Women’s agricultural participation and the adoption of clean energy: evidence from India

Abstract Studies in this field of women's employment and clean energy adoption consider two employment categories (farm and off-farm). We argue that women's participation in agriculture as farmers and labourers has a different impact on clean energy adoption. This research applies biprobit regressions to estimate the impact of the participation of women in agriculture in general and as farmers and labourers in particular on clean energy adoption using India's nationally representative Multiple Indicator Survey (MIS, 2020). To address the simultaneous use of clean energy and solid fuel by households, we create two outcome variables: energy choice for cooking and energy choice extreme (exclusive clean energy use for cooking and heating). Our results suggest that being a woman working in agriculture and being a female farmer reduces the likelihood of using clean energy for cooking, as well as for cooking and heating combined. In contrast, being a female agricultural labourer has a positive and statistically significant impact (at the 1 per cent level) on clean energy use for cooking, and a positive but not statistically significant impact on clean energy use for both cooking and heating. We contest earlier policy conclusions that suggest promoting off-farm employment to encourage the adoption of clean energy. Women's employment decisions should be left to them, with energy policies being neutral to their employment status. The efforts to encourage employment (i.e. free transport for women) are crucial; however, a direct focus on clean energy policies would better reduce health risks from non-clean energy use.