Households

Solar-Based Rural Electrification and Microenterprise Development in Latin America: A Gender Analysis

Citation:

Smith, Julie A. 2000. Solar-Based Rural Electrification and Microenterprise Development in Latin America: A Gender Analysis. Golden, Colorado: National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Author: Julie A. Smith

Abstract:

Worldwide, an estimated 1.5 to 2 billion people do not have access to electricity, including 100 million in the Latin America region. Depending on the country, 30 to 90 % of this unelectrified Latin American population lives in rural areas where geographic remoteness and low energy consumption patterns may preclude the extension of the conventional electricity grid. Women are heavily impacted by the energy scarcity given their role as primary energy procurers and users for the household, agricultural and small industrial subsectors in developing countries. As a result, women spend disproportionately more time engaged in energy-related activities like carrying water and searching for cooking fuel.

This paper describes the use of decentralized renewable energy systems as one approach to meet the energy needs of rural areas in Latin America. It outlines the advantages of a decentralized energy paradigm to achieve international development goals, especially as they relate to women. The paper studies Enersol Associates, Inc.’s Solar-Based Rural Electrification model as an example of a decentralized energy program that has merged energy and development needs through the local involvement of energy entrepreneurs, non-governmental organizations and community members.

Topics: Agriculture, Development, Gender, Women, Households, Infrastructure, Energy, NGOs Regions: Americas, Caribbean countries, Central America, South America

Year: 2000

Making the Clean Available: Escaping India’s Chulha Trap

Citation:

Smith, Kirk R., and Ambuj D. Sagar. 2014. “Making the Clean Available: Escaping India’s Chulha Trap.” Energy Policy 75: 410–4.

Authors: Kirk R. Smith, Ambuj D. Sagar

Abstract:

Solid cookfuel pollution is the largest energy-related health risk globally and most important cause of ill-health for Indian women and girls. At 700 million cooking with open biomass chulhas, the Indian population exposed has not changed in several decades, in spite of hundreds of programs to make the “available clean”, i.e. to burn biomass cleanly in advanced stoves. While such efforts continue, there is need to open up another front to attack this health hazard. Gas and electric cooking, which are clean at the household, are already the choice for one-third of Indians. Needed is a new agenda to make the “clean available”, i.e., to vigorously extend these clean fuels into populations that are caught in the Chulha Trap. This will require engaging new actors including the power and petroleum ministries as well as the ministry of health, which have not to date been directly engaged in addressing this problem. It will have implications for LPG imports, distribution networks, and electric and gas user technologies, as well as setting new priorities for electrification and biofuels, but at heart needs to be addressed as a health problem, not one of energy access, if it is to be solved effectively.

Keywords: household energy ladder, cooking fuel, household air pollution, energy access, LPG, biomass stoves

Topics: Development, Economies, Environment, Women, Girls, Health, Households, Infrastructure, Energy Regions: Asia, South Asia Countries: India

Year: 2014

Energy in the Development Strategy of Indian Households—the Missing Half

Citation:

Sudhakara Reddy, B., and Hippu Salk Kristle Nathan. 2013. “Energy in the Development Strategy of Indian Households—the Missing Half.” Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 18 (February): 203–10.

Authors: B. Sudhakara Reddy, Hippu Salk Kristle Nathan

Abstract:

There is a growing consensus that universalization of modern energy services is central to reducing major elements of poverty and hunger, to increase literacy and education, and to improve health care, employment opportunities, and lives of women and children. In India, as per 2011 census, over 700 million people lack access to modern energy services for lighting, cooking, water pumping and other productive purposes. Devoid of these services people, mostly women, are forced to spend significant amounts of their time and effort on subsistence activities like firewood collection, carrying these head load for miles, and then burning these hard earned fuels inefficiently in traditional chullas. These adversely affect the health and standard of living for women and act as a barrier to gender development (here ‘gender’ means women unless otherwise specified). Although the links between gender inequity, poverty, and energy deprivation have been studied by many, not many practical solutions to the above problems have emerged. The present paper explores the nexus among gender–energy–poverty, highlights areas of gender concern, and suggests actions. We analyze how women from rural areas and low income households are at the receiving ends of energy poverty. We then analyze the roles women as an important stakeholders in universalizing modern energy services. We show how women self-help groups can be a vital link in large-scale diffusion of energy-efficient and renewable technologies. The paper concludes with policy pointers for sustainable development and gender empowerment through energy solutions.

