**1. Introduction**

Energy is central to achieving the interrelated economic, social and environmental aims of sustainable development. Energy plays a critical role in poverty reduction. Patterns of ener‐ gy generation, distribution and utilization directly affect opportunities for income genera‐ tion, the situation of women, environmental protection and national development. Energy services are an essential engine for growth to enable developing countries to overcome pov‐ erty and the conditions of poverty. If man is to realize the sustainable human development goal, the kinds of energy produced and the ways they are used will have to change. Other‐ wise the environmental damage will accelerate, inequity will increase, and global economic growth will be jeopardized. Yet, worldwide, two billion people rely on traditional fuels in‐ cluding wood, dung and agricultural residues to meet their daily heating and cooking needs (Karlsson and Misana - eds, 2001).

Energy is necessary for meeting basic human needs and a prerequisite for economic devel‐ opment (see figure 1). Increased access to energy resources is the most fundamental require‐ ment to economic growth. Thus, international and national efforts towards less developed countries' poverty reduction and improvements to health and education cannot be achieved without addressing international and national energy policies. Without access to modern en‐ ergy sources, 40% of the global population relies on traditional biomass fuels in the form of wood, straw, dung, coal and other organic material for meeting their basic household needs (Institute for Development Studies (IDS), 2003). However, the burning of biomass causes many environmental problems, increases global climate change, and is one of the leading causes of premature deaths of women and children in less developed countries.

© 2013 Fatona et al.; licensee InTech. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © 2013 Fatona et al.; licensee InTech. This is a paper distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

(Reddy, 2000). Energy poverty interacts with other manifestations of poverty and it is im‐

Viewing Energy, Poverty and Sustainability in Developing Countries Through a Gender Lens

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/51818

85

Poverty is particularly acute in rural areas in developing countries, and the problem is growing, since the number below the poverty line is increasing in absolute numbers if not as a percentage. Poverty is not static but rather a dynamic process: people can move out of, or into, poverty. This needs to be taken into account when policies and strategies are being de‐ signed to help people lift themselves out of poverty. Rural people voice the need for the means to provide themselves with adequate livelihoods. These livelihoods should be sus‐ tainable, in the sense that they can withstand stresses and shocks, and they should maintain, or even enhance capabilities and assets without undermining the natural resource base. However, the opportunities for people to support themselves from the land are limited. Al‐ ready many rural families, who might classify themselves as farmers, have diversified their activities and social support capabilities for survival as well as in order to try and improve

Another option is urban migration, particularly chosen by men, resulting in a large number of female-headed households in rural areas. For example, it is estimated that women make up 80% of the adult rural population in Zimbabwe (Nyoni, 1993). Access to cash incomes through non-agrarian activities might go some way towards stemming the exodus from ru‐ ral areas (which reduces the total human capital and threatens the sustainability of an area),

Limited availability of modern energy critically impairs socioeconomic development. Indus‐ tries and productive activities (agriculture, commerce) require energy in various forms to fuel machines, power transformation processes, conserve perishable goods, ensure trans‐ port, etc. According to United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) (2004), high levels of income per capita tend to be associated with higher levels of industrial‐

Though, not specifically referred to in the targets of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), energy supply is an underlining requirement to achieve most of the MDGs. With‐ out access to adequate energy services, the majority of Africans would continue to suffer from deep poverty, since energy is required for most basic household needs, such as cook‐ ing and heating. According to World Bank indicators, there is a strong correlation between modern energy consumption and Gross National Product (GNP) per capita. The GNP tends to rapidly increase as per capita commercial energy use increases (figure 2), mainly for lowincome countries. When the countries reach a level of per capita energy consumption of around 4.18680e+11 (10.000 TOE), factors such as efficient utilization of energy by industries, energy production and transformation systems and households tend to make the difference

as well as contributing to the sustainable livelihoods of those who remain.

Estimates of the number of people living in poverty put the figure at around 1.3 billion.

portant to explore the issues that surround it, including the gender aspects.

their standard of living.

**2. Energy as a poverty issue**

ization.

**Figure 1.** Energy consumption per sector

Worldwide, more than two billion people lack access to sustainable and modern energy services, using traditional solid fuels for cooking and heating. Without access to basic ener‐ gy services for lighting, cooking, heating, pumping, transportation, communication and oth‐ er productive purposes, people – most often women - are forced to spend the majority of their time and physical energy on subsistence activities. Lack of energy services is directly correlated with the major elements of poverty, including inadequate healthcare, low educa‐ tion levels and limited employment opportunities.

Development literature has recently embraced the term "feminization of poverty" referring to growing gap between men and women caught in the cycle of poverty – 70% of the 1.5 billion people living on less than a dollar a day are women (United Nations Development Program (UNDP), 1995). It is increasingly evident that gender differentiates the societal processes leading to poverty and the escape routes out. Women living in poverty are consis‐ tently without access to key resources such as credit, land and inheritance. Their labor is un‐ rewarded and unrecognized. Their health care and nutritional needs are not given priority, they lack sufficient access to education and support services, and their participation in deci‐ sion-making at home and in the community are minimal. Caught in the cycle of poverty, women lack access to resources and services to change their situation.

Poverty is one of the world's most fundamental issues, and urgently needs to be addressed. Poverty can be conceptualized in a number of ways, for example, in economic terms (an in‐ come of less than \$1 a day) or in social terms (lack of access to adequate levels of food, wa‐ ter, clothing, shelter, sanitation, health care and education). It is also possible to identify an energy dimension to poverty: energy poverty. Energy poverty has been defined as the ab‐ sence of sufficient choice in accessing adequate, affordable, reliable, high quality, safe and environmentally benign energy services to support economic and human development (Reddy, 2000). Energy poverty interacts with other manifestations of poverty and it is im‐ portant to explore the issues that surround it, including the gender aspects.

Estimates of the number of people living in poverty put the figure at around 1.3 billion.

Poverty is particularly acute in rural areas in developing countries, and the problem is growing, since the number below the poverty line is increasing in absolute numbers if not as a percentage. Poverty is not static but rather a dynamic process: people can move out of, or into, poverty. This needs to be taken into account when policies and strategies are being de‐ signed to help people lift themselves out of poverty. Rural people voice the need for the means to provide themselves with adequate livelihoods. These livelihoods should be sus‐ tainable, in the sense that they can withstand stresses and shocks, and they should maintain, or even enhance capabilities and assets without undermining the natural resource base. However, the opportunities for people to support themselves from the land are limited. Al‐ ready many rural families, who might classify themselves as farmers, have diversified their activities and social support capabilities for survival as well as in order to try and improve their standard of living.

Another option is urban migration, particularly chosen by men, resulting in a large number of female-headed households in rural areas. For example, it is estimated that women make up 80% of the adult rural population in Zimbabwe (Nyoni, 1993). Access to cash incomes through non-agrarian activities might go some way towards stemming the exodus from ru‐ ral areas (which reduces the total human capital and threatens the sustainability of an area), as well as contributing to the sustainable livelihoods of those who remain.
