2.7   Encouraging Women’s Involvement in Energy Decision Making and Use of Energy Technologies: What Can Be Done? 6

Two regional workshops looked at the issue of women’s education and training in relation to their involvement in energy decision making and their use of energy technologies. The Regional Workshop for Southern Africa, sponsored by the UNDP Energy and Women Project in June 1999, identified lack of education and technical training as an important constraint on women’s participation in activities involving energy systems and entrepreneurial activities. Participants at the workshop recommended increased education of women and girls in science, engineering, and other technical studies, as well as training in leadership skills, as ways to increase their ability to participate in energy decision-making processes and to work in the energy sector. (See Report on Regional Workshop for Southern Africa, September 18, 1999). The Regional Workshop on Women and Sustainable Energy in Africa, sponsored jointly by ENERGIA, ELCI, UNIFEM, and Winrock International and held in Nairobi, Kenya, in March 2000, emphasised the need for technical training at all levels, especially for women, to increase local participation in technology design, production, and maintenance. (See The Regional Workshop on Women and Sustainable Energy in Africa, March 13-15, 2000, Nairobi, Kenya).

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.

Make Technical Training Accessible to Women

Many people view operating machinery as men’s work, not appropriate for women. Technical experts and educators may feel this way, as well as men and women in rural communities. In some areas, women are discouraged from running any kind of business and are expected to stay at home taking care of family responsibilities. In other areas, women engage in a variety of small income-producing enterprises in addition to maintaining their households, but larger businesses are managed primarily by men.

Although it is not a simple matter to overcome all these difficulties, there are some things that can be done to make training more accessible to women. Technical training programmes can be designed so that they are more sensitive to women’s needs, offered at times and locations compatible with women’s family roles, and adapted to women’s levels of skills and confidence. Trainers can be coached on gender concerns, or selected for their support of women’s enterprises and social advancement. Trainers also need to be sensitive to the fact that women often feel more comfortable in women-only environments when acquiring new technical skills. The timing and location of training courses must take into account women’s time constraints and availability, as well as their more restricted mobility compared to men.

Because women are sometimes reluctant to work with machines, especially ones generating electricity, it may be better to train women separately from men in order to allow them to gain confidence and learn things for themselves. Technical training modules for women designed by Saskia Everts for TOOLConsult emphasise technological empowerment of women. Her teaching methods encourage women to learn through discovery, rather than waiting to be told how something works. For example, women learning about electricity are given batteries, wires, lamps, switches, and tools, together with a simple diagram, and are asked to figure out how to get the lamp to light up. The sense of accomplishment and confidence achieved when they are successful helps the women feel a bond with the equipment, rather than a psychological distance, and makes them more willing to work with equipment when technical problems arise. See Saskia Everts, Gender and Technology: Empowering Women, Engendering Development (New York: Zed Books, 1998).

Share Information about Energy-Related Technologies and Techniques

Poor households, especially in rural areas, generally have little access to information about possible energy options and how to use them. Publicity and marketing campaigns must contend with low literacy rates, undeveloped market systems, and weak communications. Radio and television programming could be used to provide basic information in some areas, but this is an expensive way to reach people, so other ways of providing access to energy information need to be devised. Over time, access to computers and Internet connections in village schools and community facilities could bring large amounts of technical information into rural areas, but few people in remote communities currently have such access. Markets can also be useful contact points with women for disseminating information about and demonstrating new technologies.

Networking among community organisations and women’s groups provides a relatively simple way of sharing information about rural energy alternatives, but one which requires widespread organisation and technical support. Various organisations have been working internationally, regionally, and within countries to promote networks through which people from different areas and countries can exchange their experiences with different energy technologies and approaches.

Combine Local Production of Energy Equipment with Marketing and Business Training

There is often a wide gap between the people who design and produce technologies and those who actually use them. Yet not all technologies involve complex machinery. Some can be made locally by women in rural areas, providing entrepreneurial opportunities as well as improved services. The combination of technical production skills with business management training can provide a powerful boost to women’s incomes and status, if there is sufficient demand for the locally produced goods.

It is usually crucial that technical training be combined with learning the skills needed to run an enterprise – including business management, accounting, financial planning, and marketing. The same sort of social factors that keep women from learning technical skills may make it difficult for them to gain business skills, so special arrangements may be required to make sure that women get the support they need. In many cases, this will come from the formation of local women’s associations or committees.


Train More Women to Be Involved in the Energy Sector

Throughout the world, men dominate the energy industry. Most managers as well as employees of electricity companies are male. Few women have access to the sort of education and support systems that would allow them to pursue careers in the energy sector. Moreover, even many well-educated women encounter obstacles deterring them from engaging in enterprises based on technical expertise.

Box 2.12
Kenya and Malawi: Training Women to Produce Energy

In Kenya, the widespread adoption of fuel-efficient Upesi stoves was achieved by training local women in stove production, distribution, and installation. Many women became involved with the Upesi Rural Stoves Project because they had already acquired pottery skills in connection with their household activities. Besides learning how to produce the stoves, they also received training in costing and pricing, record keeping, forging marketing links, and responding to consumer demands. Because of the women’s many domestic and community responsibilities, the training had to be fit into their other ongoing activities. Once trained, they spent two or three days a week working on the stoves. Some women producers went on to train others on a fee basis and others applied the skills they acquired to other business ventures.

