Energy and Gender for Sustainable Development: A Toolkit and Resource Guide

2.4 What Lessons Have Been Learned About Gender and Energy from Project Level Experiences? 3

Adapted from Salome Misana, “Overview,” and Gail Karlsson and Susan McDade, “Introduction” in Generating Opportunities: Case Studies on Energy and Women (New York: UNDP, 2001). Available at www.undp.org/energy/publications/2001/2001a.htm.

Empowerment of Women through Involvement in Project Design and Implementation Activities

Women traditionally tend to have limited decision-making power about household purchases, including energy technologies. Since in many areas women are the primary users of energy equipment, it makes good sense for them to be involved in designing and implementing projects to meet their own energy needs. Women already have valuable knowledge about local conditions and resources. Additional education of women and women’s organisations about energy options and technologies can increase their ability to contribute to energy solutions, including the adoption of new, cleaner fuels and equipment. Women who learn new skills and obtain improved access to energy for household and income-generating activities can create new resources for investing in better conditions for themselves, their families, and their communities.

Box 2.5
Women in Bulelavata Design and Implement their Own Micro-Hydro System

The women in Bulelavata, a small, remote village in the Western Solomon Islands accessible only by sea, used to live a subsistence lifestyle typical of women in tens of thousands of other villages across the Pacific Islands. Then, in 1998, the community chose to begin the process of establishing an energy-for-development project. In 2001, the community-owned micro-hydro system, funded by the Australian International Greenhouse Partnerships, Caritas, and the Provincial Government, was officially opened by the Provincial Premier. The system produces 24kw and has 1.5 km of high voltage transmission line, enabling the community to sell power to the Provincial Secondary School.

For the women of Bulelavata, the energy project has had some significant and profound impacts, ranging from the practical, quantifiable advantages of lighting and community income to qualitative outcomes such as solidarity and empowerment. The project design of the Bulelavata community micro-hydro scheme used a women’s participatory action agenda, exploiting “action learning” (or learning-by-doing). They had the decided advantage of a context where a relevant project was happening in their lives, one in which workshops could be grounded.

The project included the following elements: policy support, female project management, female role modeling at varying levels, specific women’s awareness and training workshops (although community workshops in which women participated were also held), visits by women to other villages, management committee positions for women, a new village institution for women, technical team leadership by women, and logistical project support teams being given equal status to technical project teams. This affirmative agenda was designed to encourage and facilitate active and meaningful opportunities for participation by the village women; it operated within existing Melanesian cultural and village religious mores while at the same time challenging the boundaries of perceived gender roles through the medium of the new technology.

The Bulelavata village men say that the electricity project has changed their women; they are now more confident and outspoken and participate more in community development activities. The men think this is a good outcome in terms of the whole project; they rate it second only (by general consensus) to the community’s understanding of “planning for tomorrow.”

Source: Donnella Bryce and Chin Ching Soo (2004).

Supportive Policy Environments

In order to design and implement energy policies that directly support poverty reduction and sustainable development goals, continued efforts will be required by national and local government institutions to reflect and address the distinct energy needs and conditions faced by men and women. Energy policies in many developing countries often particularly neglect energy needs in rural areas that relate to domestic, agricultural, and small-scale, informal production activities, ones where women tend to predominate. Gender sensitivity in national energy policies is most likely to be advanced by more general government policies related to gender equity and the advancement of women. (See section 2.5, “What Can be Done to Create Gender-Sensitive Energy Policies?”, for further discussion of this issue.)

Box 2.6
If it’s about cooking, then ask the women: Biogas Project in India

In Fateh Singh ka Purwa (India), a community biogas plant was installed to provide cooking energy. Technologically this plant can be considered a success, but socially it is a failure. Male community leaders are not interested in energy for cooking – they would rather have energy to power irrigation pumps, chaff cutters, and milling machines. Women are extremely critical of the plant. They were not consulted when it was decided that the gas supply would be limited to two hours (8am-10am) in the morning when the women are in the fields – a fact completely ignored by the plant organisers. The gas therefore does not provide even 25 percent of the day’s cooking energy and the women have to look for wood as substitute for the dung cakes, which are used for the biogas plant.

Source: Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Sources (2001).

Needs Assessments

Energy needs should be considered within the overall context of community life, and energy projects should be integrated with other development efforts related to health, education, agriculture, and job creation. A well-formulated needs assessment undertaken prior to the project design stage can ensure that the approach is grounded in the specific reality of the people involved and take into account the differences between rural and urban groups, between rich and poor households, and between men and women.

