Prospects for the Uptake of Renewable Energy Technologies in Rural Tanzania

Despite concerted efforts to encourage the use of renewable energy technologies (RET) such as solar home systems, their widespread adoption in many rural areas is yet to take place especially in Africa. There is already a considerable body of research on the factors influencing people to adopt and apply RET. However, such work has tended to focus on populations in the developed world using rational models of decision-making based on information, regulations and economics in quantitative methods. This study employed a qualitative approach to explore community perceptions, awareness and attitudes towards new technologies to examine how they might have impacted adoption and diffusion of RET in six randomly selected villages in Mtwara district, southern Tanzania. Data sources were focus group discussions and participant observations. A vast majority of study participants were unfamiliar with the various types of RET and were not using any of the RET for their energy consumption. Most participants in focus group discussions perceived RET similar to other development interventions set to raise their living standard but failed to yield expected outcome. Early understanding of perceptions and attitudes of communities towards new technologies is necessary to facilitate communities in rural areas to accept and transit to using RET.