8. CASE STUDIES OF SECTORAL PROJECTS USING GENDER BEST PRACTICES

C. Forestry/Energy: Second Sustainable Participatory Energy Management Project (PROGEDE II) (Senegal)

(NB: To read more about gender, forestry and CCA, see Sectoral Module B;to read more about gender, energy and CCA, see Sectoral Module G.)

Project Name:Second Sustainable and Participatory Energy Management Project Country:Senegal Sector(s):ForestryEnergy (Fuelwood and Charcoal)

Implementing Organizations
: Ministry of Environment, Water and Forestry Department;Directorate of Local Collectivities;local NGOs, and private sector entrepreneurs

Funding Partners:
World Bank (IDA) and Nordic Development Fund

Budget (US$):
19.37 million

Timeframe:
2010–2016

Project Objectives:
(Source: World Bank website;2010b)

  • Contribute to increased availability of diversified household fuels in a sustainable and gender-equitable way
  • Contribute to increased income of participating communities while preserving forest ecosystems

 

Notable Gender-Related Activities and Processes:
(World Bank, 2010b)

  • Information, education, and communication campaigns for women and men on the impact of climate change on the forestry sector and on charcoal production concessions
  • A study to evaluate capacity of local female and male charcoal producers to access urban markets
  • Small business management training of women and men charcoal traders
  • Counterpart grants (against a 50 percent down-payment by owner) for male and female charcoal producers to establish or improve efficient charcoal processing units
  • Counterpart grants (50 percent) for male and female charcoal traders to diversify their economic activities (establishment of liquid propane gas depot, charcoal packaging unit, energy shops, non-fibrous forest product, beekeeping)
  • Gender-sensitive rapid rural appraisal to establish the baseline for the integrated and participative community forest resources management
  • Training of local government, including focus on women and youth, to participate in local government bureaus and forestry village management committees
  • Recruitment of three experts in stakeholder organization with gender competencies
  • Eco-friendly agro-forestry income generation activities (vegetable gardening and orchards, biofuels;beekeeping/honey production and poultry raising)
  • Promotion through social marketing of manufacturing and sale of over 400,000 efficient cooking stoves, including those adapted to biofuel (jatropha), with the participation of women potters.
  • Gender-sensitive household surveys of cooking fuels and equipment, and fuel prices in urban centers.

Notable Gender-Related Results:
(World Bank, 2010b)

Achieved:

  • Project implementation staff at all levels (from central to local governments and technical agencies) received gender-sensitive training and consensus built among them on project gender objectives
  • PROGEDE II design reflects the lessons learned from PROGEDE I gender audit

Expected:

  • 50 percent of project beneficiaries are expected to be women, and 50 percent men
  • More staff trained in gender-sensitive participatory approaches and technologies
  • Sex-disaggregated data to be available through household surveys

Sources:

Energy Sector Management Assistance Program of World Bank (ESMAP). 2013. Integrating gender considerations into energy operations. Knowledge Series 014/13. World Bank/ESMAP, Washington, DC.
http://www.esmap.org/node/2743

Ngom, A., and A. Seck. 2011. “Example of Gender Mainstreaming in Phase 2 of the Sustainable and Participatory Energy Management Project-PROGEDE 2, Senegal.”Presented at MDB Regional Workshop on Mainstreaming Gender Equality in Infrastructure Projects and Policies, 22-24 March 2011, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
http://siteresources.worldbank.org/EXTGENDER/Resources/workshop-032211-Day-2-Alassane_Ngom_PROGEDE.pdf

World Bank. 2010b. Senegal – Second phase of the sustainable and participatory energy management project. World Bank, Washington, DC.
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2010/05/12364941/senegal-second-phase-sustainable-participatory-energy-management-project

Contacts:

Government contact: Alassane Ngom (ngomalassane@gmail.com)

World Bank Contact: Awa Seck (aseck@worldbank.org)

1. Introduction

Despite Senegal being a Sahelian country subject to severe droughts, it still has rich forest ecosystems. Fuelwood and charcoal have been the main energy resource for domestic consumption of cooking fuels and a wide range of industries (e.g., brick-making, small-scale iron and steel). With increasing urbanization, the demand for charcoal has been growing significantly and is threatening the sustainability of forest ecosystems. Charcoal production and trade have become major sources of incomes, benefiting mostly urban traders but relatively few in the producing communities.

With the added pressure of climate change on rainfall patterns and forest growth, the government of Senegal undertook major policy reforms aimed at ensuring the long-term viability of the forestry ecosystems as well as redistributing income from forest products from the urban to the rural areas. It set in place in 1998 a national program for the management of domestic energy—PROGEDE (French acronym). Implemented from 1998 through 2010, including a transition phase, PROGEDE I focused on the regulation of wood-based energy supplies and on streamlining the demand for cooking fuels, in particular through the promotion of improved stoves. Noting that the forest ecosystems provided significant economic resources to women, PROGEDE I introduced a gender element in program design: technical support to increase the productivity of forest-related activities such as beekeeping and collection of medicinal plants, introduction of new or improved economic activities (poultry farming, animal husbandry), and some representation of women on village land-use committees.

