Small-Scale Bioenergy Initiatives: Brief description and preliminary lessons on livelihood impacts from case studies in Asia, Latin America and Africa

This report is based on a series of 15 international case studies conducted between September and November 2008 under a joint initiative of FAO and the PISCES Energy Research Programme Consortium funded by DFID. The case studies focussed on developing an improved understanding of the linkages between Livelihoods and Small-Scale Bioenergy Initiatives. The study was developed in consultation with the PISCES Consortium Advisory Group (CAG). This is made up of leading international participants in the field of energy and development, including members from the IEA, UNEP, ENERGIA, DFID and FAO, as well as policymakers and research organisations in the PISCES target countries of India, Kenya, Sri Lanka and Tanzania.

The focus of the study was on the impacts that different types of local level Bioenergy initiatives can have on Rural Livelihoods in different contexts in the developing world. Livelihoods are understood as the enhancement of the full range of natural, financial, human, social and physical capitals on a sustainable ongoing basis.