Participatory Futures for Zimbabwe’s Clean Energy Transition

A project by 2023 NGFP Fellow, Dr Sandile Mtetwa-Omuthe

“Communities are not waiting. They are already shaping their own energy futures. What’s needed now is system alignment and long-term investment to ensure these futures last.”

“Zimbabwean communities are signalling a powerful desire to shape their own energy and climate futures. Far from being passive recipients of top-down energy solutions, many are actively pursuing self-governance of local energy systems. In contexts where national energy delivery has faltered, these community-led initiatives are not optional; they are essential.”

Zimbabwe’s clean energy sector is full of small pilots and stalled technologies—especially biodigesters, which often fail after installation. The issue isn’t interest. It’s ownership, durability, and system support.

To understand what communities actually want, Dr Sandile Mtetwa-Omuthe led a participatory futures process with youth, households, and practitioners across Zimbabwe. The takeaway was that communities want to co-create their energy futures, not simply receive technologies.

Key insights

1. Communities want agency
Success isn’t how many systems get installed—it’s whether they still work years later. People want to be partners in design, management, and monitoring.

2. Energy transitions are social, not just technical
Gender roles, affordability, and local governance shape energy access. Supporting women’s leadership unlocks major social benefits.

3. Intergenerational collaboration matters
Youth bring technical capacity; elders bring cultural knowledge. Together they adapt technologies more effectively.

4. Local innovation already exists
Communities are repurposing renewable tools for cooking, heating, aquaculture, and food storage. But entrepreneurs lack financing and structural support.

5. Inequality blocks participation
A US$900 biodigester is out of reach for most households earning US$88–309 per month.

What needs to change

1. Co-create over time
Long-term facilitation (6–24 months) beats one-off workshops. Use visioning, storytelling, and future-mapping.

2. Build shared governance
Support communities to lead and plan for future governance challenges—not assume they’re ready.

3. Bundle technology with value
Pair biodigesters with stoves, storage, maintenance, and stories that reflect real lifestyle improvements.

4. Reform financing
Shift to flexible 3–5 year funding cycles. Offer staged payments, pooling, youth-led demos, and carbon-finance options.

Policy recommendations

• Recognise community-led energy systems as central to national strategy.
• Institutionalise youth and women’s roles in planning.
• Prioritise long-term, inclusive financing over quick wins.
• Integrate indigenous foresight into national planning.

Conclusion

Zimbabwe’s energy transition is already emerging at the grassroots. The opportunity now is to align policy, finance, and institutions with the futures communities are already imagining and building.