Rethinking the gender-energy nexus beyond the productive–reproductive binary: A mixed-methods study from rural Madagascar

It is well established that there is a gendered dimension to accessing, using and understanding renewable energies. Yet, few studies move beyond a ‘women-only’ focus to examine how rural electrification intersects with intra-household dynamics and socio-cultural norms in Sub-Saharan Africa. This paper applies an analytical gender lens (Peterson, 2005) to two rural Malagasy communities, drawing on 487 household surveys and six months of qualitative fieldwork. We investigate how access to electric light, appliances, and clean cooking technologies affects men's and women's time use, well-being, and household dynamics. Using a feminist approach that centres the voices of ordinary community members, we critically interrogate conventional gender-energy narratives that frame electrification as a straightforward pathway to reducing women's domestic burden. We argue that the productive-reproductive binary underpinning this rationale fails to capture the interwoven ways in which electricity is used in rural Malagasy households. Our findings show that higher-tier electricity access was associated with increased time spent on both paid and unpaid work – often undertaken in parallel and extending into the night - yet female respondents valued these changes for the greater practicality, autonomy, and agency they afforded. By moving beyond binary framings, this study advances novel insights into the gender-energy nexus and deepens our understanding of the interlinkages between SDG 5 and SDG 7. • Applies an ‘analytical gender lens’ grounded in feminist theory to energy research • Draws on longitudinal survey data and six months of qualitative fieldwork in rural Madagascar • Analyses gendered time use and appliance ownership in off-grid contexts • Shows electricity use in rural households blurs productive-reproductive binary • Introduces a novel ‘ladder of aspirations for domestic energy appliances’