67981 EAST ASIA AND PACIFIC REGION Social Development Notes I N N O V ATI O N S , LE S S O N S , A N D B E ST P R A CTI C E Building on Tradition as the Way to Women’s Empowerment in Cambodia Approximately eighty percent of Cambodians live in rural areas with limited access to clean and affordable water and energy. Thirty-four percent of the rural population lives below the national poverty line on less than 2,367 riels ($0.60) per day. Even though Cambodia is a low income country, the cost of electricity is one of the world’s highest due to limited domestic energy resources. Over ninety percent of energy used for cooking comes from wood and charcoal, contributing to increased deforestation. Women traditionally shoulder the burdens of collecting wood and cooking in Cambo- dian society. They spend an average of three Do traditions erode or uphold women’s to four hours a day on energy-related ac- position within a poverty ridden tivities such as gathering fuel wood, boiling water, and cooking. The use of more energy- environment? A network of local women efficient and renewable energy technologies from in Cambodia spark rapid change by could significantly reduce the large share of household expenses currently required championing innovative, affordable and for cooking and lighting, allowing poorer people to save more money for food, educa- energy efficient cook stoves. tion, and health services. Inadequate access to adequate resources and technologies has entrenched poverty, slowed improvements in health and education, and contributed to en- vironmental degradation and socio-economic inequalities. Reducing rural poverty in Cambodia will require improving access to clean and energy-effi- cient solutions as prerequisites to achieving economic, social, and environmental benefits, and for meeting development goals. Renewable and energy-efficient technologies also sig- GAP funded gender equality as smart economics A World Bank Group Gender Action Plan 2 East asia anD Pacific REgion — social DEvEloPmEnt notEs nificantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, play- participate in national development. At the ing an important role in the global fight against grassroots level, civil society organizations are climate change. participating in initiatives to empower the tradi- tional roles of women and transform them into Simple and cost-effective cleaner energy tech- viable entrepreneurs. nologies can make a big difference in the lives of the poor—especially to women and children. Cambodia is one of the poorest countries in the However, meeting the needs of poorer communi- world with approximately one third of its 13.4 ties requires providing services that are practically million citizens living on less than fifty cents a useful, culturally appropriate, and affordable. This day. Four-fifths of Cambodia’s population—about report identified the unique role women play in 80.5 percent—live in rural areas (NIS, 2008). The rural Cambodian households, and describes a pi- large majority of Cambodians in rural and urban lot initiative to produce ceramic cook stoves with areas depend on biomass fuels such as firewood the goal of empowering women, reducing defor- and charcoal for their cooking needs1 (UNDP, estation and pollution, and promoting healthier 2008). The overall estimate for Cambodia’s ru- more vibrant communities. ral energy demand in 2010 amounts to around 84,610 Tera-Joule (TJ)—about the same thermal energy consumed by three 1000 megawatt coal Strategic Context fired plants operating around the clock for a Gender relations are steadily changing across year, or the equivalent of burning about four mil- Cambodia’s rural countryside as a result of glo- lion tons of coal or six billion tons of firewood, balization and government-led endeavors to of which 88 percent is firewood and charcoal enhance women’s socio-economic status. At the (UNDP-2008). Firewood and charcoal are often macro level, the Royal Government of Cambo- considered “traditional fuels�, yet they remain dia (RGC) has promoted a “gender agenda� by: the primary energy source for cooking within the sanctioning opportunities for women’s capac- home, and are used extensively by industry and ity building across sectors, changing social at- the service sector. titudes that discriminate against women and ensuring that women have a right to actively As Cambodia’s rural population continues to in- crease and poverty remains persistent, it is likely that consumption of firewood and charcoal will Commune-Level Poverty Rates continue to increase. The affordability and avail- ability of modern cooking fuels such as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), butane or propane will remain out of reach for most families. Looking into the future, scaled-up efforts to improve the energy efficiency of biomass use will be critical to developing countries such as Cambodia. The rapid and pervasive depletion of hardwoods for fuel has rapidly degraded local ecosystems, while also multiplying the time needed to collect fuel—traditionally a women’s role in Cambodia. This practice also creates additional negative ex- ternalities: burning charcoal in large quantities produces air pollution that threatens the respira- tory health within inadequately ventilated house- 1 According to the UNDP, approximately 90% of rural and 50% of urban-based citizens