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ENERGIA News Issue 3, July 1997

International Programmes: Focus on...

The Regional Wood Energy Development Programme in Asia (RWEDP)

“The kitchen kills more than the sword”

These are the opening words of the editorial of the latest issue of Wood Energy News, the newsletter produced by the RWEDP (volume 12, no. 1). This ancient proverb refers of course, to the health hazards endured not only by women but also by the small children who are at their sides in kitchens all over the South, where three time a day meals are cooked over fires belching out disease-inducing pollutants together with choking smoke.

Other risks associated with household use of firewood include fatigue and backache from carrying excessively heavy bundles for long distances, and fire risk in the home. Indeed, as the newsletter very rightly points out, one should consider all aspects of the woodfuel cycle, including production, collection, transportation, processing and combustion, in assessing impacts of woodfuel use on women. Other articles in this issue discuss the potential for reducing emissions from stoves, the economic reasons for the slow uptake of improved stoves in India (which relate to a low perceived value of women's work because of their limited participation in the wage economy) and case studies of women's cooking habits and their view on the improved stoves they were offered. Indeed, virtually the whole issue (volume 12, no. 1) of this quarterly newsletter is devoted to women and energy. High time therefore to review the programme behind the newsletter and to highlight the activities which are carried out in this area.

The major aim: strengthening institutional capacities in wood energy planning

RWEDP is a programme of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations and has been operating, with its base in Bangkok, since 1985. 16 Countries within the region have joined RWEDP in its current phase, which addresses wood energy problems from both the resources side (forest and non-forest land) and the user-side (trade and utilisation both by households and by industry). All aspects feed into planning. Its main purpose is to strengthen the institutional capabilities of its member countries to deal with these problems. The programme recognises that gender issues play an important role at all these levels and is stimulating awareness of this fact, as appreciation of it varies widely among its member countries. It aims to help planners to integrate gender considerations into the mainstream process of wood energy planning.

Bringing countries together for discussions

One of the major activities of the RWEDP is hosting workshops on a variety of topics such as woodfuel trade, integration of woodfuel production and marketing, development of sustainable wood energy systems, cook-stove development, and indeed on all aspects of wood energy planning. In 1995, 11 regional and 2 national workshops were held: 400 staff from member countries were trained of whom, interestingly, 20% were women. As international meetings in the energy field go, this is a high proportion. Moreover, starting in 1995, there have been a number of seminars, workshops and consultations which have dealt directly with the question of gender and wood energy: the first in Chiang Mai, Thailand, the second in Bangkok, and the third in Kanchanaburi, Thailand. The topics of these meetings have varied. The first concerned policy discussions on the feasibility of applying gender tools in the planning process; the second was a training course in the use of such tools, and the third analysed the health impacts on women of activities throughout the woodfuel cycle. Attended in each case by over 20 participants coming from countries all over the region, the purpose was to stimulate further discussion and training at national levels. Not surprisingly perhaps, the attendance of female staff at these special workshops has been much higher than in other meetings.

Sharing experiences through publications

RWEDP also produces a series of papers which are available to interested readers. Although the majority of these deal with general aspects of wood energy, there are a number which tackle the gender issue, starting with one entitled Women's Role in Forest Resource Management: A Reader, in 1989. Interesting case studies are included in collections of papers, for example one by Madhu Sarin entitled The Potential Role of Women's Organisations in Natural Resource Management which appears in the publication Local Organisations in Community Forestry Extension in Asia, and which compares several different cases in north India, some more successful than others. Another interesting example is a study by J.Y. Campbell on Women's Role in Dynamic Forest-based Small Scale Enterprises: Case Studies on Uppage and Lacquerware in India which traces the impact of government measures to improve productivity in these artisan industries, most of which have tended to drive out women from what were earlier, typically female based enterprises.

Finally there is Wood Energy News. Not only does this journal produce individual issues dedicated to gender issues in energy, like the current one; almost every issue features an article in some way dealing with women's wood fuel problems and their use of firewood in the household and in small enterprises, because wood energy and women go together. These articles report on problems and solutions, on new initiatives and on explanations. It is up to date, it is focused on activities within the region, and it provides a central point for communication: and there is no charge to become a subscriber.

For more information about the activities of RWEDP, for subscription to Wood Energy News or for lists of publications, write to:
RWEDP, FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Maliwan Mansion, Phra Atit Road, Bangkok 10200, Thailand; Fax +66.2.2800760, Email rwedp@field.fao.org