For my master thesis, I set out to understand how people use energy in an informal settlement in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya in East Africa. That is a particularity for GCE students because most master thesis are written in natural science disciplines. Instead, mine is dealing with qualitative questions of everyday life.

With my background, I was glad to come across the SEED project and its master thesis offers. So, I applied and now, six months later, I not only got to travel to Kenya for four weeks but also immersed myself in all sorts of questions around informality, energy access and urban life in a capital city like Nairobi. The purpose of this blog entry is to give you some insights into my field work in Nairobi and the project I’m involved in.

SEED Initiative

SEED stands for Sustainable Energy Education District in Informal Settlements and is a project funded by the German Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF). The TH Ingolstadt has the main lead for the project and is cooperating with the TU-K in Nairobi, Kenya and UEM in Maputo, Mozambique, to develop a model for a community hub that provides energy generated by solar power to the local people. The University of Bayreuth is advising the project from a social-geographical point of view. My master thesis project supports in terms of in-depth qualitative research for the research area in Nairobi (another student from Bayreuth does the same for an informal settlement in Maputo). The research aims at understanding social structures and identifying main stakeholders so that in a second phase of the research project a pilot of such an energy hub could be successfully built in the informal settlement. Early citizen involvement and careful planning are, therefore, a key part of the project even though some of the people I interviewed wished for a quicker solution and less talking.

Kingstone

The village is one of 200 villages in Mukuru which is one of 13 informal settlement agglomerations in Nairobi. According to the last census in 2019, nearly 20 000 people live in Kingstone in 4911 different households on an area of approximately 7.7 ha. The small, shack-like houses constructed out of corrugated metal around a wooden frame usually have a standardised size of 10x10ft, which is a bit more than 9m², and in most households one room is shared between parents and children.

Several industrial sites and the Ngong River, which frequently floods the whole area during rainy season, are adjacent to the village. Some people tell me they have lived here for more than 20 years; others just arrived two years ago from rural areas looking for jobs; some found an employment, others employed themselves, and many are still looking for a source of income. Due to the circumstances, barely any official infrastructure can be found in the village. Access to water and sanitation is available on a community level. On the left and right of the few main roads (not passable by car), small shops sell all sorts of goods, especially food, beauty products, and hardware. The wires of the Sambaza system decorate the roads in a chaotic way. As soon as leaving the main roads, corridors of one house next to the other reveal the internal structure of the neighbourhood. Only little light arrives on the ground, and, in the windowless rooms, it is hard to tell whether it is day or night. Therefore, reliable electricity is urgently needed to light the otherwise merely dark rooms.

Bringing some light into the energy situation of Kingstone – What I learnt from the interviews

The special characteristic of this place is a system of electricity supply called Sambaza, which means something like “sharing” or “distributing” in Swahili. Due to a lack of official electricity infrastructure in the fast-growing informal settlements next to the industrial sites of the city, informal electricity suppliers started to take on the challenge of giving a minimal electricity access to the local households. Their idea is to connect all households that request their service to a grid that uses the power lines supplying the surrounding industries. Jeremia, the head of the local electricity suppliers in Kingstone, tells me that his biggest concern is Kenya Power officials that disconnect the Sambaza system from the national grid. This would leave hundreds of households without electricity, and Jeremia is responsible for fixing it together with his colleagues.

On the other side, Kenya Power knows that so-called cartels tab their power lines and steal electricity that nobody pays for. They must cover the incurred costs somehow because all their attempts to stop illegal practises failed so far. Consequently, other customers of Kenya Power outside the informal settlements have to pay higher fees for their electricity. Additionally, Kenya Power officials threaten the cartels with disconnecting the Sambaza over the weekend. They ask for bribe money in return for tolerating the illegal connections to the national grid. (Although the Sambaza system is an illegal one, the practises are not hidden. In contrary, all people involved were welcoming me to ask my questions and answered them in detail.) Then again, the cartels pass on those costs of bribery to the people subscribed to their services in forms of higher monthly fees. Nowadays, one connection costs around 500Ksh per month, which equals approximately 4 Euros.

People like Simon complain that those 500Ksh are not worth the service because the connections are not reliable at all. Even when paying the monthly fee always on time, he can sometimes not operate his barber shop properly because the blackouts can last for two weeks or more. He now uses rechargeable clippers that a neighbour who owns a small Solar Home System (SHS) charges for him. Of course, this is not free – so Simon pays twice. If he would not pay the 500Ksh per month, the cartel would instantly cut his connection completely.

