Scaling up Rural Households’ Use of Renewable Energy and Energy-Efficient Technologies in Cameroon

Solar Mamas: the Women bringing power and light to their villages

Towards a Solution

The Scaling up Rural Households’ Use of Renewable Energy and Energy-Efficient Technologies in Cameroon (PUERTEM) project aims to improve access to energy in rural areas of the Far North and North regions of Cameroon, through the promotion of renewable energy and energy-efficient technologies. It is supported through the India-UN Development Partnership Fund, which provides funding for South-South cooperation projects. This project also aims to promote the empowerment of rural women and address SDG 7: Access to clean energy for all and SDG 4.5: Gender equality and inclusion.

Barefoot College International (BCI) and UNESCO Cameroon entered into an agreement at the beginning of 2021 in the framework of the India-UN Fund Project, with a focus on solar electrification in local communities. As a result of this agreement, five rural women were selected to receive training in solar engineering at the Senegal Barefoot Vocational Center (BVTC) and Barefoot College International (BCI) in Dakar. These women, commonly known as the Solar Mamas, were trained to transfer skills and provide sustainable energy solutions in their respective communities.

The project implemented an innovative pyramid training system facilitated by the cooperation and partnerships between UNESCO and the participating countries. UNESCO trained the 36 household trainers, who are responsible for training project beneficiaries and popularizing the project's technologies in their respective communities. The household trainers, who are mostly young and active leaders, then mobilize and train other non-beneficiary households and villages. The Solar Mamas of the PUERTEM project then raise awareness and train women in their locality to assemble, use and maintain solar panels and raise awareness on environmental protection.

As a result of the project, the Solar Mamas trained about 100 women back in their localities who are now able to introduce a sustainable source of energy into their families that improves the learning environment of students and facilitates the development of income-generating activities to strengthen their empowerment. At the end of the training, the Solar Mamas had a good understanding of self-awareness and leadership, human rights and civic responsibility, rights of the child, awareness of violence against women, health and nutrition, digital literacy and financial Inclusion, micro-enterprise and livelihoods, and environmental stewardship. They also had good ability to handle solar equipment and understand the importance and benefits of clean energy.

The objective of the project was originally to impact 6000 people in the use of renewable energy technologies. In the implementation, the project has impacted more than 12,000 people in rural areas who now use renewable energy technologies, including solar energy, improved stoves and ecological briquettes.

This innovative practice in South-South cooperation has changed the destiny of all these women. The exchanges were very enriching for rural women themselves, who travelled outside their country for the first time, and have now become leaders and are respected in their communities. The project has been sustainable because it empowers communities to take command of their own development in the long term. This initiative was widely appreciated by all the actors involved in the implementation of the project. Given its success, UNESCO is already planning a second phase of the project, to replicate its methodology in other regions of Cameroon and Africa through South-South and triangular cooperation.