Keywords: domestic energy sector, Gender, entrepreneurs, energy poverty, self help groups

Topics: Development, Economies, Poverty, Education, Gender, Women, Health, Households, Infrastructure, Energy, Livelihoods Regions: Asia, South Asia Countries: India

Year: 2013

Gender and the Formal and Informal Systems of Local Public Finance in Sierra Leone

Citation:

van den Boogaard, Vanessa. 2018. “Gender and the Formal and Informal Systems of Local Public Finance in Sierra Leone.” Working Paper No. 87, International Centre for Tax and Development (ICTD), Brighton. 

Author: Vanessa van den Boogaard

Abstract:

This paper considers how men and women in eastern and northern Sierra Leone interact differently with formal and informal revenue collection. It argues that the literature on tax and gender equity needs to be expanded in low-income countries to pay greater attention to the ways that citizens pay for public services in practice. It shows that formal taxation affects a very small proportion of the population, and especially of the female population. The reality is that women primarily pay for services at the local level through informal revenue contributions, which has the potential to reinforce gender inequities on account of the implications for intra-household divisions of power and lack of associated opportunities for political representation.

Keywords: Gender, informal systems, local public finance, Sierra Leone

Topics: Economies, Informal Economies, Public Finance, Gender, Women, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equity, Households, Political Participation Regions: Africa, West Africa Countries: Sierra Leone

Year: 2018

The Role of Gender Concerns in the Planning of Small-Scale Energy Projects in Developing Countries

Citation:

Terrapon-Pfaff, Julia, Carmen Dienst, and Willington Ortiz. 2015. “The Role of Gender Concerns in the Planning of Small-Scale Energy Projects in Developing Countries.” In Decentralized Solutions for Developing Economies: Addressing Energy Poverty through Innovation, edited by Sebastian Groh, Jonas van der Straeten, Brian Edlefsen Lasch, Dimitry Gershenson, Walter Leal Filho, and Daniel M. Kammen, 285–94. Cham: Springer International Publishing AG Switzerland.

Authors: Julia Terrapon-Pfaff, Carmen Dienst, Willington Ortiz

Abstract:

Energy poverty affects women in developing countries more severely than it affects men; at the same time, women have less control over household resources and are often not involved in decision-making processes on energy matters. In order for transition processes of energy systems to be sustainable, these gender-related concerns need to be addressed. Although this link is widely recognized, gender aspects are still not well perceived in the planning of energy projects. To better understand the role of gender concerns in project planning, the research presented in this paper evaluates concepts of small-scale sustainable energy projects with regard to their gender sensitivity. The data originates from an expert evaluation process and was analyzed with focus on gender-related aspects. The results show that even in sustainable energy projects the issue is still not high on the agenda.

Keywords: Gender, sustainable energy transitions, project concepts, developing countries

Topics: Development, Gender, Gender Analysis, Households, Infrastructure, Energy

Year: 2015

Taxing Women

Citation:

McCaffery, Edward J. 1997. Taxing Women. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 

Author: Edward McCaffery

Annotation:

Summary: 
Taxing Women comprises both an insightful, critical analysis of the gender biases in current tax laws and a wake-up call for all those concerned with gender justice to pay more attention to the pervasive impact of such laws. Providing real-life examples, Edward McCaffery shows how tax laws are actually written to punish married couples who file jointly. No dual-income household can afford not to read this book before filing their taxes. (Summary from University of Chicago Press)
 

Topics: Economies, Public Finance, Gender, Households

Year: 1997

Do Welfare State Taxes and Transfers Reduce Gender Income Inequality? Evidence from Eight European Countries

Citation:

Avraam, Silvia and Daria Popova. 2020. “Do Welfare State Taxes and Transfers Reduce Gender Income Inequality? Evidence from Eight European Countries.” Working Paper EM 09/20, EuroMod at the Institute for Social and Economic Research, Essex.

Authors: Silvia Avraam, Daria Popova

Abstract:

We complement the institutional literature on gender and the welfare state by examining how taxes and transfers affect the incomes of men and women. Using microsimulation and intra-household income splitting rules, we measure the differences in the level and composition of individual disposable incomes of men and women in eight European countries covering various welfare regime types. We quantify the extent to which taxes and transfers are able to close the gender gap in earnings, as well as which policy instruments contribute most to reducing the gap. We find that with the exception of old- age pensions, taxes and transfers – both contributory and means-tested – significantly reduce gender income inequality but cannot compensate for high gender earnings gaps. The equalizing effect of benefits is higher than that of taxes but varies significantly not only across countries but also across groups with different demographic characteristics. 