That is what happened to Eva as she was not able to pay the cartel on time. She explains to me that she can’t afford a Sambaza connection nowadays anymore because the economic crisis in the country leaves her and her family with barely enough money for living. School fees, food, water, and health services have a higher priority to her – as for most locals I spoke to. Instead, she has a small SHS and a rechargeable bulb to light their only room in the evening. If she could afford it, she would go back to Sambaza, because it is still the cheapest option and the only one to obtain grid connection in the village. At the same time, she is very aware of the risks of the system. For instance, the load is not controlled and therefore, overloads are frequently responsible for fire outbreaks. This is a high-risk situation that causes severe damage in the densely populated village that has no official infrastructure of firefighting and no insurance covering the damage.

The other major risk becomes visible when walking through the small mud roads of the village: Wires everywhere. Most of them are not isolated, just single wires that connect several households. This means that whoever touches them can be electrocuted and, during the rainy season, sometimes even the water in the roads electrocutes people walking through it.

In addition, Edith, a local health volunteer, adds that the government should take its responsibility and live up to their word of providing electricity to all households by 2020. She points to empty metering boxes that hang damaged on polls above the roofs of the houses. The last project of the government financed by the world bank brought official grid connection and meters to the top of those polls but somehow the project failed to connect those electricity meters to the households. In a matter of weeks, all metering boxes had been gutted and the cartels had to take over again blaming the government. They claim that the government had failed to sensitise the local population for the changes that were meant to improve living conditions. Kenya Power reacted to the failure by removing the only transformer from the area in February 2020, leaving no option for the local community to gain legal access to the official grid.

Zephania found his own answer to these unfortunate circumstances. Two weeks after his official connection had been cut, he went to the city to buy two solar panels. These panels power now not only his shop for electrical appliances, but also his home and the homes of his neighbours. To secure the power panels from theft, he placed them on top of the roof of his two-storey house in a backyard. Due to his job, he is able to maintain the system with its battery himself. He wishes that more people would follow his example, which – in his opinion – could be an effective way to fight the cartels.

Nevertheless, up to now most households are connected to the Sambaza system. Asking people from the local community why they still use Sambaza, the answer is the same. If they want to use electricity at home or in their small shops and if they cannot afford the initial costs of an appropriate solar system, they are left without a choice and they are willing to take the risk. At the same time, the cartels draw their vision of supplying the village via a larger solar power plant. That would allow them to supply electricity at much cheaper rates because they would not have to bribe Kenya Power. As ambitious their plan sounds, it leaves me with the question who will pay for and set up the system, then maintain it and if they would be willing to sell power at cheaper rates. Most community members I asked told me that they would prefer an individual solar system over a community one because they are not satisfied with the services offered by the cartel.

Over the four weeks I spend in Kingstone, I came to understand that if the issue was easy to solve, somebody would have done it already. I am glad that my task is “only” to find out the motivation of the actors in this energy network and get in touch with the local community to learn about their daily energy practises. The SEED project will continue its work to develop a concept for an energy hub. I know that my master thesis is only a small part of it, but I now know for sure that citizen involvement is key if the project is to succeed and not fail as other initiatives did before. That is why this social science perspective on the topic has to be a core part of the project.

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The airplane is making its landing approach around 10 am at the airport of Namibia’s capital city, Windhoek. Quite exhausted after the 10 hours flight through the night, I look up. Outside I can see dry grass, some bushes and a seemingly endless savannah. I am finally in Africa! A bright sun is gleaming in a cloudless blue sky and I am preparing myself for the heat. But when I step out of the plane, a strong gust of cold wind blows in my face. Shivering I draw my jacket closer around my shoulders. What a start for spending the next two weeks in Namibia!

We are spending the first two days of our excursion in Windhoek, a clean, and quite European looking city, trying to acclimatize to the windy and colder than expected conditions. On our very first day, we have the opportunity to meet John Kasaona, who is the head of the the IRDNC (Integrated Rural Development and Nature Conservation), one of two major nature conservation agencies in Namibia (the other one is NASCO (Namibian Association of Community-Based Natural Resource Management Support Organizations)). John Kasaona is a huge man with lively eyes, who greets us friendly and guides us into his office.

