n e w s l e t t e r o f t h e i n t e r n a t i o n a l n e t w o r k f o r g e n d e r a n d s u s t a i n a b l e e n e r g y
t h e m e
g e n d e r , b i o f u e l s
a n d e n e r g y
Indian biofuel policy
India’s demand for energy has grown exponentially over the last ten years or so, in line with its booming economy. This boom has led to in-creased oil imports and a search for alternative energy sources. The de-pendency on external oil has had seri-ous implications for both the coun-try’s economy as well as the environ-ment. Thus, the Government of India considers the introduction of a na-tional biofuels programme to have major benefits such as energy securi-ty, employment generation, increased green cover and reduced pollution leading to environmental protection.1 As part of this programme, the large-scale cultivation of biodiesel crops such as jatropha curcas was started in 2003. The Government has indicated the use of about 40 million hectares of waste land for this purpose.2The na-tional biofuel policy objectives in-clude the uplifting of rural women through employment opportunities
in growing biofuel crops and enabling their participation by providing ac-cess to capital and technology. How-ever, a recent report for fao has raised questions as to whether large-scale biofuel production increases women’s vulnerability, for example by under-mining food security through land competition.3The case study reported here explores whether small-scale biofuel production could be a sustain-able alternative to the much debated large-scale production, and whether biofuel production is fuelling women’s vulnerability.
Karnataka state biofuel policy and the biofuel park
Karnataka has a state biofuel policy that aligns with the national one. The aims include sustainable energy secu-rity, environment protection and eco-nomic growth linked to employment
creation.4 As part of implementing the policy, the University of Agricul-tural Sciences, Bangalore was asked in 2006 to set up a Biofuel Park in Hassan district. The district consists of 2559 villages, with a range of climatic con-ditions from tropical to semi-arid, and was selected because the results would be relevant for many other parts of the country.
The biofuel park project initially raised the awareness of farmers (both men and women) about biodiesel and the possibilities for growing feed-stock.The next step was to train these farmers in the various stages of biodiesel production including culti-vation techniques, where and how to plant the crops, seed harvesting, oil extraction, converting the oil to biodiesel and finally marketing the produce. The farmers in each village who had decided to grow biodiesel crops were also helped to set up a Farmer’s Association comprising five
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Biodiesel
- A boon or a curse for
avinash narayanaswamy, balakrishna gowda and joy clancy
Kamalamma, the President of the Farmer’s Association in Kinnarahalli village in front of a jatropha plant.
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ph o to s : a . n a r a y an a s wa my
men and five women. Each member is assigned a role in the biodiesel pro-gramme in their village.The members of the Farmer’s Association are elected by the village, and the men and women selected tend to be those who are not only knowledgeable in the field of biodiesel but who are also active and show keen interest in taking the programme forward. Women who be-long to Self-Help Groups are usually chosen since they are considered to have entrepreneurial characteristics and able to contribute to programme management. Women occupy impor-tant positions, including President and Treasurer, in the associations. At the time of writing, 300 villages have Farmer’s Associations, 900 villages have received training programmes and 1975 villages have had awareness camps. Farmers are increasingly will-ing to come under the biofuels um-brella, which is an indication of the significance of the biodiesel pro-gramme in the district.
Kamalamma, the President of the Farmer’s Association in Kinnarahalli village, has been instrumental in tak-ing the biodiesel programme forward to such an extent that every house-hold in the village has planted biodiesel crops in their backyards and/or bunds and hedges. In response to a survey* to evaluate the pro-gramme, Kamalamma brought a very important issue to light concerning the ambiguity between the farmers and the Government on land classifi-cation. Lands classified as wasteland in villages by the Government are of-ten accessed for basic requirements such as firewood, cattle fodder and medicinal and flowering plants. These lands are thus crucial to the farming community as a whole and especially to women and small-scale farmers. Kamalamma relies quite heavily on these lands for her daily requirements of fodder and firewood. These com-munity lands are a part of the Central Government’s plan for biodiesel crop cultivation and, if they are used for
biodiesel crops, this could have a neg-ative impact on rural livelihoods espe-cially those of women.
