SEED Madagascar

SEED conducted a six-month solar pilot project at two SEED-built primary schools in the Anosy region. Capitalising on the high levels of sunshine (approximately 2,739 hours of sunlight in year 1), the project intended to improve access to electricity for students, teachers, and wider communities, through the installation of solar systems and the provision of a rental service offering rechargeable solar power banks.

Electricity Access in Southeast Madagascar

Ranking 173/191 on the Human Development Index, Madagascar remains one of the poorest and least developed countries in the world.² Just one third of the total population (33.7%) has access to grid-electricity. In southern rural regions like Anosy where SEED works, this percentage is even lower. On average, only 10.9% of the rural population have access³ and community members have to walk several kilometres to access basic electrical services such as phone charging.

Access to electricity in rural communities typically relies on carbon fuels: kerosene lamps are used for lighting, while petrol fuelled generators provide electricity for communal events and charging devices. Burning kerosene is harmful for the users’ health and the environment; ingesting the fumes is associated with high risks of cancer and asthma, and by-products emitted are damaging climate change pollutants.⁴ The lamp’s naked flame is a fire risk for wooden houses, common in rural communities. Some households have torches and small-scale solar systems; however, these systems are often too expensive to maintain, and are often insufficient to reliably meet the users’ needs.

Impact on Education and Livelihoods

Through community needs assessments, SEED identified that the lack of electricity in schools impacts the quality of education and restricts educational performance for the students. During the school day, limited natural lighting in classrooms can make reading, writing, and concentrating challenging. The absence of electrical light is also an obstacle for students wanting to engage in extracurricular activities or additional educational support outside of school hours, after dark. Students needing to study, and teachers needing to mark and prepare lessons, are limited to performing these activities during daylight hours or using dim kerosene lamps after dark.

Additionally, the limited access to bright, affordable lighting inhibits engagement in some livelihood activities; women reported engaging in income-generating livelihood activities, such as Mahampy weaving, after dark. The young demographic in these two communities also plays a role in the lighting demand, since it is Malagasy tradition to have inside lighting on throughout the night for pregnant women and children up to age 10.

SEED’s Response

SEED addressed these challenges by conducting a six-month solar pilot project in Emagnevy and Esohihy, achieving the following outputs:

• Functional solar energy system installed at the two schools
• Electrification of the two school buildings and teacher’s accommodation
• Establishment of two light libraries with rentable portable solar batteries and attachable lamps

The outputs are expected to attain the following results respectively:

• Increasing education opportunities for students during and outside of school hours
• Improve working and living conditions for teachers
• Improve access to affordable and clean energy for the households of students of the two rural communities

SEED is partnering with Jiro-VE, a Madagascar-based social enterprise specialising in solar installation and service provision, who has expertise in effectively introducing this technology to rural communities. Jiro-VE deploys a franchisee model, empowering local entrepreneurs to manage light libraries and serve communities with affordable clean energy.

Solar System Installation

SEED facilitated the installation of two solar systems to provide electricity to each school. Solar batteries and lamps were provided, enabling students to study and do homework after dark, especially students studying for their final year examinations.

Lighting will also improve teachers’ working conditions, allowing them to mark and prepare lessons at school after dark. The onsite teacher accommodations will be electrified, so teachers can also conduct these activities at home, as well as charge electronic devices. Improving teachers' living and working conditions with these facilities is expected to positively impact morale and increase retention, resulting in decreased absenteeism.

                         

                           Solar panels have been installed on the roofs of Emagnevy and Esohihy's school buildings.

Sustainable Development Goals See how Solar Pilot and other SEED projects contribute towards the UN SDGs

Sustainable Development Goals Find out how Solar Pilot contributes to SDG 7 and others

Light Library

A Jiro-VE managed light library was installed at both schools, equipped with portable solar batteries available to community members to rent for 200AR (£0.04) per day. This price is equal to the average price community members reported paying for kerosene per night. Each portable battery comes with a bright light, providing households with a clean light source and energy access to play radio, charge phones or other electrical devices at a time and location convenient to them. The primary target customers are the parents of students, as this will provide students with a bright light at home and allow them to study after dark more easily. Through the provision of rentable solar batteries, the light library will provide clean and affordable energy access to households in remote communities, without risks to health or the environment.

                 

                    From left to right: 1) Light library, 2) Jiro-VE portable batteries, 3) Portable battery powering a light.

The Solar Pilot project aimed to tackle two serious barriers to development: access to quality education and access to affordable and clean energy, highlighted as a priority by the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals number 4 and 7, respectively. The results and learnings from the six-month pilot will inform how this project will expand to additional school sites in rural Anosy.

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