Households

Citation:

Villamor, Grace B., Dawit Guta, Utkur Djanibekov, and Alisher Mirzabaev. 2018. “Gender Specific Perspectives among Smallholder Farm Households on Water-Energy-Food Security Nexus Issues in Ethiopia.” ZEF-Discussion Papers on Development Policy No. 258, Zentrum für Entwicklungsforschung / Center for Development Research (ZEF), University of Bonn.

Authors: Grace B. Villamor, Dawit Guta, Utkur Djanibekov, Alisher Mirzabaev

Abstract:

The water-energy-food security nexus concept is a widely recognized analytical approach to consider and achieve sustainable development goals. However, the water-energy-food security nexus concept has mostly been analyzed at higher scales in a top-down manner, while examples of bottom-up and local scale applications remain limited. Breaching this gap, the research presented in this paper describes and assesses the water-energy-food nexus from a smallholder farm household perspective in the context of rural Ethiopia through a gender-specific lens. We adopted the “Actors, Resources, Dynamics and Interactions” participatory approach to co-develop a mental model of this nexus concept. Using this approach, we were able to examine the key elements and interlinkages among major nexus related resources that affect management according to gender. The results indicate that there are four aspects that differentiate between male and female farm household management with respect to the water-energy-food nexus. These differences include gender specific productive roles, perceptions of target resources, access to external actors, and decision making with respect to target resource management and utilization, which may affect the dynamics and governance of important components of the water-energy-food nexus.

Keywords: ARDI method, bottom-up approach, energy-food-land linkages, gender roles, intrahousehold heterogeneity, mental model

Topics: Agriculture, Gender, Gender Roles, Governance, Households, Infrastructure, Energy, Water & Sanitation, Livelihoods, Security, Food Security, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Regions: Africa, East Africa Countries: Ethiopia

Year: 2018

Citation:

Matinga, Margaret N., Bigsna Gill, and Tanja Winther. 2019. “Rice Cookers, Social Media, and Unruly Women: Disentangling Electricity’s Gendered Implications in Rural Nepal.” Frontiers in Energy Research 6 (January).

Authors: Margaret N. Matinga, Bigsna Gill, Tanja Winther

Abstract:

Rice cookers, social media, and television sets are commonly used in rural Nepal. In this paper we explore how gender norms condition the uptake of these artifacts, and the gendered implications of their uses. We draw on material from a household survey, in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, and key informant interviews, collected in 2017 in Dhading and Tanahun districts in rural Nepal. The results show that each of the three artifacts initiate distinct, gendered dynamics in terms of uptake, uses, and effects. Women’s use of electric rice cookers aligns with their gendered identity as cooks, helping them improve their gendered work and do not trigger resistance from men. In contrast, the use of mobile phones, social media, and television, prompt complex gender outcomes, resistances, and negotiations. Young people use social media to initiate self-negotiated marriages, shunning arranged marriages thus increasing their agency. It was reported that these self-negotiated marriages tend to be earlier (ages 12–14) than before, as young girls drop out of school to marry their chosen partners, thus threatening their empowerment. Access to television and internet has increased awareness about family planning methods, but persistent gender hierarchies hinder women from freely deciding on and accessing these methods. Women and youth pursuing new opportunities that challenge gender norms are sometimes labeled as unfaithful and unruly by others in the villages. The paper highlights the need to understand subversive responses to social and cultural changes mediated by electricity so that policy and practice can support the desired social transformations.

Keywords: gender relations, energy poverty, electric potential, women's empowerment, energy justice

Topics: Age, Youth, Women, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Hierarchies, Media, Households, Infrastructure, Energy Regions: Asia, South Asia Countries: Nepal

Year: 2019

Citation:

LaBiche, Monica, and Sherina Munyana. 2017. “Social and Economic Development of Rural Women in Uganda Using Solar Energy for Productive Use.” Paper presented at 2017 IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference, San Jose, CA, October 19-22.

Authors: Monica LaBiche, Sherina Munyana

Abstract:

Agriculture is the backbone of African economies, especially in rural areas where over 70% of people rely on subsistence farming for their livelihood. In Rwanda and Uganda, where Africa Development Promise (ADP) works, 90% of economically active women work in the agricultural sector. Overall women work more and longer hours compared to men because of additional household responsibilities such as preparing food, collecting fuelwood and water. This time deficit leaves no time for education or productive endeavors. The paper argues that access to new technologies that save time, especially tedious and laborious work, can have a significant positive impact on women’s efficiency, productivity and income-generating potential. It shares ADP’s shift from a single-entry economic development approach to a holistic approach that incorporates access to solar energy to support women’s economic endeavors. The paper is shared with organizations addressing similar challenges, but more importantly to seek feedback from development practitioners.

