Energy in National Decentralization Policies: A review focusing on Least Developed Countries and Sub

1
Energy in National Decentralization Policies A
review focusing on Least Developed Countries and
Sub-Saharan Africa

Sustainable Energy Programme Environment
Energy Group Bureau for Development Policy,
UNDP New York, USA
1
2
Presentation outline

• Context
• Purpose of the study
• Approach
• How do national decentralization policies reflect
  energy?
• How do sectoral policies recognize energy in the
  context of decentralization?
• Main characteristics of the energy-decentralizatio
  n nexus
• Study findings
• Conclusions
• Case studies
• Kenya creating national institutions
• Nepal building capacity for local energy delivery

2
3
Context

• Energy poverty is most severe in LDCs and SSA,
  where 4 out of 5 people in rural areas lack
  access to modern energy services
• Decentralization can significantly improve
  shape efforts to expand access to modern energy
  services, esp. for poor rural women men
• A global overview of how energy is treated in
  relation to national decentralization policies
  programmes is not readily available. As such,
  connecting energy w/decentralization processes
  remains an uncharted area.
• This UNDP report is the first of its kind to
  attempt to fill the knowledge gap.

4
Purpose of the study

• This study produces a broad overview of
  decentralization-energy nexus at a given point in
  time a given set of countries (all LDCs
  countries in SSA). It consists of 2 parts.
• First, for each country reviewed, it attempts to
  answer
• to what extent do national decentralization
  policies reflect energy issues?
• to what extent do sectoral policies, particularly
  energy policies, recognize energy issues (incl.
  specific energy categories e.g. electricity
  cooking fuels) in the context of
  decentralization?
• what are the main characteristics of
  energy-decentralization nexus reflected in
  national decentralization/sectoral policies?
• Second, it provides examples throughout the
  report, case studies from Kenya Nepal, for a
  more in-depth understanding of energy
  decentralization within different national
  contexts.

5
Countries reviewed

• All Least Developed Countries (LDC)s
• all countries in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA)
• LDCs are identified based on United Nations
  classification systems (50 countries)
• SSAs are identified based on UNDP regional
  classification (45 countries)
• 31 countries fall under both categories
• A total of 64 countries reviewed for this study

6
Study approach

• Data collection
• A desk review conducted of current information
  available on the Internet on energy
  decentralization in selected countries
• Review period (Oct 2007-Mar 2008
• Jul-Aug 2008)
• Approx. 600 sources documents reviewed (some
  docs in French)

7
Study approach contd

• Limitations
• Detailed policy information for developing
  countries are not always available online
• The information found was uneven in coverage,
  relevance depth, given that quality quantity
  of online information tends to vary widely across
  countries issues
• For a greater, in-depth understanding of energy
  decentralization, additional analyses are needed
  based on country surveys, interviews case
  studies

8
How do national decentralization policies
reflect energy?

• Almost all countries have some form of
  decentralization in place, mainly through sub
  national governments that exercise jurisdiction
  over a particular region, district or locality
  (in 92 of LDCs 96 SSA countries examined)
• Only a small proportion of decentralization
  policies found explicitly mention energy (in 6
  of LDCs 4 SSA countries examined)

9
How do sectoral policies recognize energy in the
context of decentralization?

• Energy may not be well reflected in
  decentralization policies reviewed, but sector
  specific policies (e.g. relating to water,
  forestry and environment) often address energy in
  context of decentralization
• Policy documents where energy decentralization
  nexus is addressed, energy supply features more
  prominently than energy end uses.

10
How do sectoral policies recognize energy in the
context of decentralization?

• For 24 LDCs (48), energy in the context of
  decentralization is explicitly mentioned in
  sectoral policies
• For 26 SSA countries (58), energy in the context
  of decentralization is explicitly mentioned in
  sectoral policies

11
Main characteristics of energy-decentralization
nexus in policies reviewed

• Degrees features of decentralization
• -Policies found reviewed show countries vary
  widely in degree (deconcentration, delegation and
  devolution) to which energy is considered in the
  context of decentralization
• features (political, fiscal and administrative
  responsibilities at local level) addressed
• Characteristics of energy-decentralization nexus
• -Participation Some docs include elements of
  consultative participatory processes
• -Local planning Local energy planning requires
  coordination with, support from, national
  governments
• -Service delivery A common thread in documents
  reviewed was the decentralization of service
  delivery related to energy

12
Study findings

• In the national decentralization policy
• documents reviewed
• Linkages bet. energy decentralization are
  rarely discussed, suggesting a gap in these
  countries approaches
• Sector-specific policies, particularly energy
  policies, tend to better recognize energy issues
  in the context of decentralization
• Only limited attention is paid to energy end uses
  important for poor people, esp. heat for cooking
  mechanical power
• 3 themes related to energy decentralization nexus
  participation, local planning service
  delivery represent common threads

13
Conclusions

• To take full advantage of decentralization
  opportunities,
• efforts needed to integrate energy issues into
  local development planning processes promoted
  under decentralization schemes
• Local institutional capacity needs to be
  developed to understand incorporate energy
  into their planning implementation processes

14
Conclusions, contd

• Possible entry points for development
  practitioners govts include
• Understanding addressing i) whether how
  energy is reflected within
• decentralization policies strategies ii)
  whether how energy in context of
  decentralization is reflected in sector-specific
  policies
• Ensuring energy priorities most relevant to
  meeting development aspirations are part of local
  dev. planning prog. decision making
• Identifying opportunities to incorporate energy
  into ongoing activities. This can focus on
  strengthening
• i) Participation of local actors through
  consultations involvement in energy
  initiatives
• ii) Energy service delivery at local level
  through enhanced coordination accountability
  mechanisms, and focused policies organizational
  structures
• iii) Local planning processes, including
  empowering local authorities establishing
  clear lines of authority and enhancing local
  knowledge skills in energy

15
Case studies

• Kenya creating national institutions
• Nepal building capacity for local energy
  delivery

16
Creating national institutions in Kenya

• 1983 District Focus for Rural Development (DFRD)
  strategy launched by Govt of Kenya
• 2004 Energy Policy
• 2006 Energy Act brought to fruition
  establishment of Energy Regulatory Commission
• Despite institution building efforts,
  decentralization of development policies
  including energy remains sectoral in nature

Locally constructed LPG stoves in Kenya-access to
clean cooking fuel reduces health hazards due to
indoor air pollution
17
Building capacity for local energy delivery in
Nepal

• National decentralization legislation in the
  1990s followed by 2006 Rural Energy Policy
  resulted in
• Delegation of local planning implementation
  responsibility in energy (including mini-
  micro-hydro development) to district level while
  national authoritys role was confined to policy
  coordination
• Clear division of authority responsibility on
  energy bet. national local govt
  administrations and an articulation of their
  budgetary relationship

An improved water mill in Nepal expanding access
to mechanical power dramatically reduces time
labour spent on rural agro-processing activities