depend exclusively on charcoal wood for cooking. i n n ovat i o n s, l E s s o n s, a n D B E s t P R a c t i c E 3 holds. Since women are responsible for the do- mestic sphere and primarily responsible for food preparation, they are vulnerable to a number of health risks. The introduction of more energy- efficient cook stoves would therefore significantly benefit women and would provide an opportunity to expand employment across the supply chain, given their traditionally dominant role as clay pot- ters and retailers. The World Bank’s Energy Sector Management As- sistant Program (ESMAP) and the Asia Sustain- able and Alternative Energy Program (ASTAE) recognized the need for an effective solution to Cambodian women’s energy conundrum. ES- ment, and Solidarity). Of the first group of trained MAP and ASTAE soon assisted the Government potters, eleven regularly produced Neang Kon- of Cambodia by providing development support grey Stoves in 2008. Clearly more could be done to Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) to accelerate this unique technology throughout engaged in the delivery of energy services in re- rural communities. mote and underserved regions of the country in cooperation with Ministry of Industry Mines Shaping the Neang Kongrey Stoves and Energy. The Neang Kongrey Stove (NKS) has A pilot project was soon implemented. “Commer- greatly benefitted rural women and has capital- cialization and Rural Dissemination Strategies ized supply and demand side solutions for rural for Efficient Household Cook Stoves�, launched household energy consumption. The stoves have with the intention to test the community reac- also provided an easy, cost-effective solution to tion to the Neang Kongrey Stoves and to expand improving Cambodia’s the country’s energy sec- dissemination under a national program. The tor, but also in its commitment towards attaining pilot dissemination project was co-funded by gender equity. ESMAP and implemented by the NGO ‘GERES- Cambodia’, in cooperation with other five local NGOs—DKC, CADET, CEDAC, AHRDHE, Highlights and CCK—in four provinces (Kampong Thom, The National Improved Cook Stove Program de- Kampong Cham, Kampong Chhnang, and Takeo) veloped a cleaner, more energy-efficient and cost- from April 2008–2009. effective cooking device by scaling up production of Neang Kongrey Stoves (NKS) at a retail price Under this effort, a variety of dissemination strat- of USD 1.50 per cook stove in an environment egies were operationalized to determine the proj- where women played key roles as producer, ect’s overall effectiveness and sensitivity to com- advocate, retailer and end user. The NKS cook munity needs. A GERES project, for example, stoves will therefore provide the fuel for catalyz- provided over 8,000 Neang Kongrey Stoves (NKS) ing women’s development transformation across to the five selected NGOs. NKS retailing points Cambodia. were then arranged at the village level through the networks and relationships of the selected NGOs. The Potter’s Wheel NKS cook stoves were delivered to these retail The Neang Kongrey Stove was first produced in points on consignment and payments were col- Kampong Chhnang province, an area famous for lected by GERES-Cambodia. local women’s production of valuable clay pottery. The NKS were first produced in 2003–2004 at the Key NGOs identified target villages, promoted household level by two dozen women clay potters mechanisms for determining an acceptable retail trained by a national NGO named GERES-Cam- price, profit and payment scheme to maximize bodia (Group for Renewable Energy, Environ- economic inceptives of producing the cooking 4 East asia anD Pacific REgion — social DEvEloPmEnt notEs stoves Each NGO followed a multidimensional control. The limited availability and inconsis- approach in selling the cook stoves. A critical tent quality of NKS was well noted during the success factor included promoting gender equity pilot project. This was due to production capac- in the selection of selection of retailers. Wives ity limitations of the NKS producers and their of village officials (including the village chief traditional stove production techniques. As a and deputy chiefs), female leaders or members result, ASTAE for GERES-Cambodia raised of community-based organizations, female ven- funding to develop a Model Production Facility dors of village grocery shops and individual en- to increase production capacity and upgrade the trepreneurs were selected to serve as the outlet overall quality of the stoves. A production facil- retailers. ity in Banh Shhkoul Village in Kampong Chh- nang province soon served as a model to pro- Among the four types of retail outlets selected, mote production and supply of NKS cook stoves village grocery stores stood out among the three to rural areas. other outlets in terms of sales and visibility. These grocery stores were not only the nucleus of vil- Given the overall goal to enable more traditional lage activity—where women were the primary stove producers to learn how to produce high- and regular visitors—but also stations for dem- er quality NKS cook stoves, GERES-Cambodia onstrating the efficiency of the NKS cook stoves. initiated a training program with technical as- According to a female grocery seller in Kampong sistance funding from ASTAE. The training Siem, “In this village, announcement was