Access to energy is widely regarded as the “missing” Millennium Develop­ment Goal (MDG) and debate among development experts is that poverty eradication and the general global socio-economic condition would improve if energy were to be identified as the ninth MDG.

The global community adopted eight MDGs in 2000 to improve the general socio-economic conditions in the world, particularly in developing countries.
These goals range from gender, education, health, and poverty, to the environment.
While remarkable progress has been recorded to implement some of the agreed goals, most countries are still not on track to meet the desired tar­gets by 2015 due to various factors such as limited resources as well as addressing new and emerging chal­lenges including climate change.

However, development experts argue that the oversight of energy in the original MDG list has had an impact on how the world responds to issues of sustainable development and poverty reduction.
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), for example, says that energy is central to sustain­able development and poverty reduc­tion efforts.
Energy affects all aspects of devel­opment — social, economic, and envi­ronmental, including livelihoods, access to water, agricultural productiv­ity, health, population levels, educa­tion, and gender-related issues.

“None of the Millennium Develop­ment Goals can be met without major improvement in the quality and quan­tity of energy services in developing countries,” the UNDP observes.
In this regard, there is a need for the global community to intensify efforts that improve access to energy as a crit­ical tool in the attainment of most MDGs, especially Goal 1 seeking to reduce by half the proportion of peo­ple living in poverty by 2015.

Sadc’s population totals about 270 million and, according to some esti­mates, just 30 percent have access to energy in the form of electricity, mostly in urban areas.
This figure falls to an average of 2 percent in rural areas, where the majority of the people live — far from the 35 percent consumption level that African leaders pledged to achieve at their 8th Session of the African Union Summit in 2007.

The majority of people in Southern Africa still rely on traditional energy sources including wood or other bio­mass such as crop waste as the domi­nant fuel for cooking.
This comes at a huge cost to the environment as families continue to cut down trees for much-needed fuel.
Therefore, attaining energy self-suf­ficiency would go a long way in improving Sadc’s chances of reaching the MDGs and creating opportunities for people to prosper.

Access to modern energy facilitates economic development by providing more efficient and healthier means to undertake basic household tasks and undertake productive activities more generally, often more cheaply than by using the inefficient substitutes, such as candles and batteries.
Modern energy can power water pumping, providing drinking water and increasing agricultural yields through the use of machinery and irri­gation.

Improving access to clean energy fuels will also ensure that women's burden to provide water and food for their families is reduced.
In rural communities in Sadc, as in other developing regions of the world, children commonly spend sig­nificant time gathering firewood, fetching water and cooking instead of attend­ing school.
Access to improved cooking fuels or technologies would, therefore, facili­tate school attendance.
Electricity is also important for edu­cation since it improves communica­tion, particu­larly through information technology and by ensuring availabil­ity of basic needs such as lighting.

Improved access to electricity and modern fuels reduces the physical burden associated with carrying wood and frees up valuable time, especially for women, widening their employ­ment opportunities.
In addition, street lighting improves the safety of women and girls at night, allowing them to attend night schools and participate in community activi­ties.
Data from the Southern African Regional Universities Association (SARUA) shows that more men than women enrol for tertiary education, despite the fact that the latter makes up more than half of the Sadc popula­tion.

Education facilitates the empower­ment of women and men to partici­pate more fully in development processes and decision-making by equipping them with these skills.
Most foods require adequate cook­ing and improved access to energy allows households to boil water, thereby reducing cases of water-borne diseases.
Reducing household air pollution through improved cooking fuels and stoves decreases the risk of respiratory infections, chronic obstructive lung disease and lung cancer which have been linked to the fumes from burn­ing coal.

Improved access to energy advances communication and transport serv­ices, which are critical for emergency health care.
Electricity and modern energy serv­ices support the functioning of clinics and hospitals, which can reduce maternal and child mortality, improve healthcare and address other diseases such as malaria, cholera and HIV and Aids.

Traditional stoves and open fires are the primary means of cooking and heating for about 70 percent of Sadc’s population and exposure to smoke causes thousands of deaths annually, with women and young children the most affected.

This smoke also affects the environ­ment and contributes to climate change. Modern cooking fuels and more efficient cook stoves can relieve pressures on the environment caused by the unsustainable use of biomass.

Through the Programme for Bio­mass Energy Conservation (ProBEC), Sadc in partnership with the German government through GIZ, are pro­moting efficient, energy saving, wood stoves in the region.
Experience in Malawi has shown that half a drum of cooked nshima, a thick maize meal porridge that is the staple food in most Sadc countries, can use up to 170kg of fire­wood on an open fire while the same quantity of nshima uses 14kg of wood when pre­pared on the energy-efficient  stoves pro­moted by ProBEC. — Sadc Today.