Since the World Solar Commission approved the World Solar Programme 1996-2005 in 1997, various donor organisations have pledged to help the southern African countries in their quest to use environmentally friendly renewable energy.

According to Maxwell Mapako, Director of the Biomass Users Network in Zimbabwe, when biomass is excluded from the range of renewable energy technology available in Africa, "the contribution of renewable energy technology to African energy supply is negligible, of the order of two percent. This is despite the fact that opportunities exist for considerably increased use of renewables such as solar, small hydro, bioenergy and wind".

The abundance of sunshine in most African countries opens up opportunities which have not been fully exploited. Representatives from governments, business, non-governmental organisations and research institutions met recently in Zimbabwe to explore funding of renewable energy projects in Africa at a Business and Investment Forum for Renewable Energy in Africa.

Speaking at the forum, Mapako said that solar, thermal and photovoltaic technology is relevant for African villages that, in most cases have no real prospect of being connected to the national electricity grid. This is caused in part by the irregular and unreliable income patterns in rural areas and the cost of the undertaking. The usually scattered settlement patterns in rural areas make it uneconomical to electrify most homes in Africa using the national grid.

Increased use of renewable energy forms have been reported in cases such as use of ethanol in Zimbabwe, photovoltaic systems in South Africa, Kenya and Zimbabwe, biogas in Tanzania and water heaters in Botswana. However, analysts have called for more funding for research and implementation of renewable energy projects in rural areas of most African countries where the majority of the continent's population lives.

Renewable energy programmes are also being encouraged worldwide as a way of reducing greenhouse gas emissions that are influencing climate change.

Civic groups have however pointed out that the need to reduce emissions must not aggravate the all too obvious disparities between industrialised countries and developing countries, disparities which are already apparent in the difference in carbon emissions per capita. In fact, the United States emits three times as much carbon per capita year than Europe, and 70 times more than sub-Saharan Africa.

While Africa currently produces only seven percent of total greenhouse gas emissions, the continent risks being the most affected by the consequences thereof. The food supply in particular can be affected, with potential damage estimated at US$30 billion for the agricultural sector alone.

Currently, the Namibian government is "very worried" by a set of reports that suggest the agriculture-dependent country is extremely vulnerable to the impact of climate change, threatening food security and development goals in an already fragile environment.

"The government takes this issue of climate change extremely seriously," Peter Tarr at the Directorate of Environmental Affairs told the United Nations' Integrated Regional Information Network (IRIN) recently. This was the first time that the government has exposed itself to the reality of climate change.

According to three recent reports by the Desert Research Foundation of Namibia (DRFN), the country's first-ever studies into the impact of climate change, Namibia's already largely arid climate is expected to grow dryer, warmer and more variable.

The studies, based on existing data, highlight a trend of declining rainfall since the mid-1960s and rising temperatures. According to David Cole, the DRFN project coordinator, Namibia is projected to lose its self-sufficiency in water supplies by the year 2015.

"We are a fragile environment and it is evident that this is going to be exacerbated by climate change," Cole told IRIN. A series of recent droughts have already resulted in the influx of rural people into the cities, putting pressure on scarce resources. The DRFN's findings call for the government to factor in the impact of climate change into national planning and policies.

That includes strategies that promote traditional drought-resistant crops, and a more pro-active stance through international mechanisms such as the global conventions on climate change and desertification.

"We need to concentrate on developing a strategy to actually address these issues," Cole said.

As Dominique Campana, Director of International Affairs in the French Agency for Environment and Energy Management points out in a paper to the Harare conference, "while renewable energy cannot provide a global answer to energy needs, the exploitation of renewable sources meets the criteria of development and of reducing greenhouse gases".