Given that in the foreseeable future biomass will remain the primary source of basic energy for up to 80% of total energy consumption for families and small businesses in most southern African countries, it is of paramount importance that the available energy is being used in an environmentally sound and socially responsible way.

The Programme for Basic Energy and Conservation (ProBEC) aims to ensure that low-income population groups satisfy their energy requirements in a socially and environmentally sustainable manner. It targets rural and urban households, as well as small business and institutions using biomass energy (woodfuel, agricultural residues) for thermal processes.

The results of ProBEC interventions undertaken thus far have shown that with a comprehensive package of solutions, it is feasible to attain multiple, long-lasting, environmental, economic, and social benefits. Families and small businesses benefit, on a national level there are savings of foreign exchange for energy imports, and globally, the use of biofuels instead of fossil fuels, reduces net emissions of greenhouse gases, as well as optimising timber and non-timber forest products.

Some of the interventions include the use of energy efficient devices, profitable production and marketing of these devices, efficient woodfuel use and kitchen management, and substitution with renewable energy sources.

These programmes demand for an integrated approach, and excellent results have been achieved with this approach in a number of BEC programmes, especially in East and Western Africa. These results are well documented and substantiated by a number of studies carried out by national and international development organisations and scientific institutions.

These initiatives also contribute to the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) insofar as additional jobs will be created in the informal sector through the production and marketing of improved technologies. This will reduce the number of people whose income is less than US$1 a day and thus contribute to the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger (MDG 1), and there is also the potential for youth job creation.

There is an emphasis on the training of women in the programme design, which promotes gender equality and empowers women (MDG 3), both intellectually and financially.

Basic energy conservation measures also reduce indoor ambient smoke, which in turn reduces respiratory diseases by 50%, and minimises infant mortality (MDG 5).

An efficient energy supply also mitigates energy poverty, and thereby reduces the work burden in poorer households for those who have to spend hours a day collecting wood.

Access to modern energy also assists child-headed households of orphans and vulnerable children suffering from HIV/AIDS (MDG 6), since they can use non-woody biomass for cooking, thereby alleviating their burden of collecting wood as well as enabling them to cook throughout the day. HIV/AIDS awareness is an integral part at all programme interventions thereby enhancing the fight against the pandemic.

Reducing woodfuel consumption protects forest areas, and the use of more energy efficient and alternative technologies will reduce CO2 emissions. This will directly contribute to environmental sustainability (MDG 7) and thus, to the international Convention to Combat Desertification.

The programme lead is situated in the SADC Secretariat, Infrastructure and Services Directorate, and the implementing agency is the Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Technische Zusammenarbeit (German Development Co-operation).