Asset ownership and electricity access in the urban informal settlements of Kampala, Uganda

Abstract

Delivering on the promise of SDG7 for low-income communities will require that we appropriately measure energy access. However, common measures use narrow indicators which do not acknowledge that poor households draw on multiple assets to access electricity. Using the asset pentagon of DFID's sustainable livelihoods framework, this study investigated asset ownership in a slum in Kampala, Uganda in relation to electricity access. Data were collected using household surveys [n = 450], and a multidimensional index and regression models applied to deduce asset ownership with respect to electricity access. We find that asset ownership is weak, especially for financial and natural assets compared to human, social and physical assets where households are better off. Grid-connected households exhibit stronger asset ownership than the unconnected, and assets also differ between residences, businesses, and mixed-use households. Households also interact with, manage, and leverage multiple assets to access electricity, depending on the ease with which those assets can be converted or exchanged for electricity. Policy and service provision should espouse existing everyday means of accessing electricity by capitalising on the assets in which households are strongest. Further, electricity provision goals for slums should be strongly linked with asset ownership and tangible livelihood outcomes for households, and exploring the micro-politics of electricity access and provision could offer directions for actualizing this linkage. Sustainable livelihoods approaches offer a valuable entry point for understanding energy access in deprived urban settings, from a perspective that encompasses multiple priorities for sustainable and inclusive urbanisation.