Ellenbroek, W.E.T. 1988 This study investigated pathways of fuelwood marketing in a district of Java, Indonesia. Farmers sold wood cut from their own land, and charcoal produced from it, to village-level traders known as assemblers. Assemblers sold charcoal on to urban traders but most of the wood back to rural industries because of the low profitability of the urban fuelwood market. Assemblers were non-specialists, usually farmers making some extra money on the side. Urban traders on the other hand were specialists and mostly women.

Clark, J. (1994). This report was written following a six week period spent in the field speaking to women and men involved in forestry activities in Northern Pakistan. The report sets out the role of women in the management and use of forests. It draws out the variability in the involvement of women in forestry activities between and within valleys. This variation in involvement was related to the heterogeneous role of women in society and their access to land, and to the traditional division of labour, the geographical location of villages, cultural and religious restrictions and the availability of male labour. A concept for women in forestry is put forward which makes recommendations for the development of the future programme. It actively recognizes the involvement of women as decision makers in forestry, drawing on positive activities started in 1993 to 1994. The concept advocates action in three areas: programme focus, the development of linkages both internal and external, an...

2001, Wily, Liz Alden. This paper analyses how the decentralising and democratizing effects of reforms that directly change laws or indirectly change the balance of authority over land and landed resources can be significant in improving women s resource rights. Critical shifts are affecting rural resource rights in Africa through reform in land, forestry and other laws. Recognition that equity in domestic land relations may be a prerequisite to the modernization of subsistence agriculture in agrarian economies is the thesis underlying analysis of legal texts in this paper. More pervasive improvement in women s resource rights is emerging through indirect changes to the law, particularly those which alter the balance of authority over land and landed resources between state and people. Greater accessibility to tenure administration, dispute resolution machinery and resource management functions occurring through devolution of centres of control from centre to periphery is particularl...

Leach, G. undated. ETC Consultants, UK This paper reviewed domestic fuelwood use in central and southern Africa, drawing from literature and from original research. It gave a cogent presentation of a number of issues applicable beyond its chosen geographical focus. Among the issues raised were the context of fuelwood production within a hierarchy of land use choices, the spatial patchiness of fuelwood stress within seemingly uniform environments and the stark gender divisions that affect decisions over fuel use. After an introductory chapter, Chapter Two considered rural fuelwood issues and Chapter Three the urban situation. Chapter Four gave realistic guidelines for putting the identified policy implications into practice. This is an excellent report which raises all the current issues around fuelwood in a stimulating style.

Siddiqi, N (1989). This paper reports on the proceedings of a workshop, the main purpose of which was to understand the situation of women with regard to forests, to identify problems in promoting women s participation in the management and development of forests, and to develop a method to reach and involve women in such activities. The report documents the rationale and method developed for the revised strategy of women s participation in forestry. The authors assert that Women in Forestry (WIF) should be developed as a coherent combination of ideas and activities that grow out of the needs of local users. This is especially so in rural areas where women and forestry are more closely linked due to the degree to which their lives are shaped by the importance of gaining access to basic resources. The report details the aims and activities of the workshop and its outcomes and impacts. Rather than the activities and results of the forestry project as a whole, this document concentrat...

Williams, Paula J. (1992). This document is a resource guide for non-governmental organizations and others working on field-level forestry development activities with women in Africa. It presents findings from a project on Women s Participation in Forestry Activities in Africa. The project involved case studies in eight African countries. The paper reports on the actual experiences of the case studies, strategies for promoting women s involvement in forestry activities and further recommendations from the NGO workshop. The resource guide is conceived as an important tool to help support field-level efforts to link women with environment and development concerns. The report is presented in sections addressing first, a review of how women use and manage forest resources in Africa; second, the authors visions for working with women on forestry activities; third, case studies showing constraints, issues and strategies successfully in actual field projects; fourth, comparisons of issues ...

Skutsch, M (1986). There has been much criticism of social forestry from social scientists, either on the grounds that it makes little contribution to basic needs (producing wood as a cash crop) or on the grounds that it is detrimental to environmental stability (particularly in reference to Eucalyptus woodlots). Of the studies reviewing these allegations, very few examine the question of whether women in particular have benefited from these forestry interventions. This paper attempts to summarise what has been said concerning women s lack of access to the benefits of social forestry. The strands of argument considered are first, that the products tend to be timber or poles while women s greatest need is thought to be firewood; second, that even if the product of the project is indeed firewood, it is grown by the household or the community for cash purposes, not for subsistence or for their own use; and third, that as the products are sold, the cash benefits remain with the senior ma...

