Assessing the determinants and drivers of multidimensional energy poverty in Ghana

Regardless of growing interest and awareness of the effect of energy poverty on mental health, studies on this linkage have mainly relied on unidimensional measures of energy poverty with much concentration on advanced economies. Employing a two-wave socioeconomic survey, we analyzed the impact of multidimensional energy poverty on mental health in Ghana. We found energy poverty to heighten the chances of being mentally unhealthy. Using prices of liquefied petroleum gas and electricity as instruments for multidimensional energy poverty, we found that a rise in energy deprivation is associated with a 0.562-, 1.494- and 1.867-fold increase in the odds of being mildly, moderately and severely depressed, respectively. Among the indicators of multidimensional energy poverty, a deprivation in household appliance ownership (refrigerator ownership), recorded the highest impact on the depression levels of household heads. We concluded by urging policymakers to adopt a holistic approach in solving issues of energy poverty where simultaneous attention is given to all the dimensions of energy poverty since they collectively have detrimental effects on mental health, especially in a developing country setting.

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“…Thus, MEPI reduced from 0.497 in 2010 to 0.338 in 2015. This reduction in the MEPI is consistent with other studies in Ghana by [ 61 , 64 ].…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 93%

“…Thus, MEPI reduced from 0.497 in 2010 to 0.338 in 2015. This reduction in the MEPI is consistent with other studies in Ghana by [61,64]. A further analysis of the MEPI by regions is presented in Figure 2.…”

Section: Energy Deprivations In Ghana By the Various Multidimensionalsupporting

confidence: 91%

Multidimensional Energy Poverty and Mental Health: Micro-Level Evidence from Ghana

Lin

Okyere

2020

IJERPH

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“…The first observation is that both the incidence and index of multidimensional energy poverty reduces along the different levels of educational attainment of the head of the household. This result is consistent with the findings of Crentsil et al (2019). For instance, 74.8% of household heads with no formal education were multidimensionally energy poor in 2013 with this share reducing to 60.6% for household heads with primary education, 40.5% for household heads with secondary education, and 19.8% for household heads with tertiary education.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 94%

“…The MEPI for households in these three regions is much higher than the indices for the other regions. These results are similar to the results found by Adusah‐Poku and Takeuchi (2019a) and Crentsil et al (2019).…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 92%

“…Although there was a reduction in the deprivation between 2013 and 2017, the level of deprivation remains high. These results confirm the findings of Adusah‐Poku and Takeuchi (2019a) and Crentsil et al (2019). This implies that, despite Ghana's attempt to promote the use of LPG as an alternative fuel to traditional fuels, most households continue to depend more and more on traditional fuels.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 92%

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Are energy‐poor households also poor? Evidence from Ghana

Adusah‐Poku

Adjei‐Mantey

Kwakwa

2021

Poverty & Public Policy

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Poverty and energy poverty are parts of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The former has been extensively covered in the literature, whereas the latter has not been given the necessary attention until the last decade. In this paper, we use multidimensional measures of energy poverty and poverty to ascertain whether energy‐poor households are also poor, and vice versa. In addition, the study seeks to examine the factors responsible for poverty and energy poverty. This paper uses data sets constructed from the two most recent nationwide household surveys in Ghana (GLSS VI and GLSS VII samples). We find substantial differences in the incidence and index of multidimensional energy poverty and multidimensional poverty by subgroup demographic characteristics. Further, we find that households belong to different categories of poverty and energy poverty status. Our multinomial regression results reveal that household size, marital status, educational background, residential area, age, employment, and gender significantly predict the household's multidimensional poverty and energy poverty status. We recommend massive investment in renewable energy, to make cleaner energy readily available for Ghanaians. In addition, the Ghanaian government should pursue sustainable employment and job creation avenues, directed toward an improved standard of living for the population.

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Achievements and challenges of energy poverty alleviation policies: Evidence from the select states in India

Acharya

Sadath

2022

Journal of Public Affairs

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contributes to the literature in several ways. First, recent studies such as Gupta et al. (2020) and Nathan and Hari (2020) have used National Sample Survey (NSS) 2011-12 (68th round) data, which is outdated.As explained above, India witnessed major developments in the energy sector post-2010, and hence studies using the 68th round of NSSO data (2011-12) cannot capture the implications of such programs. Further, NSSO data provides information on the quantity consumed and expenditure incurred on various products, including energy services. However, it does not state for what purpose a particular fuel is used. For example, a fuel like kerosene may be used for cooking or lighting or running appliances like irrigation pump sets. Further, a household may use the cleaner and dirty fuel for the same activity, like cooking, lighting, and so forth. But the survey records the primary fuel used for the purpose, which precludes the analysis of energy stacking. Though the NSSO gives information on various expenditures at the all-India level, it falls short of providing a comprehensive idea regarding the household energy scenario. Therefore, a survey, like Harvard energy access data (Mani et al., 2018), explicitly designed to cover the household energy scenario can unravel the subtle issues in the energy sector.There is no universally acceptable definition of energy deprivation on account of the limitations of various approaches involved while defining energy deprivation (Srivastava et al., 2012). Several factors such as affordability, accessibility, reliability of services, efficiency, culture, norms, gender, and climate are crucial for conceptualizing energy

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Assessing the determinants and drivers of multidimensional energy poverty in Ghana

Cited by 169 publications

References 28 publications

Multidimensional Energy Poverty and Mental Health: Micro-Level Evidence from Ghana

Multidimensional Energy Poverty and Mental Health: Micro-Level Evidence from Ghana

Are energy‐poor households also poor? Evidence from Ghana

Achievements and challenges of energy poverty alleviation policies: Evidence from the select states in India

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