the villagers do not have received with much the stoves. They just use interest by the rural three stones for cook- women. A training and ing. I use two NKSs here production strategy (in front of the shop), so was later redesigned to when the villagers come address the high level to buy something at my of interest from rural shop, they can see that it women, in contrast saves firewood and time to the original plan of and then they buy it�. training ten women to produce stoves in the Female heads of village facility. In an effort to development com- At her business in Kampon Chhnang, Cambodia, Kheang ensure equity in access mittees (VDC) played Son processes bamboo sticks which she sells to furniture to training, women important roles in dis- makers in Thailand and Holland. As a result of her were selected through mother’s success, her daughter, pictured here, is now seminating the NKS lucky draws and were studying English and tourism in Phnom Penh. Photo by campaign, through paid a daily training Karl Grobl. Asia Foundation, 2010 cooking demonstra- allowance to maintain tion, participant dis- the economic balance cussion and differed payment schemes in their while away from paid work. Once training was respective neighborhoods. Village Develop- completed, the trained women were permitted ment Committee members also discussed how to mold and form the stoves at home and get paid a deferred payment plan could allow anyone against the number of stove parts delivered to to purchase a stove. These efforts greatly in- the facility. creased the use of stoves across villages with similar information efforts. Achieved Gender Outcomes During FY10/11, the Gender Action Plan Fund From Vision to Reality (GAP Fund) provided support to assess the role Before the NKS stove project could be fully im- of gender in development and to provide recom- plemented, a key roadblock remained: quality mendations to integrate gender into the organi- i n n ovat i o n s, l E s s o n s, a n D B E s t P R a c t i c E 5 zational and management structure of national erment even in impoverished and and programs. The assessment noted a series of gen- post-conflict environments. In this context, der-specific outcomes that focused especially on the traditional role of Cambodian women women’s economic and social empowerment. A as potters and food vendors has been number of achievements identified below are capitalized to support socio-economic based on assessments by the GAP fund and empowerment by giving them the key role Project Task Teams, and include recommen- as promoters of cost effective energy ef- dations from an April 2009 workshop held in ficiency and stewards to improvements in Phnom Penh. household welfare. n Second, by instituting training as an inte- gral component to the NKS cook stoves Empowerment initiative, women become analysts and Increased Economic Power: Cambodian wom- monitors of tangible outcomes of the NKS en’s typical role as producer and retailer provides cook stove dissemination. opportunities for income generation and increased income due to opportunity for profit maximization through a efficient supply chain. Sustainability n The pilot initiative is embedded within Time Savings: The option to produce cook stoves a community-owned economic pattern, at home provides women with a flexible working where women’s traditional roles become schedule that allows them to attend to household part of the story. chores while also producing stoves for local con- n A proposed women-producer association sumers. The reduction in time spent collecting management structure for the NKS-Facility firewood across increasingly large distances cre- is an effective tool to create a strong stove ates time savings that can be readily invested in production community which will in turn other pursuits. . contribute towards a larger and closely linked community of low cost energy effi- Increased Voice: Training and skills development cient cook stove users. from producing cook stoves creates stronger bonds between women in local community orga- These examples provide an entry point for sus- nizations and facilitated greater voice in commu- tainability, but scaled-up efforts will require a nity decision making. strong institutional structure and a sector-wide development approach that covers a broader Strengthened Social Capital: Sharing knowledge, supply-chain. Future efforts can hopefully bene- experience and support during the production of fit more provinces, communes and villages while cookstoves provides opportunities to strengthen also increasing the percentage of households us- women’s social capital. ing improved cook stove technology Healthier Homes: Reduced indoor air-pollution improves respiratory health, and immediately Further Reading offsets adverse health impacts of charcoal-based Cambodia: Improved Cook Stoves Project cooking on women and children. (P113090) Cambodia: Rural Energy Strategy (P114368 ) Improved Energy Technologies for Rural Innovation Cambodia: December 2009 The Neang Kongrey Stoves project highlights two key innovations: Contacts n First, the experience provides a tested in- Jason Steele, Rural Energy Specialist, novative approach of how building on Consultant—CAMBODIA—ASTAE Improved traditions can promote women’s empow- Cook stove Dissemination (P113090) 6 East asia anD Pacific REgion — social DEvEloPmEnt notEs