part of Renewable energy
Start readingBy reducing cooking time and fuel collection burdens, energy-efficient wood-burning stoves and biogas have empowered women by giving them time for other tasks, such as running businesses and childcare, while also reducing deforestation and promoting a healthier environment.
In our research with partners in Kenya’s arid and semi-arid lands, we have explored the impacts of modern energy-saving stoves or jikos, and biogas, two forms of renewable energy, on the lives of women. Drawing on fresh insights from recent fieldwork and focus group discussions, through these women’s stories, we see how renewable energy is not just powering homes but also empowering lives, enhancing safety, health and economic well-being.
Our results are forthcoming in research reports and scientific publications (IMARA publications) under the Integrated Management of Natural Resources for Resilience in Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (IMARA) program, implemented by SEI in collaboration with partners including World Vision (lead partner), Northern Rangelands Trust, SaferWorld and Maasai Mara Wildlife Conservancies Association. This program has worked on empowering local communities to embrace clean energy.
Women in these communities have long carried the burden of securing energy for their households through gathering firewood in local forests; they are now experiencing transformative changes thanks to renewable energy solutions. No longer do they spend countless hours collecting firewood, and the health risks of smoky kitchens have been transformed to easier and safer cooking environments.
Traditionally, women in many cultures bear the burden of fetching water, collecting firewood and other energy-related tasks. Adopting modern energy-saving jikos designed for less firewood consumption (a form of renewable energy) has freed up significant time for the women participating in the IMARA program, who received these free efficient stoves.
These women told us that they can now effectively manage their time and engage in other income-generating activities, such as bead work, operating general shops and poultry farming, among others. Or they may simply have more time for themselves, for leisure or other activities.
A discussion with women in Narok County from two groups, in the Oloisukut Pardamart Conservancy Association and Naserian Separingo Group, highlighted the significant time spent collecting firewood, which often requires walking up to 10 kilometres daily. This takes approximately six hours, before they could embark on their other daily chores. With less consumption of firewood comes environmental benefits, such as reduced deforestation and cooking efficiency that saves energy and time.
As Jane (a pseudonym) shared,
My journey to collect firewood from the forest would start at 8 am, and I return in the afternoon at around 2 pm. At this time, I am already too exhausted to engage in other house chores, but now with the modern jiko I don’t need to go to the forest. I collect firewood from the fallen tree twigs outside my compound, which takes only few minutes.
Locally, women face daily risks just to provide for their families. Collecting firewood exposes them to wild animals and gender-based violence en route to local forests. Women from the Oloisukut women’s group shared stories of these dangers, including encounters with wildlife during their many trips into the forest. However, since they embraced the modern energy-saving cookstoves, they say they no longer experience wild animal attacks.
Magdalene (a pseudonym) said,
With the modern jiko, nowadays I feel much safer, I do not have to make any trip into the forest to collect firewood. Before, I would come back home from the forest attacked by wild animal or even bitten by a snake, since I was obliged to go deep into the forest to fetch firewood so that I can prepare a meal for my kids.
The three-stone stoves traditionally used in the arid and semi-arid lands are considered inefficient, as they require large amounts of firewood. They also produce a lot of smoke, which affects the respiratory systems of women and children, who spend most of their time in the kitchen. Embracing modern energy-saving jikos was a significant change for women given that they play a significant role in reducing harmful indoor air pollution, leading to fewer respiratory illnesses.
One woman from the community said:
When I was using the traditional three-stone stove to cook especially the evening meal, the whole house would be smoky, and with time my child would start coughing, leading to an extra expense of buying medicine or even taking him to the hospital, but since I started using the modern jikos/stoves, there is no smoke in the house like before. I am happy my child is not coughing anymore and my child sleeps better.
The financial cost of traditional fuels is significant, with many women spending a huge portion of their income on firewood or kerosene.
Naisula (a pseudonym) reported:
I used to spend 1200 shillings [USD 10] biweekly on buying charcoal; since switching to improved jiko, I no longer incur any costs on buying fuel or charcoal. I am saving a lot of money, and this helped me to start my poultry farming business.
Women reported that those who were unable to get firewood from the forest would be required to pay for the service and spend about 1000 shillings (USD 8) every two days. However, the introduction of modern stoves in their lives eliminated recurring costs, offering significant savings. Beyond saving money, adopting energy-efficient technologies created new opportunities for women to become entrepreneurs and earn their own money, with significant empowerment in their households and communities. Women reported that since the adoption of these jikos, they now have more time to do poultry farming, open small local shops business, and have more time to build their manyattas, or Masai houses traditionally built by women, not men.
In addition to modern wood stoves, women have been adopting biogas as another form of renewable energy for cooking. Biogas production requires a readily available source of organic matter, such as animal manure or agricultural residues. In West Pokot County, women have the capacity and the availability of resources such as cow dung and water required for biogas production.
For the setup used by women we interviewed, a pastoralist needs on average three cows to produce at least two buckets of cow dung daily. Mixed with three buckets of water, a collector captures the gas from the mixture, and it is piped into the kitchen for cooking.
Adopting biogas production is a huge transformative change to the West Pokot County in Siyoi Village. In this community, the use of biogas has improved women’s lives by reducing time spent fetching firewood, promoting good health through cleaner cooking, and making cooking easy and enjoyable.
Mama Nyare (a pseudonym) said,
Cooking with biogas helps me to quickly prepare breakfast for my kids in the morning when they are going to school. It has made my cooking so easy and fast. I am happy that my kids no longer go to school hungry like before; they concentrate more in class as they enjoying learning.
Energy-efficient technologies and renewable energy – in the form of improved cookstoves and biogas – hold immense potential to transform the lives of women in Kenya’s arid and semi-arid lands. Nevertheless, significant challenges remain.
Women have limited access to these technologies, as they are expensive. The program had to give women the stoves for free for this research. They also lack technical expertise, for example, to maintain the jikos or the biogas systems.
As we will report from our current work in the region, Kenya can close the gap with policies that would help to overcome these challenges, unlocking substantial opportunities for women and their communities. Financial aid combined with social interventions and technical capacity building, supportive policies, and innovative partnerships could be steps forward. Financing could be tailored for women, coupled with awareness campaigns that address social and cultural barriers, building capacity building through mentorship programs, and fostering innovation through research and development.
Specifically, women in Narok County told us that they would value opportunities for training and capacity building and more information on how women can be involved in such programs while reaching out to the wider community. Focusing on gender-responsive energy policies could speed up a transition to renewable energy in Kenya’s counties in the arid and semi-arid lands while promoting gender equality.
Project / The IMARA program aimed to increase the resilience of marginalized households to climate-change-related shocks.
Feature / Gender expert Andreea Raluca Torre shares insights on the need to include women’s voices in global environmental governance.
Feature / SEI's "Humanitarian Energy and Climate Transitions" research agenda aims to address renewable energy and climate-related issues in humanitarian settings.
Journal article / Household cooking contributes significantly to greenhouse gas emissions and short-lived climate pollutants, especially where charcoal, kerosene are widely used.
