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ENERGIA News Issue 4, October 1997

Letters to ENERGIA

September has been an eventful month for ENERGIA. The Annual Support Group came together for the second time. Interesting discussions on the role and contributions of ENERGIA took place (see Networking Around the World), and once again it became clear how important ENERGIA News is when it comes to information dissemination to our reader/members.

There is an incessant need for information on research frameworks, manuals, training modules, exchange of ideas and experiences, etc., and what better means is there than the newsletter? So member readers: keep on writing and send us those case studies, articles and other contributions!

To decrease the distance between our readers, and thus hopefully facilitate the information exchange, we have included a new section in the newsletter: “Meeting ENERGIA members”, in which an ENERGIA member gives her vision on women and energy and talks about her personal position as a woman in energy.

Biogas production
I read with much delight information concerning the construction of a biogas plant, uses and resultant advantages to women and the family unit. Though it does not seem to reduce the workloads of women in hours per day.
Our organisation works alongside the rural poor. We are concerned with environmental degradation, most especially caused by human being activities e.g. indiscriminate cutting and collection of wood for use as fuelwood. Northern Nigeria is predominantly an Islamic region. One of the practice of Muslims is to keep women in purdah if possible. The men and children go out to farm, gather fuelwood, draw water, look after the animals, shop and trade etc.
We in Savannah Watch, think that, so far it is the responsibilities of our men folk to collect and take home fuelwood, and look after the animals. The establishment of a biogas plant would be appealing to the men folk for two reasons. Men and children, shoulder greater responsibility in the family than the women in this region.
Secondly, there is abundance of animal dung in the region; especially of cattle and of small ruminants; over three-quarter of dung produced by animals are wasted. Except now that environmental NGO's are encouraging eco-farming. In view of our observation, we hereby request for a step-by-step construction manual of the biogas plant. Please include detailed drawing of how-to-do method. We will like to put this into practice, and we hope it will create a positive response from the male, where traditionally men do not pay sufficient attention to issues that pattern the kitchen. Boasting of men's ego as mentioned in your report is not much of concern to us, but above al benefit to the family unit.
Thank You
Paul Yilwa, Programme Officer, Savannah Watch, P.O. Box 29, Gombe, Nigeria

Dear Sir,
I came to know from Regional Wood Energy Development newsletter that you are working on women and sustainable energy. I am very much interested to have informations for membership and your journal. I have been working since 1985 with one of the national NGO (Proshika) in Bangladesh as a Programme coordinator of Participatory Forest Management. I am facing a lot of problems in regards to response the questions of sustainability.
Dipak Kummar Ghosh, Programme Coordinator, Participatory Forest Management, GPO Box No: 3149, Ramna, Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh; Email. dipak@bdonline.com

[Editors’ note: these are the kind of requests ENERGIA members can help each other with. If any member can answer mr. Ghosh's question on sustainability, do not hestitate to get in touch with him.]

Ours is a non-profit, non-political development oriented NGO at National level, and we currently implement a programme of a cost effective form of energy development for domestic purposes at the rural level in the Southern province. This also serves as a measure of conserving natural vegetation. Alleviation of poverty among the rural poor with credit facilities for small enterprises, environmental management and provision of better health and sanitation facilities for the poor are other activities we are involved in.
We would be happy to develop friendly co-operation with your organisation as exchange of information and experience would be of immense advantage to us in designing new strategies for energy development in a developing country like ours.
Winston De Silva, President, Saviya Development Foundation, 24/A Wewelwala Road, Galle, Sri Lanka; Tel./Fax +94.9.34281, Email sdf@sri.lanka.net