Evaluating Gender and Social Impacts from Transitions to Modern Energy Cooking

By Dr Yesmeen Khalifa and Malcolm Bricknell (Modern Energy Cooking Services)

The MECS programme has developed a framework and guidance resources to assess gender equality and social inclusion for modern energy cooking (MEC) projects. The framework is designed to help project developers capture and demonstrate their contributions to SDG 5 in a structured, practical and evidence-based way, with a view to being able to demonstrate these accurately and cost effectively to third parties e.g. as part of their carbon credit co-benefits or as part of a detailed analysis of the Gender impacts of a project.

In order to test the practical viability of the Gender Framework (and guidance resources), MECS has supported a study by a Kenyan company – Scode Ltd. The report from this study has just been issued and draws some interesting conclusions as well as providing recommendations for application of the methodology to other MEC projects.

Applying the gender framework in this pilot reveals the importance of exploring the wider gender and social impacts of a MEC project, rather than relying on only one or two simple metrics. Time savings is frequently the only issue focussed on in reporting gender impacts. The Scode pilot study shows how a range of significant economic, social, health and gender-related impacts from a project can be effectively demonstrated – including an analysis of the of time savings.

The framework is designed to enable project developers to conduct a baseline survey, identify gaps and then develop and implement an action plan to improve gender and social outcomes of MEC interventions. The focus of the pilot study was to test the practicality of the framework and survey questions.

Scode used the MECS framework tools and guidance resources to conduct baseline and evaluation surveys. The baseline survey gathered disaggregated data by gender, age, disability, literacy, income level, etc. on household cooking experience behaviour across a wide range of issues before the acquisition of the EPC. These included types of cooking fuels, access and affordability issues, control over time and labour, access to knowledge, technology and information, health and well-being, gender- and domestic-based violence, agency and intrahousehold decision-making, and other contextual factors.

After 4-6 months, the same households participated in an evaluation survey to gather similarly disaggregated data on their experiences in different areas after using their EPCs. The data gathered during the surveys was analysed to gain insights into the effectiveness of the gender methodology in evaluating impacts associated with the use of EPCs.

The Scode Report was able to demonstrate a range of important insights into gender and related social impacts following the acquisition of the Electric Pressure Cookers (EPCs).

Domain 1: Ability to access modern energy cooking services

• After the adoption of EPCs, electricity emerged as a primary cooking fuel for around a third of both male-headed households and female-headed households, mainly replacing charcoal and firewood. The use of electricity as a secondary cooking fuel increased significantly among female-headed households (from 5% to 57%), and male-headed households (from 7% to 53%).
• Disaggregating data by income level revealed that among all groups, low-income female-headed households made the largest shift to electricity as their primary cooking fuel (from 0% to 50%). This demonstrated that the adoption of EPCs enabled affordability of modern energy cooking transitions among even the most economically vulnerable households.
• Meal changes and disruptions caused by cooking fuel shortages diminished after the adoption of EPCs across all groups, specifically among low-and middle-income groups -which suffered the most before the adoption of EPCs.
• Improvements were reported by female respondents with disabilities. For those with partial visual impairment, having a backlight on the menu items on the Pawapot control panel, improved their ability to read the menu and use the EPCs independently. Respondents with physical disabilities found the Pawapot EPC convenient due to its lightweight and portable design.

Domain 2: Access to modern energy cooking services-related resources

• A reduction in gender-based violence associated with cooking and fuel collection was reported. Most female respondents agreed that the adoption of EPCs has the potential to reduce the risk of gender-based domestic violence associated with delays or inability to complete cooking-related tasks.
• Most respondents reported collecting fuel less frequently after the adoption of EPCs, indicating a significant reduction in the burden of fuel collection, which is primarily undertaken by women.
• Most female respondents (94%) reported that EPCs reduced their cooking workload and substantially reduced the time spent on cooking each day (it reduced from around an hour to under half an hour per day).
• Female respondents spent most of the time saved on housework and childcare, however, a significant share (39%) used time saved on other activities such as leisure/rest, income generating activities, education, and socializing. Male respondents spent less time on housework and childcare and more time on other activities.
• Disaggregating time use by gender and income indicated that low- and middle-income female respondents spent most of the time saved on housework and childcare, unlike high-income female and male respondents. This shows the importance of disaggregating data, as intersecting factors such as income reveal additional inequalities.
• Over a quarter of female respondents reported that EPCs contributed to more equal distribution of cooking responsibilities, compared to 14% at the baseline, highlighting a gradual change in gender roles.
• Most female and male respondents reported an improvement in indoor air quality after using EPCs. This indicates a potential for health improvement.
• Before the adoption of EPCs, around 27% of low-income female-headed households reported spending less than 5% of their income on cooking fuels. After the adoption of EPCs, this increased to 39%, indicating significant improvement. After the adoption, the number of households sacrificing other basic needs to buy cooking fuel dropped significantly, allowing households to better meet other basic needs.
• A proportion of low-income female-headed households reported starting or expanding an existing business using EPCs (such as a home-based meal service, street food or catering), indicating income-generating benefits.
  

Ability to exercise agency

Most respondents, both female and male, reported high involvement in household decisions regarding cooking fuel expenditures. Overall, despite the significant role that women played in decision making related to cooking fuels, they still faced slightly more limitations than men.

Reflections on applying the gender framework

Scode commented that the framework was “a great eye-opener into the many layers of gender and social-related issues that have been historically neglected but which can very effectively drive the cooking agenda in households. The framework is well structured. Its flow and guidance resources make the framework user-friendly and helpful to project developers who are the intended users.”

Before conducting the baseline and evaluation surveys, questions were tested and adapted to the local context. Some were merged to shorten the survey. Scode gave their customers the option to complete the survey online or by phone. These adjustments reduced the average completion time of the survey to 15-20 minutes. The Scode team identified an advantage in having phone surveys, as direct interaction with customers encouraged participants to provide more detail in their answers.

Using the survey has allowed Scode to identify a wide range of impacts. It also enabled them to have a better understanding of inequalities and contextual factors (social, economic, physical environment) that can support them in improving their delivery of services while increasing the gender and social impact arising from the MEC.

The MECS Gender Framework aims to provide a comprehensive approach to drive meaningful change for women, disadvantaged groups, and marginalised communities. Project developers are not required to apply every aspect of the framework in a single project. However, the framework can encourage deeper engagement with SDG 5 (and other SDGs) by exploring gender and social impacts beyond commonly measured areas. By disaggregating data by gender and other intersecting factors, practitioners can uncover layers of inequality and exclusion that are often invisible in aggregated data.

The MECS Gender methodology can be used by project developers like SCODE to integrate effectively with Gold Standard’s (GS) Methodology for Metered & Measured Energy Cooking Devices (MMMECD) developed by Climate Impact Partners and Modern Energy Cooking Services (or with other methodologies which have copied this approach). The overall objective is to allow project developers to demonstrate high integrity, high quality projects both in terms of their calculation of emission reductions and by effectively demonstrating to investors the important SDG 5 impacts arising from their projects. Using dMRV reporting platforms and more sophisticated impact measurement methodologies, like the MECS Gender Methodology, allows developers to employ insightful calculations across a range of developmental impacts.

***************************************************************************************************************

Featured Image Credit: Kevin Maina-Scode Ltd.