In Malawi, the Ndirande Nkhuni Biomass Briquette Programme involved training women’s groups to produce briquettes from waste materials for use and sale as an alternative fuel source. Women were involved with the design of the wooden briquette-making machines, which are inexpensive and easy to maintain. Spare parts are easy to get and local artisans have been trained by the project to make new machines when necessary. The training focused on women because they are the main users of household energy. The women’s groups also received training in maintenance skills, entrepreneurship, and business management. As in the Kenya project, some women went on to train others for a fee.

Source: Kenya and Malawi case studies in Generating Opportunities: Case Studies on Energy and Women (New York: UNDP, 2001). Available online
www.undp.org/energy/publications/2001/2001a.htm.

Overall there is considerable need for more mainstream acceptance of women in technical roles. Gender-sensitivity training programmes for engineers, educators, scientists, government officials, and development agencies can highlight some of the constraints affecting women and promote greater attention to institutional prejudices and discriminatory practices. A gender mainstreaming exercise in the Rural Electrification Board (REB), Bangladesh, had the objectives of increasing women’s participation in the REB and its programmes at all levels and supporting and encouraging the professional development of women in this area. In the long run, however, higher levels of education and technical training for girls are needed, especially in science and engineering, to allow more women to get involved in energy industries. Networking and advocacy by women’s organisations represent important ways of promoting the acceptance of women as energy experts. In the Pakistan Oil and Gas Sector, the Canadian agency CIDA has supported the development of a network of women professionals to exchange experiences about overcoming the barriers they face in their working life. Unfortunately such initiatives are few and far between in the energy sector, while there are still significant obstacles to overcome.

At the project and community level, training programmes that draw women into energy enterprises can serve as starting points for bringing about the social and economic changes needed for girls and women to pursue higher levels of education and technical training. Sometimes the self-confidence fostered through project activities increases people’s ability to make other changes in their lives.

Building confidence and knowledge about energy technologies is especially important for women and girls with low status and education who are burdened by lack of affordable energy options. It is also needed, however, at all levels of the energy sector so that more women can become energy experts and influence the design, operation, and marketing of energy-related products and services.

Further Reading

Electricity in Households and Micro-Enterprises, by Joy S. Clancy and Lucy Redeby, Energy and Environmental Technology Source Book published by Intermediate Technology Publications in association with UNIFEM (2000). This source book aims to provide practical help in gaining access to electricity for individual home owners, small businesses, and remote or rural communities. It gives an introduction to the national grid and then focuses on possibilities for independent production of electricity in the quantities used by households, micro-enterprises, and small communities. Various technologies are described, including costs and required inputs and skills for installation and operation. Case studies from developing countries highlight successful women’s initiatives with these technologies.

“Rural Women as Agents of Improved Woodstove Dissemination: A Case-Study in Huluvangala Village, Karnataka, India,” by S. Bhogle, in Energy for Sustainable Development VII, No. 3 (September 2003), pp. 70-75. Available on-line at http://www.ieiglobal.org/esd.html. This case study describes the coming together of two NGOs and a women’s self-help group to provide income-generating opportunities for rural women as stove entrepreneurs. Being aware that many rural women had rejected the stoves disseminated under the government programme, the NGOs realised the need for a new dissemination strategy. They engaged in a dialogue with the rural women on various aspects of stoves: design, performance, durability, efficiency, etc., so as to select a stove that would cater to their needs and expectations. A stove training programme was tailored to meet the site specific conditions, and women were trained in stove construction. Not only are the women using the stoves, they are selling their services to other women – and more women are using the improved stoves.

“Bulelevata Women Speak,” by Donella Bryce and Chin Cing Soo, in ENERGIA News 6, Issue 2 (January 2002). Available online at http://www.energia.org/resources/newsletter/enarchive.html. The women of Bulelevata village in Western Solomon Islands collect the communal proceeds from their electricity system. The experience of constructing a complex micro-hydro electric power system in Bulelavata village, and the flexible development tool that was created, provided both a hope for the future and the capacity to realise that hope. The women describe in their own words their experiences arising from their strong involvement in micro-hydro development.

“Gender and Equity in International Petroleum Projects: Women in the Oil and Gas Sector,” by Dorothy Lele, in ENERGIA News 2, Issue 3 (May 1998). Available online at http://www.energia.org/resources/newsletter/enarchive.html. Petroleum exploration and development is seen as men’s work the world over. However, increasingly more and more women are entering the petroleum sector and challenging these assumptions. This article describes a CIDA Project in Pakistan and China, which attempts to support women in challenging those assumptions. The project works with staff at all levels, including gender sensitivity training for company executives and increasing technical skills for women. The project has found it most effective to combine gender equity initiatives with human resource development wherever possible. Media campaigns to increase women’s visibility as valuable employees is seen as a good way to help change attitudes and encourage more women to join the industry.

“Participatory Learning and Action:- A Trainer’s Guide for the South Pacific” and “Community Environment Workshop Handbook for Women” (2000). Produced by the groups Ecowoman and Wainimate. The series of participatory learning activities in villages and the book and video were funded by CIDA through the Pacific People's Partnership in Canada, and the additional environment workbook was funded by AusAID. These publications bring together the activities and experiences the groups have had over the last three years in participatory learning and action. They can be obtained through ECOWOMAN; Box 16737, Suva, email: Ecowoman@is.com.fj.

 

6.  Adapted from Gail Karlsson, Technical Training for Women Regarding Energy Technologies, UNDP Briefing Paper (2003).