Participatory Processes

The full participation of the intended beneficiaries, including women, is crucial in all aspects of energy project identification, design, financing, mobilisation, implementation, and evaluation. Those whose lives will be directly affected by project outcomes generally have the best understanding of local needs, resources, and dynamics. Getting all the stakeholders to be able to participate, however, may require special efforts, especially since women often are excluded from decision-making processes. Care should be taken to understand the specific responsibilities and constraints that keep women’s voices from being heard and specific measures should be adopted to enable women to effectively contribute (for example, separate planning committees for women and men, thereby creating an environment where women feel free to speak up).

Box 2.7
India: Engaging with Women brings Success to Stove Project

In India, improved stoves have been disseminated by various government departments. A small NGO, TIDE (Technology Informatics Design Endeavour), assessed the use of these improved stoves in rural households and found widespread rejection of the stoves. Although several reasons accounted for women’s refusal to use the stoves, an important one is inconsistency between the government’s goals and women’s needs. The government aimed to save fuel use through introduction of the improved stoves.

Women wanted to improve their welfare by reducing the smoke. Unfortunately the stoves did not meet this requirement. A new strategy for dissemination of household stoves was needed. TIDE engaged rural women in dialogue about their needs and expectations regarding improved woodstoves, and developed a stove design that met women’s needs and a stove dissemination strategy for rapid penetration of improved stoves without subsidy or government intervention, completely conceived and executed by women.

Source: Bhogle (2003).

Income Generation

Women in developing countries generally cannot afford to pay for new equipment unless it somehow can be used to generate income. Therefore, projects to address women’s energy needs must take into account the types of value-added productive activities typically undertaken by women. Since new energy services are so sorely needed to combat poverty and support economic development, there may be opportunities for local people, including women, to become involved in producing and distributing new energy technologies and services. These energy service companies (ESCOs) create win-win situations by enabling some community members to earn income for themselves while helping to expand economic opportunities for the whole community through more reliable energy supplies. Increased income for women tends to raise their social and political status, and transforms household dynamics as well.

Since women’s enterprises are frequently located in the home, and in the diffuse and difficult-to-reach “informal sector,” they tend to be overlooked by agencies. The types of enterprises women are traditionally involved in also tend to be energy-intensive, relying heavily on biomass fuels (see the section “Fuels for Household Use in Traditional Activities,” p.11).

Market Access and Opportunities

Effective marketing strategies are needed to fulfil the revenue-creating possibilities of energy projects designed to support expanded production activities. The marketability of the products, in terms of quality, affordability and competing alternatives, should be carefully evaluated during the project design phase, and business training and market development approaches should be incorporated, wherever possible, in order to make the business activities viable over the long term.

Box 2.8
Uganda: Solar Dryers Help Women Market their Produce

In Uganda, an FAO/UNDP post-harvest program recommended small-scale solar dryers for long-term storage and household consumption of fruit and vegetables. However, rural women's groups were more interested in solar dryers for income generation than for food security. Subsequently, the “Fruits of the Nile” company was formed in 1992 to link rural producers with the market for dried fruit in Europe. Within three years, more than 50 women’s groups had taken up the solar drier technology, and in 1995, the company exported more than 50 tonnes of dried fruit. The original food security concerns are also being addressed: When they are not drying for profit, the women use the solar dryers to preserve vegetables and fruits for home storage and consumption.

Source: Okalebo and Hankins (1997) in “Why Women Adopt Solar Dryers, ENERGIA News 3 (July 1997). Available online at http://www.energia.org/resources/newsletter/enarchive.html.

Table 2.3
Sample of Energy-Intensive, Small-Scale Enterprises Operated by Women

Enterprise	Comments
Beer brewing	25% of fuelwood used in Ouagadougou; main source of income for 54% of women in surveyed Tanzanian village/ 1 kg wood/1 litre beer
Rice parboiling	15-20% of firewood in some districts of Bangladesh
Tortilla making	1 kg wood/0.4 kg tortillas
Bakeries	Wood is 25% of bread production costs in Kenya; 80% of those in Peru (0.8-1.5 kg wood / kg bread)
Shea butter production	60% of cash income for women
Fish smoking	40,000 tonnes wood per year in Mopti, Mali; 1.5-12 kg wood/kg smoked fish; fuel is 40% of processing costs
Palm oil processing	Extremely arduous, requiring lifting and moving heavy containers of liquid; 0.43 kg wood/l litre oil; 55% of income of female-headed households in Cameroon’s study
Gari (cassava) processing	Women in 2 Nigerian districts each earned $171/year; 1kg wood/4 kg gari
Hotels, restaurants, guest houses, tea shops	816,865 tonnes of wood annually in Nepal
Food preparation and processing	13% of total household income in Nepal; 48% of mothers in Dangbe district in Ghana; 49% of women in one village in Burkina Faso
Pottery making	Men and women have distinctive roles in different processes
Soap making	Fuel is high percentage of production
Source: UNDP, Sustainable Energy Strategies: Materials for Decision-Makers, pp.2-5, citing data from Biomass Energy Services and Technologies (BEST), 1988, and Gordon, 1986.

