The Gender Factor in Political Economy of Energy Sector Dynamics
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
The Gender Factor in Political Economy of Energy Sector Dynamics 23 January 2019 This publication has been realized within the scope of ENERGIA’s Gender and Energy Research Programme, funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID). ENERGIA, the International Network on Gender and Sustainable Energy is hosted by Hivos, an international organisation that seeks new solutions to persistent issues. The views and opinions expressed in the publication are those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect ENERGIA’s, Hivos’ or UK government’s views and/or official policies. Citation: MSSRF and CRT Nepal (2019). The Gender Factor in Political Economy of Energy Sector Dynamics. Research report RA3, ENERGIA Cover Photo 1: Woman in the driving seat of the electric three wheeler in Kailali, Nepal. Photo: CRT Cover Photo 2: Rural woman working on measuring fat content of milk in Dindigul, Tamil Nadu. Photo: MSSRF The Gender Factor in Political Economy of Energy Sector Dynamics M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, Chennai, India Centre for Rural Technology, Kathmandu, Nepal ENERGIA INTERNATIONAL NETWORK ON GENDER & SUSTAINABLE ENERGY 3 Contents Contributing organisations and authors 8 Executive summary 9 Acknowledgements 21 Abbreviations 22 Glossary 23 List of Figures and Tables 29 Background 30 1.1. Introduction 30 1.2. Research Objectives and Questions 31 1.3. Intersection of Gender and Energy 31 1.4. Bringing Gender into Political Economy Analysis 34 1.5. Research Methods and Field Sites 35 Selection of Research Sites 35 Social Context of the Research Sites 36 Selection of Villages 37 Review and Analysis of Policy Documents 39 Dynamic Factors and Complexity of Change 40 1.6. Diffusion of Research Findings and Involvement of Stakeholders 42 Potential Application to Other Rural Regions: 42 Tracking the Praxis of Policy Change 43 1.7. Theory of Change 43 The value of rural women’s labour in production and transformation in cooking energy 45 2.1. The Problem: High and Persistent Use of Woodfuel 45 2.2. Why a New Framework is Needed: The Limits of Household Income as an Explanatory Variable 48 2.3. The Role of Women’s Unvalued Labour 49 2.4. Fuel Stacking in India 51 2.5. Fuel Switching in India 52 2.6. Fuel Switching in Nepal 55 2.7. Opportunity Cost of Women’s Labour 56 ENERGIA INTERNATIONAL NETWORK ON GENDER & SUSTAINABLE ENERGY 4 2.8. The Value of Women’s Labour in Production and Power in Household Negotiation 58 2.9. Changing the Choice Architecture 60 2.10. Conclusion: Add a Nudge to Subsidies and Women’s Empowerment 62 Gendered access to modern energy services in agricultural production 64 3.1. Introduction 64 3.2. The Picture of Gendered Mechanisation in Agriculture 66 3.3. Factors in Gendered Mechanisation 67 Gendered Division of Labour in Agriculture 67 3.4. Gendered Differences in Valuation of Labour 68 3.5. Women Rarely Owners of Land 69 3.6. Intra-household Barriers 69 Women’s Lack of Access to Information and Knowledge 69 Gender Bias in Design and Implementation of Technology Policies 70 3.7. Increasing Women’s Access to and Use of Agricultural Machinery 70 Migration and Mechanisation 70 3.8. Government Policy 71 3.9. Group Initiatives 72 3.10. Small-sized Equipment 73 3.11. Size of Unit 74 3.12. Information and Capabilities 75 3.13. What Drives Agricultural Mechanisation by Women? 76 3.14. Conclusion 78 Gender income inequality, decision-making and role of women’s community based organisations 81 4.1. Gender Income Inequality 81 4.2. Women’s Decision-making 82 Women’s Overall Decision-making Power 83 Determinants of Women’s Decision-making 84 4.3. Role of Women’s Community Based Organisations 86 Social norms and attitudes in access to energy 90 5.1. Introduction 90 5.2. Gendered Social Norms and Attitudes in India and Nepal 91 5.3. The Policy Change for Women’s Rights to Modern Energy Services 93 5.4. Drivers of Change: Policies, Practices and Social Norms 95 Relevance of Feminist Ideas in Energy Research 96 ENERGIA INTERNATIONAL NETWORK ON GENDER & SUSTAINABLE ENERGY 5 Feminist Advocacy on the Importance of Energy Access for Women 97 Civil Society’s Engagement with the State 98 Role of Citizens and Elites 98 Factoring Gender Concerns in Energy Development 99 5.5. The Impact of Policy Change on Gendered Social Norms 100 5.6. Conclusion: The Complexity of Norm Change 102 Gender in political economy analysis of energy availability, access and use 105 6.1. Introduction 105 6.2. Institution, Rents and Political Settlement 105 Ideas and Development Policy 106 Key Concepts in Political Economy Analysis 107 6.3. Gendering Political Economy Analysis 107 Women in Political Settlements 108 Modification of the Rent Space by Bringing in Unpaid Household Work 109 Governance Feminism and Justice in the Distribution of Rents 110 Taking Political Economy Down to the Micro Level of Individual Women 110 Transformational Policy Space 111 Justice in Distribution of Rents 112 6.4. A Political Economy Analysis of Energy