Gender and health issues in the biomass energy cycle: impediments to sustainable development
| By | Anoja Wickramasinghe Department of Geography, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka Tel: +94-8-2374536; fax: +94-8-223015; e-mail: niluwick@slt.lk |
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| Description | Biomass-based energy generation is at the heart of rural life, food and nutrition in particular. Sri Lanka relies heavily on biomass for energy generation in the domestic sector, in which nearly 8 million tonnes (Mt) of biomass is consumed annually. The household sector has been able to optimize its biomass use, without intervention by the state, through the involvement of women. The role of women has been taken for granted in relation to their traditional gender role, by which socially accepted and culturally sensitive imbalances have been established. Health issues pervade the biomass cycle from the stage of biomass-gathering to its end-use. Women, who link the outdoor biomass resource environment with domestic consumption, initiate the cycle and traverse it repeatedly. This study focuses on the physical exhaustion, psychological deterioration, and ill-health generated by the cycle, as reported by participants in the study. |
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| Date | 30-01-2004 at 15h07 |