Financing and Credit

Because of the relatively high up-front costs of even small-scale, decentralised energy-related equipment, credit mechanisms may be needed, where appropriate, to distribute the financial costs of improved energy services over extended time frames. Women often are restricted in their access to the credit facilities needed to enter into income-generating activities or to expand their existing business opportunities. Financial institutions and credit mechanisms should be encouraged to specifically target, or at least be accessible to, women and women’s organisations. Reforms may also be needed to address women’s legal status and other factors that lead to the exclusion of women as borrowers.

Box 2.9
ENSIGN Project Finances Micro-Enterprises

The ENSIGN project was implemented in eight countries in Asia in a UNDP-financed project led by the Asia-Pacific Development Centre. Energy-linked micro-enterprise portfolios were developed through micro-credit banks and institutions in each country. In urban areas, connecting to the grid and more-efficient appliances were the most important desires. In rural areas, however, renewable energy, coal briquettes, and diesel fuels were preferred. In both rural and urban contexts, process heat and motive power were more crucial to income-generation than lighting. The ENSIGN Revolving Fund provided 36 per cent of total loan funds, national financing institutions provided 50 per cent, and borrowers’ equity provided 14 per cent. Interest rates were 15 to 20 per cent, somewhat below market rates, with repayment periods of two to six years. Both individuals and communities received financing, and the average increase in income was 124 per cent (higher for the community projects).

Many activities were financed, including garment making, embroidery, felt and leather goods manufacturing, copper welding, utensil manufacturing, baking, cold storage, rubber stamp making, beauty salons, grain grinding, threshing, fish drying and

powdering, soybean processing, rice-husk cook stove, spice drying, beedi (flavoured handmade cigarettes) wrapping, cinnamon peeling, and rice processing.

Some lessons from the ENSIGN project

Although this was not planned, the vast majority of borrowers were women, who proved to be enterprising, innovative, and creditworthy. Significant benefits for women, in addition to income impacts, were time savings and enhanced self-confidence from improved ability to support household income and greater control over self-generated finances.
There is a need to account for the transaction costs of intermediaries, and there is need for a “Business Facilitator,” possibly an NGO, in future replication efforts.
Borrowers for ENSIGN-type loans are not usually the poorest of the poor; however, such people are often employed as labourers in the pilot projects.

Source: Ramani (2002).

It should be recognised that micro-credit programmes tend to lend only small amounts of cash for short periods. These amounts are unlikely to be sufficient for the purchase of many types of stand-alone energy technologies. (See section 2.6, “How Can Innovative Financing Schemes Expand Women’s Access to Energy?", for further discussion of financing and credit issues.)

Capacity Building and Training

Capacity building is needed to strengthen involvement of women at all levels of energy policymaking, planning, and project development. At the project level, capacity building can mean learning new skills and gaining confidence in defining community problems and designing appropriate solutions. Through implementation activities, it can also involve acquisition of technical skills, such as bookkeeping, marketing, managing a plant, or learning about new energy technologies and how to run them. In terms of policy changes, capacity building may mean promoting and facilitating the involvement of women’s organisations in decision-making processes and expanding the development opportunities for their members. (See section 2.7, “Encouraging Women’s Involvement in Energy Decision Making and Use of Energy Technologies: What Can Be Done?”, for further discussion of this issue.)

