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The coexistence of the need to improve economic conditions and the conscious use of environmental resources plays a central role in today's sustainable development challenge. In this study, a novel integrated framework to evaluate the impact of new technological interventions is presented and an application to smallholder coffee farms and their supply chains in Kenya is proposed. This methodology is able to combine multiple information through the joint use of three approaches: supply chain analysis, input-output analysis, and energy system modeling. Application to the context of the Kenyan coffee sector enables framework validation: shading management measures, the introduction of eco-pulpers, and the exploitation of coffee waste biomass for power generation were compared within a holistic high-level perspective. The implementation of shading practices, carried out with fruit trees, shows the most relevant effects from the economic point of view, providing farmers with an additional source of income and generating $903 of work for every million of local currency (about $9k) invested in this solution. The same investment would save up to 1.46 M m3 of water per year with the eco-pulpers technology. Investing the same amount in coffee-biomass power plants would displace a small portion of production from heavy-duty oil and avoid importing a portion of fertilizer, saving up to 11 tons of CO2 and around $4k per year. The results suggest the optimal allocation of a $100m budget, which can be affected by adding additional constraints on minimum environmental or social targets in line with sustainable development goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As it emerges from the literature, electricity access in rural contexts is deeply intertwined with socioeconomic dynamics. However, the advent of a reliable and sufficient source of electricity is not the sole driver that might contribute to local development. Indeed, complementary activities might have a crucial role in sustaining the development of rural communities as well as the electricity access. The current research addresses the lack of counterfactual scenarios in which the impact of complementary activities on electrification projects can be investigated. The authors introduce the case study of Matembwe village, a rural community in the Njombe region of Tanzania. The data collection includes the electricity consumption, number of electricity connections, and number of income-generating activities in a timespan ranging from 1989 to 2015. The analysis is based on system dynamics. The study considers different scenarios representing the dynamics related to the following complementary actions: access to market measures, access to credit measures, and access to usable skills. On the one hand, the study reveals that the effectiveness of the considered complementary actions is limited except from the access to microcredit which fosters an increase in electricity connections by 17%. On the other hand, both access to microcredit and the starting up of a local cooperative by CEFA Onlus that reinvests its profits in the local market impact the socio-economic dimension by 69% and 22%, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]