Determinants of energy use in the informal food sector

Figures & data

Figure 1. A typical example of a household energy ladder.

Figure 2. An example of energy stacking by informal food enterprises.

Table 1. Research study locations (Total enterprises surveyed n = 179).

	Rwanda (n = 56)	Senegal (n = 61)	South Africa (n = 62)
Main cities/locations	Kigali	Dakar	Cape Town
	(Huye) Butare	Kaolack	Johannesburg
	Nyamata	Saint-Louis	Durban

Table 2. Enterprises preparing food on- and off-site.

Location	Number
On-site	161
Off-site	18

Figure 3. Most commonly used energy sources by enterprises (N = 179).

Table 3. On-site electricity use and energy services.

What do you use electricity for?	1st importance	2nd importance	3rd importance	Total
Lighting	65	16	2	83
Boiling water	11	31	6	48
Charging cell phone	9	19	17	45
Cooking	5	2	2	9
Playing music	1	1	4	6
Refrigeration	1	1		2
Popcorn machine		1		1
Total responses	92	71	31	194

Table 4. Male respondents less likely to use modern energy sources as prime source.

	Traditional	Modern	Total
Male	32 (27%)	9 (15%)	41 (23%)
Female	86 (73%)	52 (85%)	138 (77%)
Total	118 (100%)	61 (100%)	179 (100%)

Table 5. Advantages and disadvantages of energy sources.

Energy source	Top 3 advantages	% of responses	Top 3 disadvantages	% of responses
Wood	Cheaper/affordable	52%	None	46%
	Cooks better	22%	Dirty	34%
	Saves electricity	19%	Expensive	15%
Charcoal	Cleaner	39%	None	42%
	Easily accessible	28%	Runs out quickly	33%
	Cheaper/affordable	26%	Expensive	27%
Gas	Cooks better	33%	Expensive	46%
	Cheaper/affordable	33%	Potentially dangerous	33%
	Easy to use	27%	None	18%
Electricity	Easy to use	39%	Expensive	52%
	Cooks better	32%	None	24%
	Cheaper/affordable	29%	Load shedding	21%

Table 6. Use of energy sources to reduce time spent on difficult tasks.

Use of energy sources that could reduce time spent on tasks	Male	Female
Yes	6 (13%)	20 (15%)
No	18 (40%)	67 (50%)
See no alternative	21 (47%)	46 (35%)
Total	45 (100%)	133 (100%)