Huizenga, C. R. and others. 1987. SEARAT Project, Technology and Development Group, University of Twente. This volume contains two review papers, the first about rural fuel use surveys and the second about the involvement of women in fuel-related development projects. The first review included guidelines for future rural energy surveys, recommending a more impact-oriented approach than the more prevalent gap analysis, and a tabulated bibliography of completed surveys. The second review started with an overview of women's roles in fuelwood gathering and then assessed different types of energy technology projects from the perspective of female users. Social forestry initiatives were criticised for failing to give power to women. Development of improved stoves and labour-saving devices had failed to take into account the values and social contexts of the women who used them. This second review also included a tabulated bibliography of relevant papers.

Fleuret, A. 1983. Paper presented at African Studies Association meeting, Boston, USA A survey of the types of fuelwood used by households in one rural locality in Kenya showed considerable discrepancy between women's stated preferences and the species they actually used. The author argued that choice of fuelwood was determined primarily by accessibility. Women tended to collect species found close to their homes and fields rather than more desirable species from further away, because the amount of time they could devote to collecting fuel was strictly limited by other demands on their labour. Tree planting for fuel was unknown. Most people were reluctant to plant trees at all because of competing uses for arable land.

ILO, 1987. Proceedings of an international workshop co-sponsored by the ILO and the These proceedings documented an international workshop held to discuss the results of ILO's major investigation into rural women's labour and fuel use, that was carried out during the 1980s under Elizabeth Cecelski. The workshop took the position that poor, rural people in developing countries faced an "energy crisis" and that women, who were almost universally responsible for collecting fuel and cooking, were most affected by the crisis. Chapter Two of the proceedings summarised three ILO case studies from Peru, Indonesia and Ghana. Later chapters reported the discussions of working groups. The general view of the participants was that energy should be integrated into broader rural development and policy initiatives. The strong representation by field workers focused the discussion on practical issues of how to put policy into practice.

Smita Mishra-Panda (2001). This paper explores the links between gender and forestry and observes that most forestry institutions in developing countries are male dominated. Using the case of forest management in India it attempts to analyse the gender perspective in the existing community based approaches. Based on evaluation and relevant planning issues in community based forestry management, a framework has been developed to assess gender sensitivity at three levels: 1) Forest Management Policy (FMP) formulation, 2) FMP implementation and 3) FMP review. It is shown that when combined with gender analysis (established methodology in gender and development studies), the framework could serve as a useful guideline, not only to assess gender sensitivity in forest management, but also to frame policy guidelines and enhance the capacity of institutions to deal with this issue.

Siddiqi, N (1989). This guide begins with a brief introduction to community forestry and the position of women as users of forests. The history of women s participation in development is then traced to provide a background for understanding the concept of women in forestry. The paper states that the stereotype of the rural woman in Nepal is the main reason for failure to make a serious attempt to involve women in forestry development activities. Understanding the difference between the perspectives of forestry workers and rural communities, especially women, is the first step to developing the right approaches regarding women in rural areas. The strategy of Focused Integration, which considers women s participation to be part of regular work, not additional to it, is identified as a key approach and one emphasising orientation and training for field staff, male and female, to work with women. It is asserted that forestry programs need to relate their activities to the immediate con...

Siddiqi, N (1990). This paper presents the findings of a detailed review and assessment of the Nepal-Australia Forestry Project s (NAFP) Women in Forestry program. It finds that in Nepal many programs and organisations set up women s sections or added women s components to their regular work. Very few could, however, develop an appropriate strategy to improve the participation of women in their activities. Forestry programs have followed the same general pattern as other development programs. The few successes reported seem to be location-specific and therefore not easily replicable. The NAFP tried to integrate women in its activities only during Phase III of the project. The results of this effort during the first half of the phase (when this report was written) were quite disheartening. Women s participation in the project suffered mainly due to lack of understanding of the situation of rural women and lack of expertise. Given the situation of women in Nepal (as in most other soc...