Table 2.4
Capacity-Building Needs for Mainstreaming Gender in Energy

Target Group	Capacity-Building Need	Means
National policymakers	Sensitisation towards openness to try out new methods and tools Willingness to make space and strengthen women staff in organisation’s set up	Advocacy through sharp media and print messages Well-structured and focused interaction with researchers and NGOs
Implementers of energy programmes	Sensitisation towards gender issues Practical tools and techniques to incorporate women’s role in planning	Field-level workshops in local language Exchange visits and interaction with local organisations working on gender issues
Village communities	For men, sensitisation and assurance that women can meaningfully participate in programmes while respecting their traditionally accepted space and roles Willingness to participate in social empowerment process of women	Exposure visits Focus group discussions
NGOs	Tools and techniques to incorporate women’s role in planning orientation towards new methodologies	Local-level workshops Interaction with researchers and policymakers

Box 2.10
Training Women in PV Operation Gives Better Results

Fundación Solar, while operating a PV project in Guatemala, found that mostly men attended the training sessions on equipment maintenance, and those women who did attend merely stood by and watched while their husbands got involved in hands-on activities such as changing the batteries. As a consequence, when the PV system needed maintenance, such as topping up the batteries, and the men were not at home, the women did not have the skills or confidence to take the appropriate action, which had a negative

influence on the long-term durability of the system. Fundación Solar noted much better overall system care (and hence project performance) when they took specific action to train the women in system maintenance. By training women at home, while the men of the household were out, the NGO created an environment in which the women were not afraid to make mistakes or to ask questions.

Source: Wides (1998), as quoted in Skutsch (1998).

Environmental Sustainability

Given the linkages between environmental concerns and current approaches to energy production and consumption, it is important to seek sustainable energy solutions. Numerous energy strategies are available that are safer and more efficient at the local level but also have positive global impacts. Women’s environmental priorities tend to be those with a direct link to health and poverty alleviation issues. Preservation of traditional communal rights to land also may be important for ensuring women’s access to natural resources. In some areas, women’s groups are at the forefront of environmental protection efforts in order to maintain resources for future generations. To support local sustainable development, energy projects designed to address environmental protection and natural resource conservation goals must also provide expanded economic opportunities and improved health and social conditions.

Further Reading

“Energy for Rural Women’s Enterprises in Ghana,” by Sabina Mensah, in Generating Opportunities: Case Studies on Energy and Women (New York: UNDP, 2001). Available online at www.undp.org/energy/publications/2001/2001a.htm. The Gender Responsive Renewable Energy Systems Development and Application (GRESDA) project demonstrated selected marketable and appropriate renewable energy equipment and energy efficiency appliances that can be used to create sustainable rural industries. The project focused on food-related activities since the majority of rural women in West Africa are involved in agriculture, small and medium scale food processing, and trade in such commodities as palm oil, shea butter, cassava, millet, smoked fish, vegetables, and fruit juices. The project’s objective is to contribute to women’s economic empowerment and food security by introducing energy technologies and equipment that improve agricultural processing enterprises and reduce post-harvest losses. Consultations with women have provided important insights into the actual needs of rural women with regard to improving their occupational opportunities. Women have also been actively engaged in appraising equipment and adapting it to meet their needs.

“Photovoltaic Project for Rural Electrification in Uganda,” by May Christian Sengendo, in Generating Opportunities. Available online at www.undp.org/energy/publications/2001/2001a.htm. The Uganda Photovoltaic Pilot Project for Rural Electrification (UPPPRE) was designed as a three-year pilot project to promote the use of solar photovoltaic technology in Uganda. The project aimed at overcoming the financial, social, and institutional barriers that hinder the widespread dissemination of this technology. The strategy was to establish viable financial and institutional mechanisms for offering solar photovoltaic systems on a commercial basis to households, businesses, and communities. During the implementation stage, special efforts were made to encourage women entrepreneurs to purchase solar systems by offering credit through a women’s bank, with some limited success.

“Upesi Rural Stoves Project in Kenya,” by Beatrice Khamati Njenga, in Generating Opportunities. Available on line at www.undp.org/energy/publications/2001/2001a.htm. The Upesi Project was initiated in 1995 to promote the adoption of more efficient stoves in rural areas of western Kenya. Its goal was to improve the living and working conditions of women in rural households by enabling a significant and increasing number of women and their families to benefit from fuel-saving wood-burning stoves. By working with interested women’s groups, and involving them in the design and field-testing of the stoves, the project was able to take advantage of women’s knowledge and experience. Besides training women in stove production, distribution, and installation, the project focused on improving their marketing skills. The benefits to men and women in the project areas include improved health and time savings for users of the energy efficient stoves, as well as relief from the pressures caused by wood fuel shortage.

3. Adapted from Salome Misana, “Overview,” and Gail Karlsson and Susan McDade, “Introduction” in Generating Opportunities: Case Studies on Energy and Women (New York: UNDP, 2001). Available at www.undp.org/energy/publications/2001/2001a.htm.