“We Learnt that Being Together Would Give us a Voice”: Gender Perspectives on the East African Improved-Cookstove Value Chain
基于东非的定性证据，检验了女性参与改良炉灶价值链能提升其经济收益并促进销售的假设，发现女性企业在价值链高端代表性不足，且位置影响融资机会，挑战了市场参与必然带来经济赋权的观点。
© 2019, © 2019 IAFFE. Improved cookstoves (ICS) have been promoted for several decades, with little success. Advocates looking to drive uptake encourage greater involvement of women in ICS enterprises, on the largely unproven premise that women’s participation in the value chain will enhance their financial bottom line while giving a boost to ICS sales. This paper tests the validity of that premise, using qualitative evidence from East Africa. The analysis shows gender-differentiated outcomes for enterprises across the value chain. Women-led enterprises are significantly underrepresented at higher levels of the chain, where sales volumes are highest. Value-chain positioning also influences access to key inputs like finance, potentially reinforcing the gender divide in enterprise performance. The findings challenge the dominant narrative in the ICS field about the inevitability of the link between market participation and economic empowerment for women and indicate a need to look beyond conventional market models to enhance financial outcomes for women.