CONTEXT AND CHALLENGES

Since 2023, Geres has been working in the municipality of Lacs 1, in Aného, located in the Maritime region in southern Togo. This area is characterized by a tropical climate, which is increasingly disrupted by climate anomalies. The recent decentralization policy has given new impetus to local authorities in Togo. 

8% of rural areas in Togo have electricity, compared to about 80% of urban areas.

The Lacs 1 community wants to move forward with its local development strategy toward becoming a dynamic and attractive low-carbon area. Sustainable access to good-quality energy has been identified as a key driver of development by local economic actors, particularly for the fishing industry, both for processing and preservation.

Sea and lagoon fishing supplies the municipality with fish, but none of the groups have satisfactory fish preservation facilities. Women play a very important role in the local economy in the processing, distribution, and marketing of fishery products.

GERES IN TOGO

Since 2001 in West Africa, Geres and its partners have been working to meet the energy needs of rural producers by offering cost-effective and sustainable alternatives.

In 2023, Geres is launching a new project based on lessons learned from various rural electrification initiatives carried out, particularly in Mali, in collaboration with decentralized service operators.

The objective is to contribute to the economic development of the Lacs 1 commune by providing access to sustainable, high-quality, and affordable energy services tailored to the needs of local entrepreneurs.

The project has two components:

• a clean and efficient cooking component, which will provide women who smoke fish with improved ovens that consume less wood energy and emit less smoke.
• a pilot cold storage initiative for fishmongers. This pilot project will lay the foundations for a more ambitious initiative involving all economic actors in the municipality.