Gender Energy and Human Freedom

in Nepal

Ishara Mahat
ishara.mahat@gmail.com
“Women’s survival tasks with the exception of cooking
have been largely invisible in the energy literature:
an electric pump that transports water uses energy,
but a woman carrying water does not. A water mill
grinding grain falls within energy sector, but a
woman doing the same task with mortar and pestle
does not. Trucks transporting crops are consuming
fossil fuels, but women head loading crops walk
outside the energy balance” (Cecelski, 1995, P. 365).
 Rural Energy Situation in Nepal

Types of Fuel used Qty. of fuel used

Firewood 78.14%

Agricultural by product 3.80%

Animal waste 5.77%

Total biomass used 87.71%

Use of electricity 1.82%

Use of petroleum 8.19%

Coal 1.76%

Renewables (biogas, solar and micro- 0.53%

hydro)

WECS, 2006
 Traditional Energy Technologies

Traditional Stoves Dhiki

Traditional Water Mill Janto

 Alternative Energy Technologies

Improved Cooking Stoves Biogas Stove

Solar Photovoltaic System

Micro-Hydro Mill
 Poverty Situation in Nepal

• 42 % of the population live below poverty in

Nepal (UNDP, 2005)

• Half of the population lives in less than $1 per day

• Poverty: rural phenomenon since 86% of the

population reside in the rural areas.

• Feminization of poverty due to the gender

discrimination in accessing the resources
opportunities, and the benefits.
 Poverty: beyond income

Power- “Poverty is deprivation

lessness of basic capabilities,
rather than merely low
income, which can be
reflected in premature
Isolation Vulner- mortality, significant
ability
undernourishment
(especially of children),
persistent morbidity,
widespread illiteracy, and
other failures.”
Poverty Physical
weakness
(Sen, 1999: 89)

The ‘deprivation trap’

 What is Energy Poverty?

absence of sufficient choice in accessing adequate,

affordable, reliable, quality, safe and
environmentally benign energy services to
support economic and human development
(UNDP, 2000)
 Relation between Energy and Poverty

• Equity

• Time

• Health

• Well being
 Human Freedom

• Options and choices available for human

beings to achieve the positive state of life
that they value (Sen, 1999)

• Means and Ends to increase the human

capabilities and thereby their well being
(Sen, 1992, 1999)

• Prevention of multiple deprivations to

improve the wellbeing (HDR, 1997)
 Why energy for human freedom?

• Energy is one of the basic needs for living same

like water and food and is considered as basic
human rights,

• Biomass especially the firewood as a major

cooking fuel in rural areas of Nepal has a severe
impact on women’s workload and their health,

• Energy poverty causes multiple deprivations that

restricts the human capabilities and thereby their
well being.
 Conceptual Model

Low
well being
and agency
freedom

Human Human
Development Social
Development
deprivation

Biomass Economic Low

Low well Ecological deprivation well being
being freedom
freedom deprivation Energy

Cultural Human
deprivation Development
Human
Development

Low well
being and
agency
freedom
Women carrying firewood from the forest
Woman Carrying Fodder Grasses with her baby
Woman Cooking Meal with Traditional Stoves
Men Chatting in The Tea Shop
 Gender Roles in Household Energy
Management
(percentage of respondents)

Who cuts Who Who stores

down collects fire it?
Trees? wood
Women 35 65 71

Men 44 5 3

Both 21 30 26

Total 100 100 100

Personal Observation, 2008

Problems in Collecting and Cooking with Firewood

Problems in Collecting % of Problems in Cooking % of

Firewood Cases with Firewood Cases

Long distance to walk 86.2 More smoke 98.6

Dirty utensils 82.5

Lack of firewood (long time 48.3
to collect) Dirty house
57.3
34.5
No time to go to forest Hard to blow
28.0
Risky (falling down from 34.5 Eye irritation
trees, paying penalties)
26.6
15.5 Long time to cook
Costly to buy
4.2
Other 13.8 High heat during summer
2.8
 Health related problems

Selected Health problems in Two Villages

(Percentage of Cases)

Men Women
Health Problems

Eye problems 35 73.0

Lung disease 21 41.0

Asthma - 13.5

Uterus Prolapsed - 49.5

Personal Observations, 2008

•“We are used to with smokes even though we feel eye irritation and headaches
so often, as we have no other options” (personal Interview, 2008)

“We never know that prolapsed uterus is caused by heavy workload, and we feel
shy to express this problem” (Personal interview. 2008).
 Gender Analysis Matrix
Project Objective: To provide efficient energy supply and have integrated development
Labor Time Resources Culture

Women +less work for collecting +More time for other -High initial investment +Good habit of
firewood and cleaning work while cooking with +Information from radios using toilet
dishes and houses biogas and TVs -Initially people
+Less work for milling -Long time to cook +Less use of firewood hesitate to eat the
activities -More work with electric food with biogas
+No need to use kerosene light cooking because of
light in every room. +less time in collecting attached toilet
-More work for dung firewood and milling +Change attitude of
and water collection activities men and women

Men +Less work for cutting +less time in cutting trees + More +Change gambling
trees knowledge and habit
information through TV
-Young boys
hanging around TV and
radios and reluctant to go
to work
Household +Saved women’s labor +Saved women’s time -High initial investment +Positive attitude of
for other activities for other activities +Possibility to increase men and women on
income women’s mobility,
+less use of firewood, sanitation, girl’s
and high use of slurry schooling
+Possibility for irrigation
-Decrease young labor
Notes:+ indicates positive implications, - indicates negative implications
 Major Findings

• AETs are out of reach of the majority of rural

households creating the large social and economic
gap within a community,

• AETs are only used as ends than the means for

enabling women to be involved in other social and
economic activities,

• Women’s participation in village energy projects

is more in terms of labor contribution and
community mobilization, than in the real planning
and decision making process,
• Women’s saved time and energy are less
visible in absence of any socio-economic
opportunities in villages,

• Women have a little freedom to participate in

any socio-economic activities due to their
heavy workload and health problems,

• Women have less access to decision making

processes including the choice of fuel
technology, its repair and maintenance,
 Policy Implications
• Biomass will be irreplaceable by rural households,

• No clear policy on biomass energy rather focusing on rural

electrification,

• Technologies are subsidy driven than the need based of rural

households

• Little association made between energy and human

development

• Less integration of energy services with other services

 What Next?

• Equity versus Efficiency in launching AETs

• Addressing cooking needs as a major share of

household energy,

• Integration of rural energy with other development

activities,

• Gender sensitive rural energy plans and policies

Strategies to increase better energy services

• Integrate rural energy access into the process of

formulation & implementation of national development
strategies (NDS),
• Strengthen capacity of local authorities to undertake
participatory planning (gender based) & budgeting, energy
assessment and manage delivery of energy services,
• Develop capacity of local actors such as communities,
NGOs, small-sized enterprises, and financial institutions to
enable them to respond to the energy needs of poor,
• Ensure country-level coordination through discussions
among development partners to help harmonize & bring
alignment of their development assistance to national
energy access priorities as articulated in NDS.
“Energy is not only mechanical power, but also
metabolic power, which mainly comes from
women in rural Nepal. Ignoring women’s energy
does not reflect the real energy situation of rural
area, where women perform exhaustive physical
tasks threatening their livelihood in managing
household energy system”.
Thank You