Final energy footprints in Zambia: Investigating links between household consumption, collective provision, and well-being

Substantial literature exists on household lifestyles and related energy use and emissions in the global north, but little is known for many countries the global south. We estimate household-level energy footprints for Zambia covering direct (traditional and modern energy carriers) and indirect energy use, and adopting energy extended multiregional input-output. We employ final energy consumption, as it is closer to energy services and thus the purpose of energy use than the total primary energy use. The inequality in energy footprints differs from the inequality in incomes: the poorest half of the households have similar energy footprints and only high-income urban households have significant indirect energy footprints, associated with spend on goods and services. We examine the association between energy footprints and basic well-being measured in terms of physical health, education, nutrition and access to clean water using logistic regression, for a sub-sample of households with children under the age of five. We find that access to provisioning systems is more important than income for need satisfaction. Rural households have limited access to modern energy and provisioning systems and as a result fewer of them attain desirable well-being outcomes. We conclude that access to collective provisioning systems such as education, electricity and indoor sanitation is more important for household need satisfaction than individual provisioning in the form of ownership of durables, or even income. Further research is needed to improve the understanding of the association between energy use and needs satisfaction as it is crucial for addressing decarbonisation and human development agendas.

Automated summary

This study explores household energy use in Zambia and its relationship with basic well-being. It finds significant differences in energy use between the poorest households and high-income urban households, emphasizing the importance of access to provisioning systems over income for need satisfaction.