The gender audit of PROGEDE I observed that women had indeed benefited from targeted economic activities but had been completely excluded from the charcoal value chain. It also observed that in most cases, women’s representation on village land-use committees was “honorary”and that they were kept out of decision-making processes and from financial information. When consulted, women explained that they were already very active in the charcoal trade and that they could take on charcoal production if properly trained. Furthermore, the lessons from PROGEDE I confirmed that involving all members of the communities in forestry management was essential for the protection of the forest ecosystems, and that further training was needed for women to participate fully in the community and on local government management committees.

The design of PROGEDE II therefore recognizes that women have significant economic roles from the agricultural land and forest resources, that they have strong marketing and technical skills in some areas (ceramic pottery), and that they can contribute to the development of a sustainable forestry and charcoal value chain. The project design also recognizes that women must benefit from training opportunities on equal footing with men in order to have more effective representation. This is culturally acceptable in Senegal, even when women have lower educational levels, although the cultural traditions vary amongst regions.

The project has two objectives (World Bank 2010b):

  • Contribute to increased availability of diversified household fuels in a sustainable and gender equitable way
  • Contribute to increased income of participating communities while preserving forest ecosystems.

2. Summary of Project

General description of proposal preparation

The project preparation process was highly participatory. Salient features included:

  • Establishment of a project steering committee with representation from the national government ministries in charge of forestry management, agriculture and rural development, and local government, and from the World Bank as the main donor. The committee was co-chaired by the Ministry of Environment.
  • The forestry management plan and the reforms and regulations of the charcoal value chain were adopted as a result of a very vast consultation process with all stakeholders from communities and from the private sector (charcoal traders).
  • A gender audit of PROGEDE I was carried out to identify strengths and weaknesses and lessons learned.
  • A gender training/awareness-raising workshop was conducted for the government/donor project development team, which included representatives of all key central and local government agencies, representatives of communities, and of the private sector.

 

Gender integration during project design/formulation and proposal preparation

  • The head of the steering committee (male) and the World Bank task manager (female) were both extremely committed to gender equality and provided strong leadership on mainstreaming gender.
  • The gender audit of PROGEDE I was conducted as part of the project preparation process by a two-female team—a sociologist and a gender and energy practitioner.
  • Depending on the cultural values in the different regions, consultations were conducted in some regions with joint participation of women, men, youth, and seniors. In other regions women and men were engaged separately, usually combining the various age groups by sex: women of all ages with young children, and men of all ages, including male youths.
  • Some complex observations were made on the need to anchor the program on traditional family units (which may include 100 members) and new developments whereby young couples strive to function as one economic unit rather than on the traditional sex-based distribution of tasks.
  • Significant consultations with local communities and representative of local governments in all the project regions were held, including to assess the range of socioeconomic and ecological differences.
  • Key members of the project steering committee conducted a joint reading of the draft project formulation document through the gender lens. Through this process, they agreed on:
  • Integrating gender into the project objectives
  • Integrating gender in all the appropriate components and subcomponents (see above)
  • Gender indicators, in particular on income levels, representation/empowerment, and training
  • Including household surveys to improve sex-disaggregated baseline data and document project results
  • The need to hire experts on stakeholder organization with gender competencies, and at least one gender.

Gender integration during project implementation

  • The stakeholder organization experts with gender competencies were recruited in the first year of the project
  • Gender criteria have been adopted for the selection of sub-projects
  • The participation of women potters is increasing
  • Women’s participation in the charcoal value chain is increasing
  • The representation of women on Inter-villages Land Use Management Committees is increasing
  • Staff training is conducted on a gender-based approach
  • A monitoring assessment mechanism for gender issues is being established.

Key gender-related results
(see project form above)

3. Conclusions

Strengths

  • The adoption of a participatory consultative approach, during design and implementation, created more opportunities for women to participate in project decision-making and priority setting.
  • The project recognized cultural differences between the various regions of Senegal, including culturally specific differences in the gender division of labor for various crops and agricultural and animal husbandry tasks, and adapted strategies and know-how transfer accordingly.
  • The project anchored its gender approach on the national gender policy, and adopted a guiding project principle that gender should be mainstreamed in all project components, with the aim for equal representation of women and men in project activities, equal opportunities for training, equal participation of women and men in the charcoal trade, capitalization of women’s specific talents in some activities (e.g., female potters for the manufacturing of improved stove components), and equal distribution of project benefits in the rural areas.
  • Quantified sex disaggregated indicators in the results framework.

Lessons learned and missed opportunities

  • The gender audit of PROGEDE could have been undertaken earlier in the project preparation process if the donors had allocated the needed budget earlier. This could have possibly permitted a better distillation of all the lessons learned from PROGEDE I as well as more up-front training of the project implementation staff in the regions.
  • The indicators may not be sufficient to understand impacts on women’s lives, including their economic, social, or political status within their households and communities, or how their involvement impacts their families. However, an end-of-project gender-sensitive household survey is envisaged and should be able to assess these questions.