Online Reporter
Elizabeth Sitotombe, Correspondent
ON a scorching afternoon in Kadoma, refrigerators in township shops buzz relentlessly to keep drinks cold. In homes, mothers anxiously monitor fridges and freezers, hoping the contents will survive the next power cut.
Refrigerators, freezers and air-conditioners are no longer luxuries in Zimbabwe — they are now lifelines. But these household essentials come with their own headaches; they fuel climate change, strain our electricity grid and disproportionately impact women, who bear the brunt of their inefficiency.
Energy is the essence of a modern economy, but its availability and use are never gender-neutral. In rural communities, women walk long distances to gather firewood, balancing heavy loads while managing childcare and household chores. In urban areas, women manage household electricity demands while often running small businesses reliant on affordable, reliable power. These differences are critical because they determine who benefits from energy investments and who is left behind.
Recognising this reality, Zimbabwe has placed gender and energy efficiency at the heart of its National Energy Efficiency Policy, aligning with its Vision 2030 goals which seek to transform the nation into an upper-middle-income society.
The Government says transition to clean energy can only succeed if it deliberately addresses the different needs, roles and opportunities of women and men. Without this gender mainstreaming, energy policy risks deepening inequality rather than bridging the gap.
This commitment was reinforced recently at an awareness workshop organised by the Ministry of Environment, Climate and Wildlife’s Climate Change Management Department, focusing on adopting energy-efficient refrigeration and air-conditioning (RAC) appliances.
Officials, experts and community representatives agreed that empowering women with access to efficient technologies benefits entire communities.
According to the ZimStat 2022 National Census, Zimbabwe’s population stands at 15,2 million, of whom 52 percent are female. The majority of appliances in the domestic sector are energy inefficient, placing a heavy burden on these women.
Rudo, a mother of three in Bulawayo, juggles high electricity bills with the need to feed her family.
“The old freezer consumes more power than my lights and TV combined,” she says.
“But without it, I can’t preserve food.”
In Mbare, vegetable trader and restaurateur Ms Tendai Munamati faces financial losses every time her second-hand fridge breaks down.
“I can’t afford new models. Every breakdown means throwing away stock, it’s like throwing away money,” she said.
At a local clinic, a nurse recalls a month when freezers failed during load-shedding.
“We had to discard some vaccines. Mothers walked long distances with their babies only to be turned away,” the nurse said.
Across the nation, women absorb the hidden costs of inefficient cooling — food loss, wasted income and heightened health risks.
The Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (Zera) reports that the number of air-conditioners has doubled in five years. In urban households, cooling systems can consume nearly 40 percent of electricity during peak summer months. Many appliances are outdated imports using hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) greenhouse gases, thousands of times more potent than carbon dioxide. These often leak into the atmosphere due to poor handling by untrained technicians.
Zimbabwe has committed to phasing out HFCs under the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol. Border authorities are instructed to block inefficient imports, and a national energy efficiency policy is underway. Yet enforcement remains inconsistent. Smuggling of banned appliances continues, and consumers, particularly women with limited finances, often opt for cheaper, second-hand units.
“Energy efficiency is not just about cutting bills. It is about protecting women’s livelihoods, health and time. Sustainable cooling is a gender justice issue,” said a climate scientist at the University of Zimbabwe.
Many technicians in Zimbabwe’s informal repair sector are self-taught. The Environmental Management Agency (EMA) warns that unsafe handling of refrigerants silently increases emissions, and women often fall prey to these unqualified individuals.
To tackle this, the National Ozone Unit is developing a certification scheme for technicians, while the Consumer Protection Commission (CPC) urges buyers to demand receipts and warranties. However, women, frequently the decision-makers on household appliances, need targeted educational campaigns.
For women traders, mothers, nurses and farmers, sustainable cooling is not an abstract environmental goal. Phasing out HFCs, enforcing standards, training technicians and educating consumers are interconnected steps towards gender-equitable climate action.
Zimbabwe’s cooling crisis is as much about gender as it is about climate. Every inefficient fridge, broken air conditioner and spoiled freezer disproportionately impacts women. Pivoting gender in energy and climate policies ensures women are not collateral damage but key architects and beneficiaries of sustainable solutions.
For decades, the energy sector has been dominated by men, from engineers to policymakers, yet women are the primary day-to-day decision-makers on household energy use. Outdated appliances are notorious energy guzzlers, inflating electricity bills and emitting potent greenhouse gases. Phasing them out in favour of efficient alternatives is an urgent priority for our environment and our economic survival.
Crucially, women stand at the centre of this transition. Women’s co-operatives could lead community awareness campaigns or run enterprises selling certified energy-efficient products. With the right support, these ventures could become significant contributors to national economic growth.
“Chemicals from outdated cooling systems are weakening the ozone layer. Skin cancers and suppressed immunity are real health consequences,” warns Mr George Chaumba, Ozone Project Manager at the Ministry of Environment.
Energy efficiency and gender equality are inseparable. If Zimbabwe is to achieve its Vision 2030 goal of becoming an upper-middle-income economy, both must be prioritised. When women are given equal opportunities in access, decision-making and leadership, energy efficiency ceases to be a narrow technical goal — it becomes a pathway to inclusive prosperity for all. – The Patriot.