Furfey, R. N. 1988. Fuelwood development for energy in Sudan Field Document 31. GCP/SUD/033/NET. Forests Administration, Khartoum. This paper reported the findings of a questionnaire survey in eight villages in eastern Sudan. Women were questioned about their use of wood and attitudes to forest management. The study was part of an FAO project to develop fuelwood resources, but the survey made it clear that women did not share the FAO's perception of fuelwood shortages. Women cooked more than three times a day and used the same amount of wood across the whole geographic range of fuelwood abundance. They knew a great deal about trees, and used them for fuel, crafts, medicines, shade, shelter and fruit, but did not plant them. The author recommended that women be trained in tree planting and improved stoves.

Report of the United Nations Conference on New and Renewable Sources of Energy, W.E.T. 1980 This report presented the FAO and broader UN view of the fuelwood crisis in 1980. The philosophy it espoused dominated thinking on fuelwood for the next decade. Over 100 million people were thought to be unable to meet even their minimum fuelwood needs, while a further billion experienced shortages. The Panel made six recommendations for action: more intensive management of existing trees, creation of fuelwood plantations, improvement of transport and pricing mechanisms for wood, improving charcoal production, improving stoves and, where possible, substituting wood by fossil fuels. The report included an abbreviated version of the FAO world survey of fuelwood supply and demand.

Carr-Harris, Jill (1991). This case study of the Chipko group Jakeshwar Shiksan Sangsthan (J.S.S.) is an attempt to draw the attention of policy-makers to women s status and resource equity issues. The author asserts that many NGOs have pioneered new techniques for women s involvement in environmental reconstruction, some of the most extensive of which are in the Chipko dominated areas of the Uttar Pradesh hills. It is felt that these need to be brought to the attention of policy makers by producing literature and case studies of an analytic as well as descriptive nature. The paper contrasts two village case studies and uses findings to suggest a rudimentary framework for action. For convenience, it is broken into three parts: firstly, a review of J.S.S. s education program; secondly, a village study wherein an investigation of the prevailing Chipko group s area of operation has been carried out; and thirdly, a concluding section on some of the essential elements of an awareness prog...

Society for Promotion of Wastelands Development (1998) This paper provides a useful review of the gender issues involved in Joint Forest Management (JFM). This paper examines a problematic facet of JFM, namely the gender and equity implications of its present framework and practice. The paper is aimed at a diverse audience of policy makers, donors, forest officers, NGOs, researchers and field practitioners and begins with a brief overview tracing the conditions leading to the birth of the concept of JFM. The second section locates the status and condition of tribal and other poor women, possibly the largest category of people dependent on forests, within the growing national commitment to gender equality. The third section analyses the present operational framework for JFM in relation to the 1988 forest policy objectives. This highlights the mismatch between the incentive of a share of revenue from timber being offered to villagers for participating in JFM and the policy of treating ...

Underwood, Michael 1999 This paper summarises an off-forest community forestry programme in Zululand, South Africa during the mid-1990s. The initiative sought to test the viability of fruit trees as an alternative to the common practice of promoting eucalyptus woodlots as the normal response to community demands for forest products. Based upon preliminary evidence provided by previous surveys and through sensitive evaluations of people s expressed needs, the special demands of women were identified as the key element in ensuring the success of community forestry in the area. Rather than adopt the normal practice of promoting trees per se, tree promotions were conducted as part of a joint venture with topics of greater interest to the community and to women in particular. During the programme, the range of meeting venues was expanded to facilitate better, more gender sensitive locales. At these meetings, the economics of using fruit trees as a vehicle for community forestry in a resou...

Williams, Paula J. (1992). This paper was compiled to brief policy-makers on the findings and recommendations of the Women and Forestry Project. It also suggests how governments, donors, bilateral and multilateral organizations can support the activities of NGOs and other change agents to support women s involvement in forest use and management. The project on Women s Participation in Forestry Activities in Africa documented and evaluated efforts to promote women s participation in forestry activities. The project consisted of case studies in eight countries: Kenya, Sudan, Botswana, Cameroon, Zanzibar, Mali, and Senegal. The case studies examined constraints to women s participation in forestry activities and strategies used to overcome those constraints. Participants identified major issues influencing women s activities including: forestry, energy, and environmental policies; restricted land and tree tenure rights; general approaches and policies for development and promoting women...