Topics: Agriculture, Education, Gender, Households, Infrastructure, Energy, Livelihoods Regions: Africa, Central Africa, East Africa Countries: Rwanda, Uganda

Year: 2017

Citation:

Kim, Elena, and Karina Standal. 2019. “Empowered by Electricity? The Political Economy of Gender and Energy in Rural Naryn.” Gender, Technology and Development 23 (1): 1–18.

Authors: Elena Kim, Karina Standal

Abstract:

This article examines if and how access to electricity has contributed to women’s empowerment in the broader context of the political economy of gender and energy in rural Naryn, Kyrgyzstan. Earlier literature has pointed to how electricity provided through development interventions has facilitated a range of desirable services, conditional for children’s education, communication technologies and economic growth. Access to electricity has been linked to gender equality and women’s empowerment via providing women new opportunities for agency and income. The context of this article is rural Kyrgyzstan where electricity has been available since the 1970s as a service delivered by the centralized Soviet state. This study provides important insights into how this has affected local development and gender relations in a post-socialist country. It reveals the complexity of energy access and challenges the assumptions that access to modern energy such as electricity will lead to fulfillment of SDG#7 on affordable and clean energy or increased economic activity and abandonment of traditional energy use. The findings demonstrate that electricity provides an important resource for communication, income generation and household chores. However, the lack of reliability and affordability of electricity in rural areas in the larger context of post-Soviet transitional challenges and changing gender norms, has undermined women’s potential empowerment and has worked to maintain gender inequalities.

Keywords: Gender, electricity, energy, women's empowerment, Kyrgyzstan

Topics: Gender, Women, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Households, Infrastructure, Energy, Political Economies Regions: Asia, Central Asia Countries: Kyrgyzstan

Year: 2019

Citation:

Gray, Leslie, Alaina Boyle, Erika Francks, and Victoria Yu. 2019. “The Power of Small-Scale Solar: Gender, Energy Poverty, and Entrepreneurship in Tanzania.” Development in Practice 29 (1): 26–39.

Authors: Leslie Gray, Alaina Boyle, Erika Francks, Victoria Yu

Abstract:

Energy poverty is a major challenge in the developing world, with an estimated 1.2 billion people lacking household electricity. Although energy poverty affects both men and women, the burden of household energy supply disproportionately affects women in low-income countries in the developing world. This article examines the impact of a women-oriented solar lighting social enterprise, Solar Sister, in Tanzania for both solar entrepreneurs and customers, demonstrating that solar lanterns positively impact household savings, health, education and women’s economic productivity and empowerment. Our study argues that Solar Sister’s approach is successful because of its explicit gender lens. Providing energy access to women translates to a pro-woman, pro-child, and pro-family development intervention.

Keywords: labour and livelihoods - poverty reduction, Sub-Saharan Africa, gender and diversity

Topics: Economies, Poverty, Education, Gender, Women, Health, Households, Infrastructure, Energy Regions: Africa, East Africa Countries: Tanzania

Year: 2019

Citation:

Ding, Wenguang, Li He, Dinka Zewudie, Huilin Zhang, Tanjia Binte Zafar, and Xinde Liu. 2019. “Gender and Renewable Energy Study in Tibetan Pastoral Areas of China.” Renewable Energy 133 (April): 901–13.

Authors: Wenguang Ding, Li He, Dinka Zewudie, Huilin Zhang, Tanjia Binte Zafar, Xinde Liu

Abstract:

As interdisciplinary research, this Gender and Energy study innovatively revealed the crucial role of Tibetan women in using, saving and developing energy. We chose a typical Tibetan area named Gannan Prefecture in northwestern China, we chose three total grassland counties in Gannan; all three communities still have a nomadic lifestyle and do not have sufficient energy. After we concluded the close relationship between gender and energy in this area, we compared our research area with other Tibetan area those are located in Sichuan, Qinghai and Tibet. This comparison helped to figure out the relationship between Tibetan women and energy in China. The results showed a significant increase of total household energy consumption and the energy efficiency and the decrease of the disease rate because of using renewable energy and clean devices. It also improved women's empowerment in household energy management and promoted cultural change. However, a Tibetan woman's daily working time increased by 1 h from 15 h/day to 16 h/day. The reasons behind gender inequity include Religion influence, Social change and Industrial structure. This paper conclude the changes and attempts to analyze the internal factors, and tries to bring about some policy advice to benefit the Tibetan women.

