TAMAA case study report: Wellbeing of African villagers within their community empowered by sustainable new energy

The TAMAA (Hope) Case study inquired with the in-depth interviews, how to build a sustainable flourishing learning village community even though the poverty is widespread, agriculture practices are ineffective without irrigation systems, and lack of energy prevents to make the most of the African enormous resources. George Pindua, one of the interviewees expressed: "The basic needs of people in Africa include food, shelter, clean water, electricity, education, hospital and infrastructure". Therefore, this case of African villagers' wellbeing explored the insights, knowledge, experiences, and visions of people involved in development co-operation works for years, giving voice to these professionals who have worked within people in the developing countries and especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. Furthermore, the goal was to identify change levers, which foster the society to satisfy rural Africans' basic needs and broaden these needs to business opportunities.

The research strategy was the case study research with in-depth face-to-face interviews. The TAMAA research first assessed the general basic customer needs as education, food, water, sanitation, health, lighting, cooking, income, safe and sustainable environment, electricity, and general market opportunities. Then, the face- to-face interviews revealed that the most weighted needs, which contribute to wellbeing, were Clean Water, Nutritious Food, Lifelong Health, Education at all levels, Safe and Healthy Lighting, Agricultural Productivity, Jobs, opportunities for Micro to medium-sized businesses and Electricity as well as clean cooking. The interviews were complemented by reference interviews and cases. New sustainable services were discovered and assessed: Safe and Healthy Lighting, Clean Water, and Drip Irrigation to Food Markets, which have capabilities to produce these identified needs. These services were based on solar technologies and they integrated human needs, energy services, and technology to socio-technical systems.

Clean Water decreases water-based diseases and, together with Drip Irrigation, enables a prolific agriculture with versatile crops, increased yields and access to Nutritious Food. Equally important, Drip Irrigation generates Micro to medium-sized businesses and offers village-farmers opportunities to sell diverse products to local markets. The service, Safe and Healthy Lighting, reduces the serious indoor air problems due to the use of traditional kerosene lamps. In addition, this Lighting service makes Education, Jobs, and Micro to medium-sized businesses possible in the evening. Lighting is based on the LED lights and solar panels, which are considered stable technologies, and this service provides a safe and healthy environment for schools, hospitals, and other buildings.

The findings of this TAMAA Case suggest further research and pilot projects, which can implement these new energy services as concepts and broaden them to the exports in potential food markets.