Enabling equitable access to rural electrification: Current thinking on energy, poverty, and gender

The intersection of energy, poverty alleviation and gender is a key issue that a number of energy programs and bilateral donors are eager to address. Because of pressure to meet the dual objectives of environmental and climate change and poverty alleviation, energy programs are being designed without proven models, and models are being sought urgently. Adding to knowledge in this area could improve the contribution of energy projects to poverty and gender objectives in a wide audience. This briefing paper summarizes current thinking on energy, poverty, and gender. A particular focus is given on rural electrification with renewable energy, based on Asia Alternative Energy (ASTAE) program's historical comparative advantage. Nonetheless, this is only a snapshot of the reality of rural energy poverty, which is noted where appropriate. In the first section, energy, poverty, and gender relationships are explored. Sustainable energy development and poverty thinking is described, the energy-poverty-gender nexus is analyzed, and current efforts in energy and gender are reviewed. New thinking on poverty is described in the second section, together with some implications for the energy sector. Some promising approaches, based on recent studies, to widening access to rural electrification to the poor in general are summarized in section 3, and key empirical questions are identified concerning energy-poverty links. Section 4 focuses on four key issues of rural electrification programs for poor rural women: gender-disaggregated data and analysis; wood energy, cooking, and their impact on health; gender-specific electricity needs; and equal access to credit and other resources for microenterprises. In conclusion, the important needs are to disaggregate by gender in the project cycle, document existing experiences, encourage multidisciplinary dialog, and develop new approaches in energy, poverty, and gender.