The Energy Poverty Status of Off-Grid Rural Households: A Case of the Upper Blinkwater Community in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

Mahali Elizabeth Lesala (), Ngwarai Shambira, Golden Makaka () and Patrick Mukumba
Additional contact information
Mahali Elizabeth Lesala: Physics Department, Faculty of Science & Agriculture, University of Fort Hare, Alice 5700, South Africa
Ngwarai Shambira: Physics Department, Faculty of Science & Agriculture, University of Fort Hare, Alice 5700, South Africa
Golden Makaka: Physics Department, Faculty of Science & Agriculture, University of Fort Hare, Alice 5700, South Africa
Patrick Mukumba: Physics Department, Faculty of Science & Agriculture, University of Fort Hare, Alice 5700, South Africa

Energies, 2023, vol. 16, issue 23, 1-15

Abstract: This paper analyses the energy poverty status in off-grid rural households and its underlying socioeconomic factors. Employing the Foster–Greer–Thorbecke Technique and Probit regression on data from 53 households, the study uncovers a diverse array of energy sources in use, including firewood, paraffin, LPG, candles, and generators. Despite this energy source diversity, the poverty line threshold, as measured by the per capita energy expenditure line (92.40 ZAR) (1 US Dollar = ZAR 18.20), reveals the prevalence of energy poverty. Approximately 15% of respondents are experiencing severe energy poverty and 22% are facing moderate vulnerability to energy poverty, while over 50% are not energy poor. This indicates that, although they may lack access to electricity, their energy usage and expenditure in other forms might still be sufficient to meet their basic energy needs. This distinction highlights the importance of assessing energy poverty, extending beyond a simplistic assessment of absolute poverty but taking into account the dynamic nature of income levels. Gender, household size, formal education, and social grants emerge as key indicators shaping the energy landscape in the area. The results clearly indicate that male-headed households and larger households are less susceptible to energy poverty, while increasing formal education and social grants increases the risk of households being exposed to energy poverty. These findings suggest that the problem of energy poverty in the area is uniquely linked to social, economic, and cultural issues. Therefore, interventions targeted at addressing energy poverty problems must address the underlying social, economic, and cultural factors.

Keywords: energy poverty; energy sources; wellbeing; regression analysis; off-grid households (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/23/7772/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/23/7772/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:16:y:2023:i:23:p:7772-:d:1287785

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().