ABSTRACT
The world pattern of women’s work in providing fuel is very similar to that of their work in providing water. As Map 3 shows, most of it is concentrated in non- or little-industrialised areas. Like providing water and food, it is hard, heavy work and, like providing other necessities, its use value is very high. The amount of work involved is not only determined by the universal need for fuel for warmth, cooking and lighting. It is also fixed by geographical and climatic differences so that not only do the lengths of days and nights vary from one place to another, but people’s sensations of heat and cold are also relative. For the Inuit and the Laps, for example, 10°C (50°F) is hot, whereas further south that temperature would set people creating extra warmth in their homes. Or again, townspeople with no space to dry clothes out of doors, or those who live in damp, rainy areas, even although it may be quite warm, have an additional need for heat to dry clothes and linen. The symbols on Map 3 representing women as the main procurers of fuel peter out in the sub-Arctic. That is because fuel and wood plants peter out. Women collect what little there is among the Inuit. But the main source of fuel in these regions is often animal fat, in particular, round the coasts, seal blubber. Traditionally, women took charge of carcases brought into settlements by male hunters, skinning and processing them, so they also did a considerable share of providing this type of fuel before kerosene began to reach their areas. Further south, where vegetation and trees are the main fuel sources, gathering can be a very time-consuming job, as examples given in Table 9.1 show. :Examples of time spent in gathering fuel in vamus countries in the early 1980s https://www.niso.org/standards/z39-96/ns/oasis-exchange/table">
Country
Hours per day
Kind of work
S. India
1.69
women contributed 0.66 hours; children
(6 villages)
0.46
Gujarat
3
for a family of 5, one member often spends all
State
her or his time on it
Nepal
1–5 depending on type of terrain
often 1 adult and 1–2 children do the job
Tanzania
8
traditional women’s work
Senegal
4–5
often has to be carried about 45 km.
Niger
4–6
women sometimes walk 25 km in search of fuel
Kenya
3½
women do 75 per cent of fuelwood gathering
Ghana
3½–4
1 full day’s search provides wood for three days
Peru
2½
women not only gather firewood but also cut wood
Sources: A.K.N. Reddy et alRural Energy Consumption Patterns. A Field Study, ASTRA Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, 1980. Report of the UN Secretary-General to the World Conference to Review and Appraise the Achievements of the UN Decade for Women, Equality, Development, Peace, 11 Dec. 1984, Item 7, Provisional Agenda, World Survey on the Role of Women in Development, Paper No. A/Conf. 116/4, 196–7, paras 518–20, quoting Mangalan Srinavasan, “The Role of Women in the Use, Conservation and Development of Energy Resources”, Working paper, United Nations, 1984.
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