GGCA Gender and Climate Change Training Manual - Women's ...

A study of 19 countries in Africa and Asia found that traditional
biomass fuels such as wood, charcoal and agricultural residues are usually
managed by women and often represent a high proportion of national energy
supplies. For example, in Mali, firewood and charcoal, used mostly for cooking,
represent 80% of the country’s energy consumption and women spend more
than one-third of their time collecting wood (Karlsson, 2008). Thus, identifying
appropriate alternative energy sources is not only important for the environment;
it is also key to reducing women’s workloads.
Numerous energy solutions at the community level already exist,
including improved cooking stoves, biogas, low-grade solar energy systems,
micro-hydro power and wind energy. These have often not been widely
disseminated or have been priced at levels that are too high for poor
households. There is an urgent need for further work to be done on these
technologies to make them affordable, adaptable and easily accessible
for rural women. Sustainable energy development as a response to climate
change is a yardstick for
the socio-economic advancement
of women (Makhabane,
2002).
Water resource use is
another area that requires gender-sensitive
mitigation strategies.
Since women in developing
countries usually bear primary
responsibility for the collection
of water for domestic purposes,
technologies aimed at improving
water-use efficiency should have
a gender component. For example,
if more efficient hand pumps
or irrigation systems are being
designed it should be considered
whether they will be accessible
and affordable for rural women.
Since women are already key
users of natural resources,
they should be empowered
to participate in wetland
restoration as a means to
improve water quality and
Box 4 Locally-based sustainable energy
production
In Ghana, GRATIS (the Ghana Regional
Appropriate Technology Industrial Service)
has promoted the production and use of
jatropha oil to produce biodiesel in the West
Mamprusi District. Women’s groups have
been encouraged to establish and manage
jatropha crops, harvest and process the
seeds, and produce biodiesel, which they
use for powering shea butter processing
machines, grinding corn and in household
lanterns (www.gratis-ghana.com). In Tanzania,
KAKUTE Ltd (Kampuni ya Kusambaza
Teknolojia) has supported the production of
jatropha seeds for sustainable livelihoods and
rural bio-enterprises. KAKUTE trained several
hundred people to farm jatropha as a cash
crop on marginal lands, working with villagebased
women’s groups to produce seedlings
and cuttings for planting. The oil extracted
from the seeds is used in hurricane lamps
and stoves provided by the project, but less
expensive stoves are needed to make this
use affordable (www.jatropha.de/tanzania/
Kakute/kakute.htm).
Source: Karlsson, 2008.
decrease risks of flooding. Similarly, their input should be sought
in the development of soil erosion strategies.
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Module 6