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Seminar paper by Ms Tieho Makhabane |
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Poverty, Energy and Gender Seminar Organized by the Renewable Energy Information Network of Namibia, Human Science Research Council. EmCON Consulting group and The Southern African Regional Poverty Network Ministry of Mines & Energy, Windhoek, NAMIBIA 29th – 31st May, 20002 The Sustainability of Energy Provision and Poverty Alleviation Measures and Business Development in Rural Communities By Ms Tieho Makhabane, Gender, Energy and Development May 2002 |
| Introduction | |
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Energy is central to achieving the interrelated economic, social and environmental aims of sustainable development. Energy plays a critical role in Poverty Reduction. Patterns of energy generation, distribution and utilization directly affect opportunities for income generation, the situation of women, environmental protection and national development. Energy services are an essential engine for growth to enable developing countries to overcome poverty and the conditions of poverty. If we are to realize the sustainable human development goal, the kinds of e energy we produce and the ways we use them will have to change. Otherwise the environmental damage will accelerate, inequity will increase, and global economic growth will be jeopardized. Yet, worldwide, two billion people rely on traditional fuels including wood, dung and agricultural residues to meet their daily heating and cooking needs (Karlsson and Misana - eds, 2001). Gender refers to different social roles that women and men play, and the power relations between them. Gender relations influence how communities, households, and institutions are organised, how decisions are made, and how resources are used. To understand how gender shapes activities that affect the environment, it is necessary to examine women’s and men’s roles and responsibilities, access to and control over resources, knowledge of resources and authority to make decisions about resource use. Therefore understanding women’s and men’s relationships to the environment plays an important role in developing solutions and meeting challenges for more sustainable use of energy resources. Ignoring gender distorts the understanding of human impacts on the environment as a whole. Gender and Energy From a gender perspective, 70% of the 1.3 people in developing countries living below the poverty threshold are women (Denton, 2001). Of the two billion people without access to modern energy services, most live in rural areas, where women head most of the poor households. Lack of modern fuels impacts more on women and girl child. Hundreds of millions of women and girls spend between three - eight hours carrying fuelwood, dung and other traditional biofuels everyday. The immediate family energy use need is heat; when fuels become scarcer, girl children over boy children are withdrawn from school to support family energy needs. Girls who do not go to school can’t be literate. Illiterate women have more children, larger and poorer families that reinforces the cycle of poverty and underdevelopment. 2 million people die each year due to health and respiratory effects from indoor air pollution (MacDade, 2002). For poor people the energy problem is “we do not have it”. But worse for women, the energy problem is lack of access, control, power relations and social dynamics. Men and women in a given society have different roles, needs and aspirations for energy. From a production point of view, the participation of women in the energy sector has largely been restricted to forestry and biomass management in rural areas. In urban areas women have remained victims of environmental impacts of coal based electricity production that serves middle to high income groups (the case of South Africa!). Few women are involved in the formulation of energy policy, and big energy projects have remained the preserve of men. Both rural and urban dwellers have little say and choice over domestic fuels that they use. In rural areas such say and choices is determined by woodfuel availability, and to some extend availability of cash to purchase fuel such as paraffin. Rural energy challenge Unless there are clean fuels to cook food, boil water and support family subsistence and productive activities, poverty cannot be beaten. Electricity is only part of the issue. Focus should be on the other 2 billion people challenge. The conditions of poverty cannot be cracked without focusing on the 2 billion people essentially having pre-industrial revolution household cooking (Macdade, 2002). By focusing on Electricity alone, power generation or renewable energy cannot address the basic conditions of poverty. Electricity and heat are different:
Changing the energy systems is no simple matter. It is a complex and long-term process—one that will require major and concerted efforts by governments, businesses, and members of the civil society. Consensus on energy trends and needed changes in energy systems can accelerate this process. Initiatives such as networking, capacity building, research and advocacy can be undertaken to build this consensus on how we can most effectively use energy as a for sustainable development. There is need for programmes aimed at information dissemination, capacity building, empowerment as well as networking for men and women at all levels of society. This includes the need to develop sub-sector and group specific strategies, to develop a vision for women, gender and energy in Southern Africa, and an interface between genders, energy, rural and urban development. This interface should be sharpened and understood in order to develop and implement effective strategies. Experience and research suggest a number of actions policymakers and planners can take to improve the integration of gender concerns into energy planning to reduce poverty:
In conclusion, one would want to emphasize of the way (strategies) of energy delivering the energy service to the people. More often than not, focus is put onto the delivery itself without looking at the overall system in which men live and operate. This approach aggravates problems associated with acceptability, increased usage and adoption of the technologies. When focusing on the strategies, we should ensure that all energy related research include gender and sustainable development through gender-balanced teams; that advocacy tools are developed to link poverty, energy and gender and above all, that resources are requested for national and regional processes to implement the recommendations made. Gender Advocated should break away from the tendency of discussing gender issues among gender and energy experts, but should seek alternative and integrated solutions, as well as replicate best practices. The key QUESTION remains: on who's behalf are we speaking? - there is generally the theoretical approach of the issues, coupled with lack of consultation with local people to find out their 'real needs'. References
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