my name is a manager alan t and i'm a masters doing in africa and
international developments at the center of african studies at the university of alma
during may to june of two thousand eleven i spent seven weeks in kenya doing
field research on gender charcoal and the value chain in western can
was to the primary data collected was in the western part of can
i conducted semi structured interviews and focus group discussions train the field research
interviews warehouse with local charcoal stakeholders
government representatives then and you are represented us to the expertise in forestry natural resources
and gender
three focus group discussions warehouse
one male and female and one with both male and female participants
in looking at charcoal
which is one of the most commonly used energy if you'll sources in can i
looked at gender equity or fairness within the charcoal value chain
the charcoal nineteen represents travel production from the planting of the tree see which becomes
a tree eventually python inverted to create charcoal all the way through to charcoal distribution
and sale
chuckle production was originally an informal in illegal cactus and can
meaning it with on taxed in very unregulated
it was formalized in regulated by the government of can in the early two thousand
and was for the realized in two thousand five with the fourth act
but the creation of the kind you for service in two thousand seven chuckle regulation
increased are skinny for services ricky regular trained licensing body
only thing was levels of the charcoal value chain
chuckles produced in rural areas
but is more commonly used her abandon the urban areas
areas that have little access to firewood as an energy fuel source
chuckles quite that for cooking especially in areas with the what climate it is mostly
burned using a g cost of
the first you levels or stages of the charcoal value chain
such as the tree single level
entry care management level are dominated by women
this is most likely because women are heavily involved in agricultural production
in sub saharan africa
tree seedlings are planted entry nurseries or farms after this growing period trees are cut
and burns
and these levels
of cutting and burning are most are mostly dominated by men
the reading level high
traditional learning methods
which are still widely used these methods have a low efficiency rate in contribute to
further environmental degradation in the area
more efficient learning methods include the portable johnstown
this method creates an opportunity for women to be involved at the burning level of
the value chain as the john uses
smaller tree branches which are easy to a range within the cal
additionally the can is quite light making it easy to transport to different forms
this can help with community bass track a production efforts involving both women and men
an increasing some gender equity within this level
after burning charcoal is usually package by women and men
it's packaged in large thirty to fifty k g stacks in transported by either large-scale
are small scale methods
well it's got transportation is done by laurie or boats mostly by men
well small-scale transportations done by donkey bicycle or motorcycle with both women and men taking
power
it is worth noting that women have a little if any access to motorcycles
for their only used in small scale transportation
the next syllable the value chain is usually distribution and sale of charcoal
large-scale distribution and sell is dominated by men well small scale is usually dominated by
women
small-scale selling can be done in conjunction with telling of local parties
and the other day to day items that market spaces
piece market spaces would have already been established prior to charcoal receiving formal status in
can
there is a lack of gender equity or fairness in the value chain resulting from
gender constructs established in western can
these constructs
clearly define the roles of women and men within charcoal production and the value chain
the reason why gender equity is an issue within the value chain is due to
an equal distribution of resources
women immense access to in control resources is really not the same
there's in balance between women and men and resources gain for labour done
with men generally controlling a substantial amount of the resources
resources gain from producing transporting in selling charcoal are not always distributed
evenly within the household
this then creates quite an imbalance and gender dynamics between women and men in the
household as well as the greater social sphere within ten