John tells us that Namibia experienced a severe drought in 1980 that endangered many wildlife species and threatened the life of the communities depending on the animals. Thus, the government decided to act and engage rangers to protect wildlife. But who knew the bush and the animals best? The answer was simple: Local poachers. So, John’s father, a former poacher, became a conservationist und John became one after him. In 1986, the number wildlife began to increase again and communities got the right to manage the nature surrounding them. To make nature conservation work, it is crucial that the locals can also benefit from nature. “Conserve and make sure that you benefit from the resources that you protect,” says John. Ten years later, the “Nature Conservation Amendment Act” finally passed, allowing communities to become so-called “conservancies”. This would prove to be a very successful concept throughout Namibia in terms of nature conservation.

Communities wanting to become a conservancy have to define their boundaries, give themselves a constitution, elect representatives of the community and submit management and financial plans. Thus, a conservancy resembles a national park, with the exception that people are still allowed to live on and use the land in defined areas. Nevertheless, the local communities have to respect certain restrictions e.g. in hunting and land use, to conserve nature. In turn, the conservancy gets the right to manage its own land. To generate income, conservancies can set up contracts with investors, who want to build lodges for tourists and trophy hunters. Part of the profit of the lodge goes then to the conservancy. The money is can be distributed evenly amongst the conservancy members or be used to build schools, health points or other projects that benefit the community. To make the foundation process even easier, the IRDNC provides assistance when communities choose to become a conservancy. John told us, he once camped under a large tree for many weeks, until the conservancy was finally running. Now, the conservancy office building is built under that tree. (Check out John’s TedTalk as well.) Today, in 2018, the number of conservancies has summed up to 82 conservancies in Namibia. And it is working: Wildlife numbers are increasing, poaching is becoming harder and harder and ecosystems find their balance again. Thus, Namibia, which is one of the few countries who specifically address habitat conservation and the protection of natural resources in their constitution, can set an example for us all.

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„If you could act, but you don’t, the whole world will hold you responsible. That’s why I give my best.”    – Kisilu Musya

In November 2017, the climate of our planet Earth was all over in the media: The “Conference of the Parties” (COP23) took place in Bonn, where representatives of 197 discussed how to implement the climate goals set at the Paris Agreement 2015. This time, 38 students of the master’s program “Global Change Ecology” had the chance to take part in the COP23 and present their study program within an exhibition booth. Global Change Ecology holds an official observer status for the UN since 2009, so 8 students could follow the climate negotiations close-up in the “Bula Zone”. The other students could attend side events in the so called “Bonn Zone”, see panel discussions about a variety of topics and have a look at all the exhibitions of different programmes, associations and countries. So, everyone returned with many new experiences and insights and maybe also a different view on the world of climate politics. (See also our articles about our experiences at COP23.)

But how to give somebody an understanding of the atmosphere of such an event – the successes and failures, the merits and danger, the swaying between euphoria and disappointment – beyond blog and newspaper articles and pictures? To bring the spirit of COP23 back to Bayreuth – the discussions, the findings, the failures – the students from GCE chose to organize a movie night at Glashaus with a following panel discussion with students who attended the COP23. The movie “Thank you for the rain” from Julia Dahr tells the story of Kisilu Musya, a Kenyan farmer, whose community is endangered by the impacts of climate change. Kisilu records his everyday life in the village with a handheld camera and shows the audience how his harvest is at risk. Due to climate change the long-awaited rain fails to appear and the plants are withering… When the rain finally comes, it is extreme and causes harm to houses and plants alike. Eventually, climate activists learn about Kisilu and his story and invite him to speak at the 21. climate conference in Paris.The movie fee was funded by the BcG Alumni (Alumni association of Biology and Earth Sciences in Bayreuth).

The Glashaus was well-filled for the movie presentation and around half of the audience stayed for the follow-up panel discussion. Alicia Medina Valdiviezo from Peru and Judith Schepers, Martin Baur, Patrick von Jeetze and Katharina Funk from Germany spoke about their impressions from COP23: They felt – similarly to Kisilu – a certain euphoria to be able to attend the world’s biggest climate conference. But then the negotiations stretched over days and all that was going on was mostly strategical manoeuvres. Thus, it was not easy to believe in a successful outcome of the COP. Did the politicians really want to reach an agreement? Did they really care to limit the warming to 1,5°C? Did they realize the importance of immediate action? Patrick von Jeetze stressed that especially the pre-2020 actions are crucial. Almost nobody is aware that Germany needs to become climate neutral within 20 years to fulfil its requirements according to the Paris agreement. Nevertheless, it recently became clear that Germany will fail its climate goals for 2020, mainly because of an enlargement of the transport sector. Judith Schepers talked about the island nation Kiribati, which will be destroyed in the near future – by hurricanes caused by climate change. Its inhabitants have only one option: humane migration. And Alicia Medina Valdiviezo indicated that especially indigenous people will be affected by climate change. She illustrated how indigenous communities do have their own coping mechanisms which are nevertheless presumed to be “non- scientific” by the science community. This traditional knowledge should come to the fore at climate conferences.

