Luma Sustainable Energy

LuMa Sustainable Energy Project – 2016 to 2018

The Lusaka City Council and the City of Malmo in Sweden has partnered to embark on sustainable energy project which will last for three (3) years whose main aim is to promote sustainable energy solutions through municipal partnerships. The project was conceived to help tackle unsustainable energy use among the citizens which was identified as the main problem during an inception project meeting held in 2015. The unsustainable energy use in Lusaka is mainly due to limited knowledge of sustainable energy alternatives, lack or limited contact among st the different stakeholders in the communities, lack of resources to promote sustainable energy use and business as usual style of living where people tend to stick to the same solutions when it comes to energy choices.

The use of unsustainable energy such as charcoal has different effects which include but not limited to health problems due to bad air quality and smoke from charcoal used for cooking and depletion of natural resources bringing about climate change impacts both locally and globally.

Sustainable development is the way most nations globally want to proceed. The United Nations has set out Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to be achieved by 2030. Lusaka City Council is actively working to achieve SDGs. This pilot project will be implemented in Matero compound where charcoal is mostly used as energy source. Different local stakeholders working in this space have been identified and are part of the project. Among the stakeholders working on the project include Emerging Cooking Solutions, NECOS, WWF, University of Zambia, local drama groups and many more.

Lusaka City Council will benefit from the project as it will help promote sustainable energy instead of using charcoal for cooking. Charcoal is highly used especially in peri-urban areas where over 70% of the population in Lusaka lives. There will also be knowledge transfer between the two participating cities as implementation will be done both in Lusaka – Zambia and in Malmo- Sweden.

The project will also help Lusaka City Council develop a Sustainable Energy Access and Climate Action Plan (SEACAP) which currently does not exist. It is important that a city like Lusaka develops a SEACAP for effective monitoring of gains made towards climate change adaptation and mitigation.