Dr Temilade Sesan – Nigeria

Project: Strengthening the contribution of evidence to household energy policymaking: The case of Nigeria

The project, titled “Strengthening the contribution of evidence to household energy policymaking: The case of Nigeria” will develop the application of scientific evidence and advice to household energy policymaking (represented by the commitment in SDG7 to affordable and clean energy access for all) in Nigeria. It will enhance policymakers’ ability to engage with findings from research on energy and development, and stimulate inquiry into interactions between SDG7 and commitments on lowering carbon emissions (SDG13) and promoting gender equality (SDG5).

Specifically, the project will:

  • Assess the inputs involved in the household energy policymaking process (including the role of various forms of evidence);
  • Identify the factors driving implementation and the generation of alternative strategies;
  • Co-produce a framework for improving the evidence base and strengthening its contribution to policy;
  • Document and disseminate lessons from the application of this framework to ongoing policymaking processes;
  • Make recommendations for achieving better synergy between the priorities of local energy users (particularly women), national-level policy directions and the objectives of global energy agreements.

An important outcome will be the documentation of the methodology as well as the content of stakeholder interactions, to provide an evidence-based guide to undertaking similar policy engagements in the future.

Project Results: 

  • Workshop 1: Where’s the evidence? How to inform policy and processes for improved energy access in Nigeria. 25 participants across government, civil society and business
  • Workshop 2: Evidence Matters: Opportunities and challenges for science advice in the making of household energy policy in Nigeria. Round-table workshop on Energy Policy 

The knowledge-to-policy exchange ignited by the project will continue well beyond the project’s termination. Interim reports of project activities are already being used as a basis for alliance building and action. A policy brief and a video documentary under production, will be used to further engage key stakeholders on the value of applying evidence for improved energy access outcomes.

These interventions are expected to contribute towards the long-term goal of building a culture of evidence demand and use within the government institutions responsible for making energy policy in Nigeria.

Project Outputs:

Biography: 

Dr Temilade Sesan has a PhD from the University of Nottingham in the area of energy for sustainable development. Her research focuses on major themes in international development, including appropriate technology diffusion, participatory development, women’s empowerment, and livelihoods improvement. Her particular interest in understanding the socio-economic dimensions of household energy provision in developing-country contexts constitutes a platform for exploring the potential that sustainable energy technologies have to improve the wellbeing of the poor, and the barriers that have largely limited their uptake to date.

Dr Sesan’s research record is dynamic and varied. Since 2013, she has collaborated on several Research Councils UK-funded research projects including, most recently, an Economic and Social Research Council “nexus” project aimed at bringing bottom-up perspectives to bear on charcoal governance in Ghana. In 2015, she received a British Council “Researcher Links” fellowship to review the evidence on mainstreaming gender in energy access interventions. Her work regularly brings her in contact with policy officials in national and international agencies (notably the World Bank and the French Agency for Development), civil society representatives and proprietors of small- and medium-scale energy businesses. This experience provides her with a grounded knowledge of the social and political factors that are crucial to the success of projects aimed at improving energy access in the Nigerian and wider African context.

Dr Sesan has disseminated her research findings to global audiences via numerous presentations made at conferences in Africa, Asia, Europe and North America. She has also published articles investigating the links between energy access and development in the practitioners’ journal Boiling Point and the academic journals Energy Policy, World Development, Progress in Development Studies, Community Development Journal, Technology in Society and Health Policy and Planning. In addition to her extensive research work, she teaches a postgraduate module on renewable energy policy at the Centre for Petroleum, Energy Economics and Law, University of Ibadan, Nigeria.

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