The Rural Energy Challenge More than 1 billion people currently lack access to electricity services; more than half of them live in Sub-Saharan Africa (IEA 2016). Most governments and communities in the region have looked to the central grid as the primary choice for electrification. However, technological improvement is enabling decentralized options, such as mini-grids, to emerge as complementary sources of electricity.

Mini-grids—electrical generation and distribution systems of less than 10 megawatts (MW)—represent a relatively rapid means of providing electricity to rural centers that are far from grid infrastructure and unlikely to be connected in the short or medium term. Unlike small solar home systems, which generally provide power for lighting, mobile phone charging and appliances like fans and televisions, mini-grids can provide electricity for productive uses, such as grain milling, and they can be built in ways that allow for connection to a centralized grid.

These advantages have led the International Energy Agency (IEA) to project that mini-grids and stand-alone off-grid systems will play a key role in extending electricity services in rural Africa.

In August 2009, TaTEDO signed a one-year contract with ETC Foundation to mainstream gender into the Upscaling Access to Integrated Modern Energy Services for Poverty Reduction (UAIMES-PR)
programme. This contract was to implement the ENERGIA Phase 4 programme intervention strategy on Mainstreaming Gender in Energy Projects. Through this strategy, ENERGIA aimed to address the general lack of experience on to “how” gender could be incorporated into energy projects by providing technical and financial assistance to mainstream gender approaches into energy access projects. The gender mainstreaming component of the UAIMES-PR programme intended to ensure that the implementation of the programme was gender-sensitive and that outcomes were equityoriented, for the benefit of both men and women. It was also intended to address gender issues in the organisational, institutional, and corporate environment in which energy projects and programmes are developed and implemented.

The gender mainstreaming process involved the preparation of a Gender Action Plan (GAP), employing the steps outlined in the ENERGIA gender mainstreaming handbook. These steps included appointing a gender mainstreaming team, conducting gender diagnostic studies (literature review, project document review, institutional assessment and baseline survey), conducting meetings and workshops for preparation of the GAP, and sharing GAP experiences with other stakeholders. The participatory and interactive approaches that were employed enabled the gender team and the Tanzania Traditional Energy Development and Environment Organisation (TaTEDO) as a whole to actively participate in each stage and generate knowledge and lessons. The GAP thus formulated was instrumental in introducing
the initial steps of mainstreaming gender in UAIMES-PR, and also in TaTEDO as an institution.

Implementation of the GAP has already commenced at the institutional level of TaTEDO. The field implementation is yet to be undertaken, however, due to delays encountered in the procurement of
equipment for the Energy Service Platforms (ESPs)1 and Sustainable Energy and Entrepreneurship Centres (SEECEs)2, which are key components of the programme. The delays in project implementation
occurred due to the long European Union (EU) procurement protocol, which took almost three years to finalise (from 2009 to 2011). After the equipment is procured, the process of mainstreaming gender
will continue with implementation of the GAP in the UAIMES-PR programme, and documentation of the results for sharing with other stakeholders.

Despite the fact that the implementation of the GAP in field activities has been delayed, important knowledge, lessons, challenges and experiences have been gained during the initial processes of gender mainstreaming, including development of the knowledge and skills of TaTEDO staff, which are being applied in other programmes and projects.

For more than thirty-two years, TaTEDO-Sustainable Energy Services Organisation (TaTEDO-SESO) has been developing and promoting sustainable energy technologies and services in Tanzania at different hierarchies of communities.

The aim is to facilitate more people in the rural and urban areas in order to get access to sustainable energy technologies and services. The increase in access to sustainable energy technologies and associated services in the coming year of 2022 is reflected in an increased demand and expansion of TaTEDO-SESO services at the grass-root communities.

This is an important affirmation for TaTEDO-SESO and proof for the relevance and critical role of sustainable energy services for people in Tanzania. TaTEDO-SESO, during year 2022, implemented activities in rural and urban areas of eleven regions, twenty-eight districts and sixty sites in rural and urban areas of Tanzania. The organisation managed to implement five projects in those regions.

TaTEDO-SESO’s Community Intervention Approach was used to intervene communities which involved assessment of socio-economic and cultural factors, business and market development, promotion of support services and fostering enabling environment.