Energy Gardens for Small-Scale Farmers in Nepal Institutions, Species and Technology Fieldwork Report Bishnu Pariyar, Krishna K. Shrestha, Bishnu Rijal, Laxmi Raj Joshi, Kusang Tamang, Sudarshan Khanal and Punyawati Ramtel Abbreviations and Acronyms AEPC Alternative Energy Promotion Centre ANSAB Asia Pacific Network for Sustainable Bio Resources BGCI Botanical Gardens Conservation International CFUG/s Community Forestry User Group/s DFID Department of International Development, UK Government DFO District Forest Office DPR Department of Plant Resources ESON Ethnobotanical Society of Nepal ESRC Economic and Social Research Council FECOFUN Federation of Community Forestry Users Nepal FEDO Feminist Dalit Organization GHG Green House Gas GoN Government of Nepal I/NGOs International/Non-Government Organizations KATH National Herbarium and Plant Laboratories MSFP Multi Stakeholder Forestry Programme NAST Nepal Academy of Science and Technology NRs Nepalese Rupees PTA Power Trade Agreement RECAST Research Centre for Applied Science and Technology, Tribhuvan University Acknowledgement We are very grateful to Department for International Development (DfID) and Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) of the United Kingdom for providing funding for this project through ESRC-DFID Development Frontiers Research Fund - Grant reference: ES/K011812/1. Executive Summary Whilst access to clean energy is considered a fundamental to improve human welfare and protect environment, yet a significant proportion of people mostly in developing lack access to clean energy. Furthermore, efforts to generate clean energy through biofuel projects have attracted considerable controversy for displacing food production, land-grabbing, loss of biodiversity and greenhouse gas emissions. Creation of community-based biofuel project for small scale farmers using indigenous plant species in areas such as field bunds, waste land, community forests and fences provide a real opportunity to overcome some of the environmental and social concerns about biofuels and provide clean energy to rural communities in developing countries. Energy Gardens for Small-Scale Farmers in Nepal: Institutions, Species and Technology” is a scoping study funded by Department for International Development (DfID) and Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) of the United Kingdom through ESRC-DFID Development Frontiers Research Fund - Grant reference: ES/K011812/1. This report brings together all the activities and outputs including fieldwork, workshops and advocacy work carried out as part of the Nepal Energy Gardens project. The overarching objective of the project is to explore farmer and community use and perceptions of biomass and biofuel energy in Nepal in order to assess the potential for uptake of the energy garden approach. In doing so, the project reviews biofuel policies in Nepal, identifies potential indigenous plant species suitable for biofuel production, and provides an overview of suitable technologies for community based energy gardens projects in the country. Also, the project seeks to transfer knowledge through active engagement with our collaborators in India where energy gardens concept has been successfully applied. In doing so the project also facilitated deliberative dialogues between policy makers, scientists, development activists, donors and grassroots community representatives to identify ways to resolve existing issues and tensions pertaining to renewable energy sector. The report highlights contemporary issues on renewable energy initiatives in Nepal with major focus on bioenergy. The workshop covered various aspects of renewable energy provisions in Nepal which included research approach, technology, past initiatives in bioenergy sector and emerging issues, and tensions at program level (meso level). It is important to point out that the participants from rural communities (community forestry and local schools) raised some key issues related to the failure of bioenergy initiatives in rural villages. This study also identifies factors constrained community members in adopting bioenergy. The community members continue to face multitude of problems such as lack of compensation schemes in case of any losses in production, lack of quality seeds and technologies, inadequate promotion/awareness, market dominated production system, agency led initiatives, inadequate species selections, lack of buy back mechanism based on the market value, lack of realistic market strategy besides mass plantations, inadequate extension services, and lack of collaborative efforts between different agencies. Nepal Energy Garden Project provides an alternative way of creating sustainable community based bioenergy provision for rural communities using previously