Analysis of energy poverty in Kenya and its implications for human health

Abstract

Limited access to modern energy is a pressing issue and has necessitated scholarly discourse on energy poverty, especially in developing countries. This paper investigated energy poverty in Kenya and its implications on human health using the multidimensional energy poverty framework, propensity score matching and marginal structural models. The results indicate that energy poverty is relatively high in the North Eastern parts of Kenya, with multidimensional energy poverty (MEP) index of 0.62. In this region, 87.5% of households were classified as acute energy poor. Rift valley, Western, Nyanza, Eastern, Coast and Central had MEP values of 0.56, 0.55, 0.54, 0.52, 0.50 and 0.43, respectively. Nairobi region recorded the least MEP at 0.21, with 72.9% of households classified in the low energy poor category. The MEP index for rural areas was high compared to urban areas. This study confirmed a strong, statistically significant impact of energy poverty on human health. Causal relative risk and causal risk differences of 1.883 and 1.403, respectively, were observed between energy poverty and health. There is a need for deliberate policy action to ensure the availability of modern energy at affordable prices. There is also an urgent need of mainstreaming health in energy policies.