Keywords: gender inequality, income distribution, welfare state, social policy, Europe

Topics: Gender, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Households Regions: Europe, Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Nordic states, Northern Europe, Southern Europe, Western Europe Countries: Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Romania, Spain, United Kingdom

Year: 2020

Gender Issues in Energy Policy

Citation:

Parikh, Jyoti K. 1995. “Gender Issues in Energy Policy.” Energy Policy 23 (9): 745–54.

Author: Jyoti K. Parikh

Abstract:

Gender issues have received attention at micro level in terms of technological intervention such as cookstoves, biogas, solar cookers, and wood plantations. They have yet to be addressed in macro level policies. Women’s needs for energy vary depending on whether they are in urban or rural areas, their stage of economic development, and whether they are economically active. This article emphasizes the need for better understanding of these issues for women engaged in different sectors, whether agriculture, transport, industries, household, and the energy sector itself (ie charcoal making, fuel gathering and fuel marketing). Deeper enquiries, analysis, and action for gender issues are needed through surveys, laboratory experiments, macro policy modeling and analysis, and technology development and production. This article makes a plea to include gender issues in macro level energy policies such as energy investment, imports, and pricing. The latter are discussed in detail. A lot more work lies ahead.

Keywords: gender issues, macro policies, cooking fuels

Topics: Agriculture, Development, Economies, Gender, Households, Infrastructure, Energy, Transportation

Year: 1995

Combining Feminist Political Ecology and Participatory Diagramming to Study Climate Information Service Delivery and Knowledge Flows among Smallholder Farmers in Northern Ghana

Citation:

Nyantaki-Frimpong, Hanson. 2019. “Combining Feminist Political Ecology and Participatory Diagramming to Study Climate Information Service Delivery and Knowledge Flows among Smallholder Farmers in Northern Ghana.” Applied Geography 112: 1-17.

Author: Hanson Nyantaki-Frimpong

Abstract:

Using innovative diagramming and a feminist political ecology (FPE) approach, this paper examines gender, power, and equity considerations in the delivery of climate information service (CIS) to smallholder farmers. Based upon a multi-method triangulation fieldwork involving a survey (n = 998), participatory listing and scoring activities (n = 82), and network diagramming (n = 180), the paper illuminates several structural barriers to acquiring CIS. These barriers include gender norms and expectations, patriarchal values, time poverty, and the format in which technical climate forecasts are presented to illiterate farmers. Another key finding is the multiple subject positions beyond gender within which women are embedded, such as the intersection of seniority, religion, class, and positions within households, that further reconfigure access to CIS. In addition to contributing to emerging intersectional research in FPE, the paper proposes innovative ways of studying household relations and politics. More specifically, it illustrates how feminist political ecologists could deploy participatory network diagramming to provide a nuanced, powerful, and graphic account of subtle politics at the household scale.

Keywords: climate information service, smallholder farmers, Gender, participatory diagramming, feminist political ecology, Ghana

Topics: Age, Class, Agriculture, Environment, Feminisms, Feminist Political Ecology, Gender, Women, Gender Roles, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equity, Households, Intersectionality, Religion Regions: Africa, West Africa Countries: Ghana

Year: 2019

Gender Impacts and Determinants of Energy Poverty: Are We Asking the Right Questions?

Citation:

Pachauri, Shonali, and Narasimha D. Rao. 2013. “Gender Impacts and Determinants of Energy Poverty: Are We Asking the Right Questions?” Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability 5 (2): 205–15.

Authors: Shonali Pachauri, Narasimha D. Rao

Abstract:

Compelling empirical evidence on the gender differentiated impacts and determinants of energy transitions remains weak. In this paper, we focus on identifying key gaps in our current understanding of how women’s well-being relates to energy poverty and in framing questions for further research. Our overarching message is twofold: first, more research and empirical evidence is needed to understand the factors – both outside and within the household – that influence women’s decision-making power in relation to the adoption of modern energy services, and whether their adoption leads to the intended benefits. Second, policies (and research) that aim to improve (study) women’s well-being through improvements in household energy use need to consider not only this broader enabling context, but also the multiple dimensions of modern energy service provision. Existing power relations and institutions today discriminate against women in many developing countries. Disregarding these gender inequalities can undermine the potential for transforming women’s status and well-being.

Topics: Gender, Women, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Households, Infrastructure, Energy

Year: 2013

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