Universal energy access cannot be met without the full participation of women and intentional design for their energy needs. Women are disproportionally affected by energy poverty and climate change, and access to clean, affordable energy supports improvements to their health, education and livelihood opportunities. Women-led businesses receive less than 10% of industry investment. Including women both as customers and within the workforce is good for business, but off-grid solar companies and their investors must take action to advance women’s inclusion at all levels.
GOGLA is working to identify and address resource gaps to build a gender-forward off-grid solar industry. We promote the adoption of best practice by companies and investors, and aim to provide the tools and guidance needed to help them better meet women’s energy needs and build gender-inclusive business that are both responsible and profitable.
Powering Progress for PURE: Boosting performance through gender-inclusive business
Understanding the roles and impacts of your company’s offering is key to ensure satisfied customers and run a successful business.
GOGLA, with Distill Inclusion, conducted a research study to examine how Productive Use of Renewable Energy (PURE) companies can build gender-inclusive practices that effectively serve women’s energy needs while developing sustainable business models.
The report examines the unique roles women play across key value chains in PURE markets, and the barriers that are preventing women from accessing and benefiting from these life-changing energy technologies.
We worked closely with three leading PURE companies in the cooling, milling and irrigation sectors to identify what successful gender-inclusive businesses look like, and define strategies to help other PURE companies build gender-smart business models.
Through this study we have outlined a series of customer personas to help companies understand who they can reach, and how they can best meet their energy and service needs.
Companies are also advised to adopt gender-disaggregated KPIs from the recommended list, to help them analyse their customers, evaluate needs and measure operational improvements.
Finally, the report makes recommendations for other sector stakeholders such as governments and funders, to ensure that the policy and enabling environment supports meaningful action from companies.
Read the executive summary to learn more about how women engage with PURE solutions and recommendations to improve operations and advance toward a gender-forward sector that fuels sustainable and responsible growth.
These case studies describes the business models deployed by Oorja, Agsol and SureChill and the opportunities they create for women consumers in the solar irrigation, milling and cold chain ecosystem.
As part of the study to examine the PURE ecosystem with a gender lens, Distill Inclusion has worked with the three PURE companies to inform the development of three customer persona profiles that capture the diverse needs challenges and aspirations of their women customers, as well as strategies for PURE companies to better support these customer segments.
Micro-Mill, Major Impact
A solar-powered micro-mill is making a major impact for Off-Grid farming communities. Go deeper into Agsol’s story in our latest blog post.
Tracking for progress: gender-disaggregated KPI framework for PURE companies
Gender-disaggregated data reveal insights to PURE companies that can help them unlock significant market opportunities and design products that meet women’s needs, ultimately providing greater access and benefits of PURE technologies to women consumers.
GOGLA, in partnership with Distill Inclusion, has developed this KPI framework to help PURE companies understand who they are serving, how distinct customer profiles perform and, importantly, who they are not reaching.
The framework provides a comprehensive structure for measuring and tracking gender-related metrics across six key dimensions:
Tracking gender-disaggregated data across these six dimensions will help PURE companies develop more effective business models, while attracting more gender-smart investments.
Photography by Jeffrey Michael Walcott, Julia Gunther, current and previous GOGLA members
Photography by Jeffrey Michael Walcott, Julia Gunther, current and previous GOGLA members