Policy 113 Modern Energy Provisions: Availability in Rural Economies 114 Political Factors in Extending Supply of Electricity: The Role of Lobbies 115 The Provision of Public Goods Such as Electricity Generates Political Externalities: The Role of Voters 116 6.5. Linking Macro, Meso and Micro Levels 118 6.6. Gendering the Political Economy Analysis of Energy 120 Recognition of Failure: Unpaid Household Work and Cooking Energy 120 Women Voters as an Electoral Lobby 121 Meso Level: From Availability to Access 122 Micro Level: Women’s Agency in Energy Use 122 Recognition of Women Farmers 124 Interaction of Macro, Meso and Micro Levels 124 Conclusion 125 Conclusions and policy implications 126 Messages for policy and practice 131 ENERGIA INTERNATIONAL NETWORK ON GENDER & SUSTAINABLE ENERGY 6 : Case studies 143 : Tables (India and Nepal) 153 : Regression Tables 170 : Characteristics of the study sites 182 ENERGIA INTERNATIONAL NETWORK ON GENDER & SUSTAINABLE ENERGY 7 CONTRIBUTING ORGANISATIONS AND AUTHORS M S Swaminathan Research Foundation, (MSSRF), India Govind Kelkar; Dev Nathan; R. Rengalakshmi; Manjula M. are associated with MSSRF, established in 1988, works to accelerate use of modern science for sustainable agricultural and rural development. Centre for Rural Technology, Nepal Indira Shakya; Purushottam Shrestha; Ashma Pakhrin Tamang are associated with Centre for Rural Technology, set up in 1989, is a professional non-governmental organization engaged in developing and promoting appropriate technologies for improving livelihood of rural people. ENERGIA INTERNATIONAL NETWORK ON GENDER & SUSTAINABLE ENERGY 8 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This study seeks to bring gender issues into the political economy analysis of the dynamics in access and use of modern energy services, chiefly clean cooking energy, (such as LPG or biogas), and modern energy in agriculture (such as electricity, diesel and solar power). In looking at modern energy services we distinguish between three levels of analysis— that of the availability at the macro or national level, of access at the meso or community and household level, and of use at the level of the individual woman. In each of these spheres, i.e. availability, access and use, we look at the role of women and gender relations. The central research question is: how can rural women be empowered to gain access to and use modern energy services in both household and production activities in the rural economy? With the results of our analysis we look at the meta-question: how does the introduction of gender make a difference to political economy analysis? In addition to a literature review and interviews with key informants at the macro and meso levels, the team also gathered quantitative and qualitative data through a questionnaire-based survey, key informant interviews and focus group discussions (FGDs). These were carried out in different types of rural areas in India and Nepal— remote and commercially poorly developed as well as reasonably connected and well- connected villages in the districts of Koraput and Mayurbanj in Odisha, Wayanad in Kerala and Dindigul in Tamil Nadu in India; and the districts of Dhading, Kailali, Kavre and Rupandehi in Nepal. Questionnaires were administered to 297 women in India and 278 women in Nepal. A total of 22 FGDs were conducted with both women and men in the two countries. The statistical analysis is not taken as evidence of causality, rather that of correlations between observable characteristics of the sample. However, the qualitative findings from the FGDs and individual discussions with key informants are used to extend the analysis of correlations to causality. Structure of the Report The report is divided into eight chapters. After a brief description of the subject in the Background chapter, chapter 2 analyses gender issues in the switch from labour-using traditional wood as fuel to labour-saving and relatively clean LPG or biogas. Chapter 3 deals with energy use in agricultural production, including women’s access to and use of farm equipment based on modern energy services. Chapter 4 in the Section 2 of the study broadens the analysis of empirical findings in chapters 1, 2 and 3, explaining gender – income inequality and the role of women CBOs. Chapter 5 deals with discursive analysis of social norms, its challenges and changes. Chapter 6 deals with the manner in which gender makes a difference to political economy analysis, particularly in the field of modern energy services—their availability, access and use. This is followed by chapters 7 and 8 on conclusions, policy implications and policy messages. The Transition to Clean Cooking Energy This is dealt with in Chapter 2. The household or domestic task we focused on was that of cooking, including the collection of fuel. In India, woodfuel was the principal source of energy for cooking used by more than three-quarters (76.3 per cent) of rural households in according to the National Sample Survey (2012), the latest year for which the data is ENERGIA INTERNATIONAL NETWORK ON GENDER & SUSTAINABLE ENERGY 9 available.