I spent much of the first quarter of 2019 visiting several districts across Northern Malawi. Much of this time was spent interviewing and observing buyers and sellers of solar household systems. In a nation where approximately 10% of the population (17 million) have access to grid-based electricity (this drops to 1%-2% in rural areas), solar is widely seen as a crucial means to access some form of electricity. Solar technologies are increasingly affordable and are often imbued with a sense of moral goodness in the Global South, hailed for simultaneously addressing energy poverty and the need for low-carbon sources of energy to address climate change. However, there is more to the ground realities of solar technologies beyond this glowing veneer. My research examines these complexities through the prism of energy justice. In particular, the challenges associated with Malawian households adopting solar household systems.
One of the most striking observations across this research to date has been the extent of solar illiteracy among Malawian households. By this I am collectively referring to knowledge about how a solar system functions, how to purchase quality components, and the importance of warranties. This is particularly problematic in a market that is plagued with large volumes of sub-standard and fake products. For instance, we came across numerous households that had bought sub-standard panels or batteries, some falsely claiming to be “Made in Germany”. In addition, we observed poor installation and maintenance practices that had resulted in sub-optimal performance. In summary, a lack of solar literacy leaves energy-poor households in Malawi vulnerable to exploitation and/or likely to perpetuate improper usage of solar technologies.
Frayed wires. An example of an improperly connected solar household system in Northern Malawi
In response to these findings, I’ve been working with a range of stakeholders to develop a solar literacy campaign. The aim being to provide rural households with access to information that can facilitate better decision making about solar systems, specifically with respect to purchase, installation, maintenance and seeking customer support. This is a collaboration between UNSW’s Institute for Global Development, Mzuzu University and the Solar Trade Association (Malawi) and our hope is that this pilot initiative can serve as a foundation for a nation-wide effort. To this end, we have developed a consumer guide that we are mobilising through multiple communication strategies:
1. Mobilising communities - Training 15 community mobilisers to run information sessions on solar in their respective communities. We hope to reach a minimum of 600 households through this face-to-face method in Northern, Central and Southern Malawi. These mobilisers will serve as points of contact to facilitate two-way communication between the project team and the communities we partner with.
2. Printed Resources - We’ve developed an information booklet that provides critical information to households through locally designed cartoons. These have been developed in both Chichewa and Tumbuka, two of the most widely spoken languages in the country.
3. Community Radio – We’re investing in infomercials and Q&A sessions on popular community radio stations to augment face-to-face efforts and further increase reach over a 3-month period.
4. Social Media – We will be sharing digital versions of our guide and a short explainer video through Facebook and WhatsApp to target urban and peri-urban households.
5. Resource Sharing – We will make our digital resources available to any organisation that wishes to use or adapt for use across their initiatives.
Project member Bright Msuku training a group of solar mobilisers in Lilongwe, Malawi
This project is well underway! We are training mobilisers and deploying these resources through the next few weeks, with radio programming and social media posts scheduled to go right through to March 2020. We will also be conducting an impact evaluation of this initiative by July 2020 to determine if this campaign has had any effect on the decision-making behaviour of households in the targeted regions. I look forward to sharing our progress.
If you’d like to make any inquiries about this project, feel free to email me s.samarakoon@unsw.edu.au