Category: ENERGIA
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Charlot Magayi (Mukuru Stoves)
Charlot Magayi is the CEO and founder of Mukuru Stoves, a social enterprise that recycles waste metal to produce clean cookstoves for low-income households. Mukuru Stoves was originally based in Nairobi, selling to urban households, but moved its operations to western Kenya to better serve those most in need. Their business model focuses on partnering…
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Neha Juneja (Greenway Appliances)
Neha Juneja is one of the co-founders of Greenway Appliances, the largest clean cooking company in India, with recently expanded operations in Zambia. India’s response to COVID19 has had profound impacts on Greenway. With India having the fourth largest number of COVID cases at the time, the country went into a strict lockdown in March,…
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Esther Altorfer (Sistema.bio)
Esther Altorfer joined Sistema.bio six years ago, serving in various functions across the finance and operations departments. Sistema.bio is a global social enterprise that first launched in Mexico 10 years ago, and has since expanded operations across Latin America, East Africa, and India. Premised on empowering smallholder farmers, Sistema.bio’s biogas systems convert animal into clean…
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COVID-19 and Women’s Energy Entrepreneurship: A conversation with five women entrepreneurs about adapting to a crisis
The COVID-19 pandemic has created new and unusual obstacles for industries around the world. The clean cooking and sustainable energy sectors are no exceptions. Women entrepreneurs are rising to the challenge, even as many are bearing additional responsibilities. To better understand these challenges, Sustainable Energy for All, the Clean Cooking Alliance, ENERGIA, and members of…
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The Green Climate Fund must change course to have a real impact on lives
Sulis Setiawati plucks some fresh vegetables from a field and smiles: “Thanks to the solar irrigation, farmers can now grow a range of fresh vegetables when in the past they had to survive from growing corn and maize.” She tells how farmers can now farm during the eight-month long dry season, giving a boost to…
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Hivos/ENERGIA, EnDev and MECS launch Gender and Energy Innovation Facility
Hivos/ENERGIA, EnDev, and MECS are delighted to announce the creation of a joint Gender and Energy Innovation Facility, a new space aiming at developing, testing and evaluating innovative approaches to address persistent gender challenges in energy access. Innovation to overcome persistent gender barriers and reinforce sustainable development Energy access is fundamental and essential for satisfying…
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Women leaders call for action in response to COVID-19: Opening opportunities for gender equality in the transition to sustainable energy
An opinion piece by Sheila Oparaocha and Elizabeth Cecelski (ENERGIA), Rabia Ferroukhi (IRENA), Dymphna van der Lans (Clean Cooking Alliance), Irene Giner-Reichl (GWNET), Monica Maduekwe (ECREEE), Ajaita Shah (Frontier Markets) As women leaders working to achieve sustainable energy for all, we are calling for gender equality in post-COVID-19 measures to build back better! Women…
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ENERGIA’s Tribute to Prof. Kirk Smith, Professor of Environmental Health Sciences at the University of California, Berkeley
Dear ENERGIA Partners and Colleagues, Many of you will have been stunned and saddened to have heard by now of the passing this week of Kirk Smith, Professor of Environmental Health Sciences at the University of California, Berkeley. Many memorials are being written and here is an excellent one from India. Kirk has a special…
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How Assy Ba is coping with the severe impacts on her business
My business has been heavily affected by the COVID-19 outbreak, due to the restrictions placed on travels. The economic impact on my activity is severe. Once my savings are gone, I will not have any other sources of income to feed my family, let alone to repay my business loan. Assy is a…
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Kamala Bhattarai’s race against time
One morning, I went to my poultry farm to see the chickens and I was shocked seeing almost 700 chickens lying dead. I was speechless. I don’t know how I came back home. My daughter tried to talk to me but I was unconscious and could not respond to her. When I regained consciousness,…
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Jane Anyango Kola’s post-coronavirus hopes for her community
I believe that this crisis could be an opportunity to promote clean and modern energy services in rural areas. This would also help my business grow, while improving health and education in my community. Jane Anyango Kola lives in Homabay Town, on the shores of Lake Victoria in Western Kenya. She has been…
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How do grid and off-grid systems enhance or restrict gender equality?
The following article has been written by Dr. Magi Matinga. Dr. Matinga works on modern cleaner energy access, transitions, and gender mainstreaming, focusing on research, policy analysis, project and programme development. She was a member of the research team who studied factors that enhance and restrict women’s empowerment through electrification. The findings of this study…