In rural Kenya, firewood is used for cooking and heating by 9 out of every 10 households due to its affordability, availability and convenience. This study was carried out using social and natural science methods to understand women’s energy burdens and the reasons for the persistent use of firewood. Firewood remains the main source of […]
In Uganda, rural electrification is one of the major energy policy strategies for increasing access to energy services. The Energy for Transformation project is the main vehicle for putting this strategy into action. The current Monitoring & Evaluation system focuses on two poverty focused elements. The challenge now is to bring in the gender focus.
This paper sets out the reasons, both from a Southern and from a Northern perspective, why gender issues need to be more strongly integrated into energy policies, planning and projects, to increase sustainable energy access for women. It refers to relevant recommendations made at UN meetings and other expert gatherings and lists a number of […]
In the rural areas of India and other third world countries, women have traditionally shouldered the responsibility of managing the domestic energy requirements for their families. As the predominant sources of fuel are derived from biomass resources, women have a very intrinsic and symbiotic relationship with their surrounding natural resource system. However, due to a […]
It is well known that women usually bear the burden of providing biomass fuels for daily domestic use. Less well known is the extent to which human energy is an essential element in the household economy. The results of a case study of a typical village in Karnataka, India, can be used to demonstrate this. […]
This paper highlights a number of different positions that can be taken regarding the reason for and purpose of a gender approach in energy planning. The two extreme positions ‘gender for efficiency’ and ‘gender for equity’ are described. Most energy planners are found somewhere in between these extremes. Next the question of how the gender […]
New perspectives in the energy sector adopted at the Rio Conference, and new approaches to gender issues discussed at the Beijing Conference, are especially congenial to the adoption of a gender approach in energy policy and planning at this time. This article suggests that mutual concerns in energy fora and gender circles, jointly addressed, could […]
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