by Kizito Sikuka
The global community is in total agreement. There is need to intensify efforts to harness renewable energy as the world is fast running out of traditional energy sources such as coal.
The push towards uptake of renewable energy resources and technologies is that such sources of energy are generally secure, as well as reliable and are less polluting to the environment as compared to fossil energy.
While significant progress is being made by the global community to embrace the use of renewable energy services and sources, more needs to be done to mainstream gender in the sector.
This is particularly important as the provision of energy services has different impacts on women and men.
For example, the majority of women in the Southern African Development Community (SADC), especially those who reside in the countryside, continually face energy-related hurdles and are tied into servitudes by the type of energy source available for their cooking and lighting needs.
Women also still face challenges in accessing some of the renewable energy products and technologies because of the prohibitive start-up cost of installing such equipment.
As a result, they walk long distances to collect firewood, which is usually heavy, compromising their physical health and wellbeing.
A new report