Boiling Point 46

June 2001: Household energy and the vulnerable

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Household energy and the vulnerable: The handicapped in a disadvantaged community

Paul Miller, Emeritus Professor of Mechanical Engineering, University of Ulster.
Paul Miller, theme editor for this edition, introduces the idea of people who are particularly vulnerable - those people who are handicapped within their own community. He outlines the types of article available within the edition and concludes by inviting other authors with experience pertinent to vulnerable groups and household energy to publish in future issues of Boiling Point.

Strengthening village and neighbourhood organisations: Safety networks for the vulnerable

Alex Bush, HelpAge International
Alex Bush describes the challenges facing elderly people resulting from the findings of a project conducted in the Karagwe district of Tanzania. Traditionally, older people passed on to the next generation good practice from the past, eg. in relation to resource allocation and conservation. This is changing, and often older people are regarded as passive dependants, despite doing housework, cooking and watching the children. Household energy issues are identified and there are proposals for raising the profile of elderly people by increasing a community's social capital.

Women with disabilities - cooking, fires and smoke

Farhat Rahman, POWER (Promotion of Women, Empowerment and Rehabilitation)
The plight of women with physical disabilities in the household cooking environment in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province is reported by Farhat Rahman. Disabled poor women are handicapped four times: their poverty, their rural background, their illness, and disability. They have little access to education, skills training, income-generating activities, transport and housing. Strict purdah (or seclusion of women), restricts the introduction of community-based rehabilitation programmes. Since 1990 programmes have slowly gained acceptance, and household management skills, particular to women with disabilities, are being effectively communicated without disturbing the centuries-old traditions.

Energy needs in a high altitude conflict zone of India

Dr Sudhirendar Sharma, New Delhi-based energy analyst and Editor of the Rural Energy Journal.
Armed conflict resulting in a refugee problem presents a variety of difficulties; firstly for the displaced people themselves, then for the people already living in the locality where the refugees seek to find a place to live. Food is a basic requirement, but in remote high cold locations the first requirement may be for fuelwood. Sudhirendar Sharma describes how the challenge for aid agencies and, in the longer term for development agencies, is to consider the constraints and resources in such an area, and to evolve an appropriate response to build on the traditional way of life with the aim of achieving maximum self-sufficiency.

The provision of household energy: Coping mechanisms of internally displaced people in Benguela Province, Angola

Corinna Kreidler, Programme manager, L䮤ergruppe Zentralafrika
Corinna Kreidler describes the coping mechanisms employed by internally displaced people in Benguela Province, Angola, to provide household energy. Repeated wars forced hundreds of thousands of ordinary people to repeatedly flee their homes to camps in the coastal regions. There was little fuel available and people had to buy wood or charcoal: they had little money for these purchases and often sold relief-aid food or exchanged services for charcoal. The fuel problem is extremely complex with long distances to a natural source, the dangers of landmines, assaults and the fear of black magic. It is also a cultural shame not to bury a deceased relative in a coffin. Short-term solutions are improving the situation, including improved cooking techniques, community kitchen schemes and a limited amount of tree planting.

AIDS a threat to biomass energy conservation

Lasten Mika, SIRDC - Energy Technology Institute
AIDS as a disease is ravaging communities in many countries and particularly in Africa. And there are many consequences including posing a threat to biomass energy conservation in the rural villages of Hurungwe district, north west of Harare, Zimbabwe, as described by Lasten Mika. An increased number of funerals, resulting from the disease, with prolonged periods of mourning and the requirement to heat and feed the mourners, results in the use of a lot of wood. Often the elderly and the young have to travel long distances in search of fuelwood; they are foregoing meals to preserve fuel; food is poorly prepared leading to health problems. Proposals are made to improve the quality of life of those with HIV/AIDS and their families.

The hearth - reflections on the needs of women suffering mental illness in India

Chris Underhill, BasicNeeds - new initiatives in mental health and development
Chris Underhill relates a moving tale of meeting with Mr and Mrs Ramalingappa in Karntaka, South India. Mrs Ramalingappa suffers from mental illness and is unable to fulfil her household tasks: however her husband lovingly supports her and together, against the advice of the community who wanted him to divorce her and return her to her own family, they make their way together. Her husband diagnosed that the pills she had been prescribed were too overpowering, but when they were reduced and she became more aware of the world around her they both realised she had forgotten all her normal life skills - the skills of the hearth! Over one hundred mentally distressed people and carers were met - only two of the primary carers were men.

Identifying barriers to the adoption of specific domestic energy strategies - a new rapid assessment tool

Simon Batchelor and Kevin McKemey, Gamos Ltd
Simon Batchelor et al describe a new assessment tool to assist the design of any development or emergency intervention. They have added Why? to the usual questions What - Where - When - How and Who? usually asked in participatory surveys. The underlying project involves the three activities: firewood collection, improved stove adoption, wood lot planting, seen as critical to fuel wood management in Northern Ghana. There is an underlying belief amongst all religions that God will not allow them to go without firewood; these beliefs are at the core of people's attitudes towards the issue of fuelwood and the environment. There has been a need to communicate the management of resources message in a way which is acceptable. The tool explains why people are doing the things they do, and identifies how educational messages can address the core barriers.

Learning to listen to the poor

Margaret Foster, ITDGPractical Action
Very poor women often have most to lose when outsiders, introducing development projects, look for expertise held by (usually better educated) men, ignoring women. Margaret Foster considers previous work undertaken in this area and reports on a further training manual being developed which will focus explicitly on the energy assets available to resource-poor women and the vulnerabilities they face. It will consider energy as a factor which influences every aspect of their lives.

Funding for clean technology through the Climate Convention

Stuart Parkinson and Katie Begg, Centre for Environmental Strategy, University of Surrey
It remains to be seen to what extent the nations of the world will honour their commitment to the Kyoto Protocol on controlling emissions of greenhouse gases. Stuart Parkinson and Katie Begg report on extra funding for developing countries for the promotion of clean technology. Three sources of finance are explained: Clean Development Mechanism; Convention Fund; Adaptation Fund. Full details of the three funding routes have yet to be clarified.

Looking at household energy provision in a new way: The Sustainable Livelihoods approach

Andrew Barnett, Sussex Research Associates Limited
The Sustainable Livelihoods approach is a way of looking at development which is concerned first and foremost with people. It tries to understand people's strengths (their skills, status, and possessions) in the context of the trends, shocks and seasonality which affects their lives and over which they have limited or no control. It reminds us that we, as outsiders, should investigate, observe and listen, rather than jumping to quick conclusions or making hasty judgements about the exact nature of the outcomes that people pursue. A set of tables is used to show activities within the energy field that can make people less vulnerable. The importance of institutions, organisations, policies and legislation is highlighted.

Improved stoves for preventing deforestation: myth or reality?

Didier Bazile, Programme National d'Economie de Bois Energie
Fuelwood is the main source of household energy in Madagascar. This study looks at changes in household behaviour following the introduction of improved stoves. It finds that for those households able to afford the increased cost of an improved stove, the reduction in expenditure on fuel for basic needs tends to be offset by using those savings for other energy requirements. Thus for the relatively wealthy households, there is not an environmental benefit, but rather an improvement in their quality of life.

The watermill battery charger

Nathan Eagle and Ben Olding, Stanford University
Throughout the Himalayas, many people who use water-powered mills do not have access to electricity. This research project is looking at a minor modification which can be made to traditional water mills to allow them to be used for battery charging, thus providing low-cost power for isolated communities and an extra source of income for the mill owner. The components can easily be maintained locally, providing sustainability for the system.