Keywords: gender equity, renewable energy, policy

Topics: Gender, Women, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equity, Health, Households, Infrastructure, Energy, Religion Regions: Asia, East Asia Countries: China

Year: 2019

Citation:

Clancy, Joy, Fareeha Ummar, Indira Shakya, and Govind Kelkar. 2007. “Appropriate Gender-Analysis Tools for Unpacking the Gender-Energy-Poverty Nexus.” Gender & Development 15 (2): 241–57.

Authors: Joy Clancy, Fareeha Ummar, Indira Shakya, Govind Kelkar

Abstract:

In rural and low-income urban households, energy is ‘women’s business’: women are responsible for providing energy, and use it for domestic chores and productive activities. However, the poor quality fuels many women use contribute to their time poverty, ill health, and level of drudgery. Despite these negative impacts, energy policy remains gender-blind. This can be attributed to the invisibility of women’s needs to energy planners, stemming from a lack of appropriate gender-analysis tools to meet the particular data requirements of the energy sector. This article analyses why standard gender tools do not provide appropriate gender-disaggregated energy data, and describes a set of tools that have been developed for that purpose. The paper concludes with an evaluation of recent experiences testing the tools in Pakistan, India, and Nepal.

Topics: Economies, Poverty, Gender, Women, Gender Analysis, Households, Infrastructure, Energy Regions: Asia, South Asia Countries: India, Nepal, Pakistan

Year: 2007

Citation:

Pueyo, Ana, Simon Bawakyillenuo, and Marco Carreras. 2020. “Energy Use and Enterprise Performance in Ghana: How Does Gender Matter?” The European Journal of Development Research. doi:10.1057/s41287-020-00273-0.

Authors: Ana Pueyo, Simon Bawakyillenuo, Marco Carreras

Abstract:

ENGLISH ABSTRACT:
The potential impact of electricity use on enterprise performance has a gender dimension that has been overlooked by the energy and development literature. This omission disregards the evidence of a gendered division of labour and the different energy consumption patterns of different productive activities. To address the gaps in the literature, this paper analyses an enterprise development programme that jointly provides improved electricity supply, business services and enterprise clustering in Ghana. The paper aims to understand: the gender awareness of the intervention; the different energy use patterns in men and women’s enterprises; the different benefits men and women obtain from the productive use of energy; and the reasons behind the differences observed. We adopt a multi-methods approach combining gender differentiated firm level data from 400 microenterprises, with in-depth semi-structured interviews to enterprise owners and employees, key informant interviews, and focus group discussions. The results, which are specific to the research region, show clearly differentiated energy use patterns in enterprises owned by men and women. Men’s enterprises display higher electricity consumption, while women dominate the use of cooking fuels, mainly charcoal. The use of electricity shows a positive correlation with business profits, regardless of the owner’s gender, which is higher for enterprises owned by women. The main reasons for women’s lower electricity consumption are: the gendered division of labour, which limits women’s economic activity to a narrow number of sectors and to smaller scale operations; the lower value of women’s work which creates disincentives to mechanisation; social norms determining the types of jobs men and women can do; and women’s lower access to starting capital. We conclude that, in the absence of gender considerations, interventions for the promotion of productive uses of energy are likely to target electricity intensive activities dominated by men. We finalise by offering policy suggestions to improve the gender equity of these interventions.

