examine potential synergies and trade-offs among various SDGs' goals and targets. Synergies and trade-offs related to energy access (SDG7), clean water and sanitation access (SDG6), food security and sustainable agriculture (SDG2) and poverty alleviation (SDG1) have been evaluated from the perspective of developing countries using examples from South Asia (Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka) and Sub-Saharan Africa (Ghana, Ethiopia and Rwanda), and historical data for the period between 1990 and 2012. The analytical framework includes both qualitative and quantitative methods. Network analysis technique has been used for exploring the conceptual linkage among different indicators, and capturing the targets associated with SDGs. Advanced Sustainability Analysis (ASA) developed under the European framework programme has been used for quantifying the synergies and trade-offs among sustainability indicators. The analysis showed strong synergy among various SDG targets. Interestingly, the potential synergy differs from country to country and over time. Ghana and Sri Lanka had relatively higher potential synergy, whereas Rwanda and Nepal had relatively lower potential synergy among the various targets. Higher synergy values were evidenced in those cases where the policy have recognized and emphasized on linkages among cross-sectoral targets.

show abstract

Section: Sdg1 In Focus-poverty Eradicationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating Synergies and Trade-Offs among Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Explorative Analyses of Development Paths in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa

et al. 2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Interestingly, a handful of the studies also examining the impact of electrification on respiratory health conditions found no evidence of a positive effect. Lenz, Munyehirwe, Peters, and Sievert (2017), for instance, investigated the effects of the Electricity Access Role-Out Program (EARP) in Rwanda using a mixed-methods study design, which combined a non-randomised controlled trial, a descriptive cross-sectional survey of health centres, and qualitative surveys at the household, micro-enterprise, community chief, health centre, and school levels (Lenz et al, 2017). The authors found that approximately 40% of households in areas serviced by EARP reported an improvement in air quality within the home, due specifically to reduced kerosene usage following electrification, however no change in self-reported respiratory disease, eye disease, or headaches was observed (Lenz et al, 2017).…”

Section: Health Effects Of Electrificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Lenz, Munyehirwe, Peters, and Sievert (2017), for instance, investigated the effects of the Electricity Access Role-Out Program (EARP) in Rwanda using a mixed-methods study design, which combined a non-randomised controlled trial, a descriptive cross-sectional survey of health centres, and qualitative surveys at the household, micro-enterprise, community chief, health centre, and school levels (Lenz et al, 2017). The authors found that approximately 40% of households in areas serviced by EARP reported an improvement in air quality within the home, due specifically to reduced kerosene usage following electrification, however no change in self-reported respiratory disease, eye disease, or headaches was observed (Lenz et al, 2017). Bridge, Adhikari, and Fontenla (2016) similarly observed a positive but non-significant association between household electricity connections and respiratory health expenditures among rural households in Nepal, using a cross-sectional study design (Bridge et al, 2016).…”

Section: Health Effects Of Electrificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conceptualising the effect of access to electricity on health in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review

Irwin

Hoxha

Grépin

2019

Global Public Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Access to electricity is an important issue in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs) however its health implications are poorly understood. This paper systematically reviews the health effects of access to electricity and develops a conceptual model to summarise the pathways through which these effects may occur. The databases CINAHL, Embase, and MEDLINE were searched for studies examining the effects of access to electricity on health in LMICs. Thirty-three studies met the inclusion criteria: 23 focusing on electrification and 10 focusing on electricity reliability. Using a modified socio-ecological model, 4 main levels of influence were identified: (1) individual, (2) household, (3) community, and (4) institutional. Electrification was generally associated with positive health outcomes, such as reduced mortality, lower rates of disease, and improved quality of and access to care, while poor electricity reliability was associated with negative health outcomes, including increased morbidity and mortality, lower quality of care, and reduced utilisation of health services. Although the overall quality of the evidence was weak, given the many potential pathways through which electricity may affect health, efforts should be made not only to increase the number of connected households globally, but to improve the reliability of the electricity supply as well. ARTICLE HISTORY

show abstract

“…The impact of electricity access for development is confirmed by several scientific and applied case studies which revealed significant positive impacts, for example on household income, expenditure, health care, and educational outcomes [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25]. In particular for grid [26], SHS [27] and mini-grid [28] electrification the beneficial impacts on households with regard to illumination and access to information have been underlined while a direct economic impact remains uncertain for grid [26] and SHS [27] based approaches.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 94%

Visualizing National Electrification Scenarios for Sub-Saharan African Countries

et al. 2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Some 630 million people representing two-thirds of all Africans have no access to electricity, which is identified as a key barrier towards further development. Three main electrification options are considered within our work: grid extensions, mini-grids and solar home systems (SHS). A methodology is applied to all sub-Saharan African countries to identify in high geospatial resolution which electrification option is appropriate taking into account datasets for night light imagery, population distribution and grid infrastructure. Four different scenarios are considered reflecting grid development and electrification constraints due to low population density. The results clearly indicate a dominating role of SHS for achieving a fast electrification of the not supplied people. The share of supplied people by mini-grids is found to be rather low while grid extension serves a large share of the population. The decisive factors for these distinctions are population density and distance to grid. We applied several scenarios and sensitivities to understand the influence of these key parameters. The highest trade-off happens between SHS and grid extension depending on the selected thresholds. Mini-grid deployments remain in the range of 8 to 21%.

show abstract

Does Large-Scale Infrastructure Investment Alleviate Poverty? Impacts of Rwanda’s Electricity Access Roll-Out Program

Cited by 200 publications

References 24 publications

Evaluating Synergies and Trade-Offs among Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Explorative Analyses of Development Paths in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa

Evaluating Synergies and Trade-Offs among Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Explorative Analyses of Development Paths in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa

Conceptualising the effect of access to electricity on health in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review

Visualizing National Electrification Scenarios for Sub-Saharan African Countries

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About