The Impact of Energy Use on Poor Urban Livelihoods in ... - DfID

A Study <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Impact</strong> <strong>of</strong> energy use on poor urban livelihoods in Arusha, Tanzania
tion needed
� Policies based on evidence.
� Make energy a community issue.
� Work towards changing embedded cultural attitudes and practices.
� Provide seed capital for training and information.
� Involve community development extension staff and NGOs in energy change process.
Changing the decision-making process
<strong>The</strong> six focus groups spent some time thinking about how women could be
empowered to have a decisive role in decision-making. <strong>The</strong>ir suggestions together
are set out in Figure 5.21. <strong>The</strong>re was a consensus that education, formal and
informal, and opportunities to develop self-confidence through undertaking IGAs
were the best ways <strong>of</strong> enabling women's empowerment.
Figure 5.21: How to empower women in the energy decision-making process
Daraja Mbili Kaloleni
General agreement that decisions are mostly made by
men in the households though if it were them they'd make
joint decisions. Girls and women can be empowered to
make decisions through:
� Education;
� Skills development so that they can run IGAs which
will empower them economically and hence enable
them to make decision;
� Provisions <strong>of</strong> capital/loans - but these have problems
and do not benefit the poor because:
- <strong>of</strong> conditions attached to loans e.g. collateral
- s<strong>of</strong>t loans given to women are too small to
enable someone to undertake a sound and
pr<strong>of</strong>itable IGA
- high interest rate on loan
- credit institutions do not involve clients in policy
decisions regarding the loans
- corruption by some employees <strong>of</strong> credit
institutions who demand some bribes before
endorsing a loan.
Youth Groups (Source: 2 Youth focus group discussions)
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Agreed that normally men dominate decision-making process
in households. <strong>The</strong>y were not happy with that situation and
proposed a change to joint decision-making. Suggestions to
empower women to have a decisive role in household energy
decisions:
� educate both men and women on the merits and
demerits <strong>of</strong> one parent making decisions;
� educate women so that they can make rational
decisions; and
� men should appreciate women’s decisions.
Extension Workers (Source: 2 Extension workers focus group discussions)
� Education for both men and women. In D2 this is
done once every 2 months in each street. <strong>The</strong>y are
taught people’s rights and obligations. An example
was given <strong>of</strong> two men from different families jointly
building a house. After completion they found
problems with the management <strong>of</strong> the house and so
decided to sell it. <strong>The</strong>y involved their families in the
whole decision-making process in the sale <strong>of</strong> the
house. Belief that people are changing as a result
<strong>of</strong> education.
� Allow and encourage women to form economic
groups where they can exercise decision-making
freely.
� Get rid <strong>of</strong> gender discriminatory norms and culture.
Example given <strong>of</strong> Masaai women who were eating in
a hotel one market day. Two Masaai men entered
the hotel and saw the women eating and said ‘If
these had been our wives we wouldn’t have allowed
it’.
Not sure about use <strong>of</strong> bold/italics in this table
� Build up their confidence through education so that they
can make rational decisions as well as their husband – if
husband is willing. If the husband is not willing to involve
or let his wife decide they should both be called to the
WEO (not in abbreviations) <strong>of</strong>fice for counselling and
education.
� Educate both men and women about equality and
especially that involving women in decision-making will not
deprive men <strong>of</strong> their status or position in the household or
in society;
� Educate men to do away with their selfish attitude towards
women and to stop underrating them. <strong>The</strong>y should see
women as partners and hence increase their wife’s selfconfidence
so that they can participate fully in decisionmaking.
� Men should be prepared to participate in the activities
women do. This will also increase women’s confidence as
they will feel they are valued by their partners and so feel
freer to make decisions.
� Educate more men (and women) on the health risks from
using various energy sources such as charcoal, firewood,
etc. Knowing the dangers women are in can make them
sympathetic and hence allow women to decide on what
type <strong>of</strong> energy to use or not.
Development Planning Unit, UCL London
Dr. Sheilah Meikle and Patrice North