Working of the biodiesel programme
The Biofuel Park programme in-volves providing genetically superior, mainly indigenous, saplings at the on-set of the monsoon season to the farmers free of cost. These saplings are obtained by locating naturally oc-curring high yielding biodiesel plants across the district and grafting the scions of these plants onto saplings. The villagers can also rent a mechani-cal oil expeller from the Biofuel Park or buy one from the state government at a subsidised rate (2,500 rs rather than 5,000 rs).
The saplings provided are not only fast growing, they also yield more seeds with a higher oil content than the naturally-growing plants thereby increasing oil and consequently biodiesel production. The saplings are planted on bunds and in hedges and household backyards but not on agri-cultural fields. The bunds that run
across fields and the hedges sur-rounding fields retain residual mois-ture and are hence ideally suited for rain-fed irrigation, although the saplings do need to be watered in the first year.
Bunds, hedges and backyards have been identified for biodiesel crop cul-tivation since they are not used for agriculture and this avoids interfering with food production. Indeed, the bio-fuels project activity discourages us-ing agricultural land for biofuel crops. The land used is close to where farm-ers live and work and the areas dedi-cated to biofuel crops per farmer are small. Thus, in theory, it is not time consuming for the farmers to monitor the plants. An added advantage of this
programme is that the different species yield seeds at various times throughout the year thus ensuring an even oil output throughout the year. These areas are often ignored by the men. One of the male farmers inter-viewed commented:
‘These bunds, hedges and household backyards are of no interest to me as I have neither the time nor the mindset. Managing these lands is far too simple and thus more suited to my wife.
Work-the women of Hassan district, India
?
Biodiesel crops are planted on bunds and in hedges and household backyards, but not on agricultural fields in the Hassan biofuel park project.
ing on agricultural fields and farm plots is what interests me’.5
Similar thoughts were echoed by oth-er male farmoth-ers. Maybe the men are more circumspect about participa-tion because they fear the extra de-mands on their time, despite the po-tential integration of the biodiesel crops within their farm area.
Backyards are often looked after by women who grow fruit bearing, flower and timber yielding plants for their daily needs. Even though such sites are dotted with such plants, plenty of space is still available for cultivating biodiesel crops. This is a typical reaction of many women in-volved in growing biodiesel feed stocks:
‘I am interested in growing biodiesel crops. It is an activity that easily fits in-to my existing schedule. I am aware that by growing these crops I will not make a lot of money but nevertheless I
will at least get a small amount that will help supplement my needs.’
The women are thus ready to play a part in growing the biodiesel crops, harvesting the seeds, de-shelling the seeds, expelling the oil and, then, fi-nally selling the products (the oil and oil cake which can be used as organic manure). Having access to the ex-pelling equipment leads to a greater income than could be earned from selling only the harvested seeds. Cur-rently, any oil that is produced is used by the farmers themselves or sold among them for use in tractors or as a pesticide. One day, when the pro-gramme reaches maturity and output is much higher, it may be possible to organise a market enabling the farm-ers to sell their produce.
The women find using their back-yards for biocrops very convenient since they can integrate this with other household chores. The women in Hassan are already active in in-come generation as farmers either working with their husbands in their own fields or selling their labour to larger farmers, and they also take care of livestock. Many of the women are already members of self-help groups. It is difficult to estimate in-come from the seeds because the price varies and people are also re-luctant to part with such informa-tion. One farmer did reveal that he got about 600 rs (≈ € 10) from selling the seeds from two pongamia trees on the open market in 2008. This is about 5-10% of the typical annual in-come of a small farmer. More inin-come would be generated if the sale of the oil cake, leaf litter, carbon credits etc. could be organised.
Do women benefit from the Hassan biodiesel programme?