FRENCH ABSTRACT:
L’impact potentiel de la consommation d’électricité sur la performance des entreprises a une dimension de genre qui a été négligée dans la littérature sur l’énergie et le développement. Cette omission ne tient pas compte des preuves d’une division sexuelle du travail et des différents modes de consommation d’énergie selon les différentes activités productives. Pour combler les lacunes de la littérature, cet article analyse un programme de développement des entreprises qui fournit conjointement un meilleur approvisionnement en électricité, des services aux entreprises et permet le regroupement d’entreprises au Ghana. Le document cherche à comprendre : la prise en compte du genre dans le cadre de l’intervention; les différents modes de consommation d’énergie dans les entreprises appartenant à des hommes et dans celles appartenant à des femmes; les différents avantages que les hommes et les femmes tirent de l’utilisation productive de l’énergie; et les raisons qui expliquent les différences constatées. Nous adoptons des méthodes mixtes de recherche, combinant les données d’entreprise sexo-spécifiques de 400 micro-entreprises, avec des entretiens semi-directifs et d’autres approfondis avec des patrons d’entreprise et des employés, des entretiens avec des informateurs clés et des discussions de groupe. Les résultats sont spécifiques à la région de la recherche et montrent des tendances de consommation d’énergie clairement distinctes entre les entreprises appartenant à des hommes et celles appartenant à des femmes. Les entreprises appartenant à des hommes ont une consommation d’électricité plus élevée, tandis que les femmes utilisent essentiellement des combustibles de cuisson, principalement le charbon de bois. Il existe une corrélation positive entre l’utilisation de l’électricité et les bénéfices des entreprises, quel que soit le sexe du propriétaire, et cette corrélation est plus forte pour les entreprises appartenant à des femmes. Les principales raisons pour lesquelles les femmes consomment moins d’électricité sont les suivantes: la division sexuelle du travail, qui cantonne l’activité économique des femmes à quelques secteurs seulement et à des opérations à plus petite échelle; la valeur plus faible du travail des femmes, qui les dissuade procéder à la mécanisation; les normes sociales, qui déterminent les types d’emplois que les hommes et les femmes peuvent faire; et un accès réduit des femmes à un capital de départ. Nous concluons qu’en l’absence de prise en compte du genre, les interventions pour la promotion d’une utilisation productive de l’énergie sont susceptibles de cibler les activités à forte intensité électrique dominées par les hommes. Enfin, nous faisons des suggestions en termes de politiques publiques pour améliorer l’équité entre les sexes dans le cadre de ces interventions.

Keywords: energy, productive uses, enterprise, Gender, Ghana

Topics: Economies, Gender, Gender Analysis, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equity, Households, Infrastructure, Energy Regions: Africa, West Africa Countries: Ghana

Year: 2020

Citation:

Pueyo, Ana, Marco Carreras, and Gisela Ngoo. 2020. “Exploring the Linkages between Energy, Gender, and Enterprise: Evidence from Tanzania.” World Development 128 (April): 104840.

Authors: Ana Pueyo, Marco Carreras, Gisela Ngoo

Abstract:

The productive use of electricity is essential for poverty reduction in newly electrified rural communities as well as for the financial sustainability of electricity suppliers. Because men and women assume different roles in the rural economy, the inclusion of gender concerns in interventions to promote productive uses of energy could improve development outcomes. Using a multi-methods approach, this study provides new evidence about how men and women use energy in rural micro-enterprises in Tanzania, and which benefits they obtain from it. In our research region, most businesses are owned by men and men-owned enterprises use electricity more frequently and intensely than women owned enterprises. The latter dominate the productive use of cooking fuels like charcoal and firewood. Electricity use is consistently associated with better business performance, but women entrepreneurs do not use it as much as men. There are multiple reasons for this gender imbalance. First, women enjoy less favourable starting conditions for enterprise creation due to poor access to finance, education, and other resources. Furthermore, women are required to balance care responsibilities with paid work and are subject to social norms that determine the acceptability of certain productive activities. Typically, female activities are less profitable and less mechanised than men’s. Consequently, in the absence of gender interventions, male entrepreneurs are more likely to benefit from the promotion of productive uses of electricity. The paper discusses several approaches to improve the gender equity of PUE interventions.

Keywords: energy, Gender, enterprise, Africa, Tanzania, electricity

Topics: Development, Economies, Poverty, Gender, Gender Balance, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equity, Households, Infrastructure, Energy Regions: Africa, East Africa Countries: Tanzania

Year: 2020

Citation:

Shailaja, R. 2000. “Women, Energy and Sustainable Development.” Energy for Sustainable Development 4 (1): 45–64.

Author: R. Shailaja

Abstract:

Summary:
"Sustainable development is an equitable, empowering, environmentally sound, economically viable process of growth. Energy is the key indicator of sustainable development. About 74% of the population of India live in rural areas. 80% of their energy needs are derived from biomass. About 92% of this energy is consumed in cooking activity. Women play a major role in biofuel management. Rural women's perspective in sustainable development is therefore critical.

Declining biofuel resources, poor quality of the available biofuels and inefficient devices have pushed women into greater hardships. This paper examines the role of rural women in biomass management. The energy resources that rural women use, the strategy that the government and other organisations have adopted to alleviate rural energy problems and how these strategies have benefited women and improved their quality of life, the importance of incorporating the concept of ‘gender and development’ in alternative energy strategies to achieve the objectives of sustainable development are discussed in this paper" (Shailaja 2000, 45).

Topics: Development, Environment, Gender, Women, Households, Infrastructure, Energy Regions: Asia, South Asia Countries: India

Year: 2000