unused lands, field bunds, and community forests for growing indigenous plant species for energy generation. Participation of multiple stakeholders enabled the project to start discussions at policy level to re-adjust/formulate relevant policies and programs with ultimate goals of reducing rural poverty and providing opportunity for diversifications of livelihoods amongst rural communities. PART ONE Nepal Energy Gardens Project: Aims and Objectives 1.1 Introduction Energy impinges all aspects of human societies - economic, social and geo-political and is therefore considered a fundamental input in economic activities, securing reasonable standard of living, promoting human health, enhancing technological innovation and achieving sustainable development (Birol, 2007; Hoogwijk, 2004; Rogner, 2000; Turkenburg, 2000). There is growing evidence that incidence of poverty is high in areas and communities where access to energy remains low, highlighting the importance of energy security for poverty reduction, livelihood sustenance and improving wellbeing (Srivastava and Rehman, 2006; Pachauri et al., 2004). However, more than 3 billion people, mostly from developing countries lack access to “adequate, affordable, reliable, high quality, safe and environmentally benign energy services to support economic and human development” (Masud et al., 2007). Many rural communities in developing countries have been experiencing an energy crisis. Extension of the national grid to many rural areas is difficult because of the geographical terrain and high cost. Lack of access to modern energy has meant that households and communities in developing countries rely on traditional fuels such as firewood, agricultural residues and animal dung cakes for cooking, heating and lighting. Inefficient burning of traditional fuels leads to indoor air pollution (IAP) with detrimental effects on human health causing eye infections, lunch cancer, bronchitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and acute lower respiratory infection (ALRI) (Bruce et al., 1998; Ezzati and Kammen, 2001; Smith et al., 2000). IAP ranks as the third major contributor to morbidity and mortality, only after malnutrition and unsafe water and sanitation (Kurmi et al., 2010) causing more than 1.5 million deaths, mostly amongst children and women across the developing world (Rehfuess and WHO, 2006) for which it is 1 also called the “killer in the kitchen” (Bailis et al., 2009). In addition to respiratory and eye diseases, a dependency on firewood has other health implications as many women and children carry heavy bundles of firewood or wooden logs on their shoulders, head and back from forests to home and local markets causing muscular strain, head, neck and back pains. Women and young girls are particularly vulnerable as many they spend more time collecting fuel wood from the forests (Haile, 1991; Cecelski 1999, UNDP, 1997). In many developing countries, access to education can be influenced by not only having access to educational resources such as books, stationary, schools and teachers, but also access to energy. Bhusal et al. (2007) argues that development interventions to electrify rural communities, such as in Humla district in Western Nepal, has the potential to double the district’s combined “education” HDI factor from 0.23 to 0.46 within a decade. Similarly, a growing body of literature has found direct and positive impacts of access to electricity on education (Andersson et al., 1999; Foley, 1992 & 2000) in many developing countries. Case studies from India (Sharma, 2005); Africa (Kirubi et al., 2009); the Philipines (Barnes et al., 2002); and Bangladesh and Vietnam (Wang, 2004) noted that rural electrification, either through biogas or photo-voltaic solar power, significantly contributed to lighting and thermal energy facilities in the schools, mainly in rural areas. Similarly, studies by Rajbhandari (2011) demonstrated that recurrent load shedding in Nepal has impacted all sectors: residential, commercial and education in Nepal making access to clean energy a major developmental challenge. As a result, many school children, especially girls, are kept out of school to assist in wood collection (Clancy et al., 2003) sometimes walking more than 20 kilometres daily, contributing to gender imbalance in schools (Rothchild, 2006). Furthermore, time saved from not having to go to the forest to collect firewood, and preparing dung for cooking and heating, can be used by reading and educational activities. Katuwal and Bohora (2009) reported that 11.5% of women in rural areas used the time saved due to availability of biogas plants in their houses for reading in the evening, particularly through adult education, 2 which has contributed towards reducing adult illiteracy in Nepal.