The farmers and especially the women can gain several benefits from the biofuel programme and they have equal rights to the financial arrangements. As we have seen, the men are more circumspect about par-ticipation, and women in particular see the programme as an opportunity for earning income. In terms of build-ing social capital, women are mem-bers of the farmer associations and so they play a part in the decision-mak-ing which contributes to their em-powerment. As part of the wider rural entrepreneurship development, women have also played a part in bio-gas production from cow dung. An-other illustration of women’s empow-erment is their participation in the production of food plates from areca plant leaves.
The benefits accruing to women can in part be attributed to the Indian Government’s specific policy that ensures women’s integration on an equitable basis with men in biofuel programmes, and that participation extends also to the governance struc-tures. As such, the Hassan biodiesel programme is not unique. For exam-ple, in Chhattisgarh, women have been collecting jatropha seeds which
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One of the male farmers is interviewed and indicates that taking care of bunds, hedges and backyards is work that is more suited to his wife. ph o to s : a . n a r a y an a s wa my
they sell to the village electrification committee. Their income has in-creased and they report an improved quality of life.6
By using bunds, hedges and houhold backyards, househouhold food se-curity is not threatened. The integra-tion of biodiesel crops into existing farming systems is intended to have minimal environmental impacts and minimise the threat to natural eco-systems which form an important source of goods and services for rural households, particularly women.7 One potential threat is if biofuel crops extend to land officially classified as ‘waste land’: land that appears to have no productive uses. This is part of the government’s policy2but farm-ers have a different view, and see this land as an important part of the farm-ing system which they use for sup-plementary grazing. For women, this land has several functions, including
as a source of fuelwood, medicines and flowers for religious purposes. So far, the Hassan biofuel park proj-ect has resisted using this land although in some places degraded wastelands have been used when farmers have expressed an interest in so doing.
References
1 mnre (Ministry for New and Renew-able Energy), Government of India. (2006). Retrieved October 23, 2009, from http://mnes.nic.in/
2 gonsalves b.j. (2006). An assessment
of the Biofuels Industry in India.
3 lambrou, y. & rossi, a. (2008).
Gen-der and Equity Issues in Liquid Biofu-els Production - Minimizing the Risks to Maximize the Opportunities.
Rome: fao.
4 gowda, b. (2009, February). Draft
Biofuel Policy for Karnataka state.
5 narayanaswamy, a. (2009).
Biodiesel as an Alternative fuel to Pe-troleum Diesel in Hassan. Masters
Thesis. Enschede, University of Twente, the Netherlands.
6 Practical Action Consulting (2009).
Small-Scale Bioenergy Initiatives: Brief description and preliminary les-sons on livelihood impacts from case studies in Asia, Latin America and Africa. Report prepared for pisces
Project. Rome: fao.
7 kartha, s. & larson, e. d. (Eds.) (2000). Bioenergy Primer:
Mod-ernising Biomass Energy for Sustain-able Development. New York: undp.
N O T E
* This survey was conducted as part of
Narayanaswamy’s master’s thesis.
Avinash Narayanaswamy is currently working on a project involving the pro-duction of biodiesel from waste vegetable oil under the supervision of Profes-sors Balakrishna Gowda and Prasanna KT at the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, India. He completed his bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering at the Rashtriya Vidyalaya College of Engineering in Bangalore. He has a Masters in Sus-tainable Energy Technology from the University of Twente, the Netherlands. His master’s thesis was in the field of biodiesel and was carried out at the Bio-fuel Park, Hassan under the guidance of Dr Joy Clancy and Professor Balakrishna Gowda.
Dr Balakrishna Gowda, Professor at the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, India is leading a large programme on bio-fuels. He is involved in biodiversity conservation and the sustainable man-agement of bio-resources, in addition to being involved in teaching and research for over three decades. The present biofuels programme aims to develop a strategy to address the issues of combating global warming and energy security in rural India, with an emphasis on sustainability and empowering the rural poor, especially women, through appropri-ate technologies that add value to resources. This is reflected in the Hassan ‘Biofuel Park’ model, which he is coordinating.
Joy Clancy contact details are on page 6. A farmer with a simarouba sapling in her