The audience discussed mainly about the (non-) action of the German policy as well as possibilities to motivate people to take more action. And even though climate change is an immense challenge for humanity, the GCE students had the feeling that the visitors went home caring a little bit more about climate change than before. And even though these conferences seem to make very little progress – the Paris Agreement was a major breakthrough in climate politics. Nearly every country has signed the contract, acknowledging the the issue of climate change and the urgent need for action. Now we have to make sure that the Paris Agreement is implemented accordingly. This is why these conferences are immensely important nevertheless.

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“Negotiations are important, but action is more important” – Salaheddine Mezouar, COP22 President

The first week of the conference was marked by the presence of several African countries which share together the urgent need of implementing the Paris Agreement. Besides participating individually to main plenary meetings and informal consultations during meetings of the convention and protocol bodies on specific agenda item of the Paris agreement, the African Group organized several closed meetings at least twice a day in order to discuss, prepare and clarify the position, visions and expectations of African countries during COP 23. Unfortunately, we didn’t have access to those closed meetings. As a result, the point of view expressed here is based on what we have heard and seen during plenaries as well as informal discussion with countries’ representatives.

Africa is highly vulnerable to climate change
I think we heard this sentence or something similar at every single speech of African negotiators during plenary meetings, and it’s not false. From coastal locations in the West, tropical ecosystems in the center, small islands in the Indian Ocean to arid and semi-arid regions in the North and South, every single country feels the adverse effects of climate change. Agriculture is the main sector impacted by climate change, due to the high reliance on precipitation for rain-fed agriculture which accounts for nearly 95% of farmed land in Africa. This high vulnerability is also linked to poverty which induces low adaptive capacities and mitigation actions across the continent.

A lot of progress is made at the national level
In response of the adverse effects of climate change, a lot of efforts is put in place across the continent to cope with climate change both at the national and international level. During plenaries and side-events, several African countries shared their efforts made. Amongst the 169 Parties who already ratified the Paris Agreement, 52 are from Africa. This denotes their commitment and their need to implement the Paris Agreement which entered into force in November 2016. In addition to that, of the 8000 climate and sustainable development projects registered under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), more than 45% are from African countries said Frank Volke, Chair of the CDM executive board during the 2nd meeting of the ad hoc group responsible for the implementation of the Paris agreement (APA) when presenting the annual report of their activities on Tuesday 7 November.

More than 45% of the 8000 climate and sustainable development profects are from African countries.

However, out the 52 Africans countries who ratified the Paris Agreement, only 5 already submitted their first Biennial Update Report (BUR), 2 countries submitted the second one and the rest are actively working on their own. This shows the difficulties and the challenges for African countries even if they share the same enthusiasm in the fight against climate change. At the national level, efforts are being made to improve GHG inventories and to bring together several actors, like the Climate Change Forum presented by the representative of Uganda during the first Presidency’s Open Dialogue on Wednesday, and which brings together government,  NGOs, members of the civil society, youths, local communities to discuss and find common solutions. In addition to that, several countries have already identified keys sectors focusing on adaptation and mitigation actions.

Need for collective efforts – a strong signal sent by the German Government

“Limiting greenhouse gas emissions is a central challenge for the future. Adaptation measures will be required in many countries…adaptation to climate change is an equally important second pillar of the Paris Agreement. Germany has been very committed in this area in the past and will remain so in future… we will once again support the Adaptation Fund this year with an additional 50 million euros” – Dr. Barbara Hendricks, German Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety

This was perceived as a strong and powerful signal sent by the German government to other developed countries to come together and assist developing countries in the fight against climate change. Across the continent, challenges are diverse and during plenaries, African representatives have expressed their difficulties and needs in term of capacity building, technology transfer, the adaptation fund, additional funds for losses and damages as well as funds for medication. This contribution from Germany will help to move forward and reach the annual amount of $100 billion promised for 2020 by developed countries towards developing ones. Since we are all in the same canoe, several collective efforts need to be implemented to meet this goal before 2020.This means:

 “We must act in solidarity because the story will not hold back who was stronger or weaker. Negotiations are important, but action is more important” – Salaheddine Mezouar, COP22 President

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