Improving access to more modern forms of energy requires supply chains that reach further into rural areas. This paper studies a supply-side intervention intended to foster last-mile distribution of energy-access technologies through local small-scale entrepreneurship. We use a staggered-implementation evaluation design to assess the impact on employment and income outcomes of the intervention, which is a large-scale program in Kenya that supports the diffusion of improved cookstoves and small solar products. The results demonstrate how trained entrepreneurs intensify and diversify their income-generating activities, often by shifting away from subsistence farming as a main source of income. For cookstove entrepreneurs, this goes along with improvements in individual and household incomes as well as perceived economic well-being. Our estimates suggest that impacts do not only differ between the two technologies but also across subgroups including gender, age, and baseline occupation. Our findings substantiate that market-based interventions can foster energy access in rural areas by supporting the establishment of local businesses. We highlight several contextual factors that are of relevance when considering the adoption of this approach.

改善对更现代形式能源的获取需要供应链进一步延伸到农村地区。本文研究了一种供应方干预措施，旨在通过当地小规模创业促进能源获取技术的最后一英里分配。我们使用交错实施评估设计来评估干预措施对就业和收入结果的影响，这是肯尼亚的一项大型计划，支持改进炉灶和小型太阳能产品的推广。结果表明，受过培训的企业家如何加强和多样化他们的创收活动，通常是通过将自给农业转变为主要收入来源。对于炉灶企业家来说，这伴随着个人和家庭收入以及感知的经济福祉的改善。我们的估计表明，影响不仅在两种技术之间不同，而且在包括性别、年龄和基线职业在内的子组之间也不同。我们的研究结果证实，基于市场的干预措施可以通过支持当地企业的建立来促进农村地区的能源获取。在考虑采用这种方法时，我们强调了几个相关的背景因素。