This strategy aims to have impacts at the project and community level, to produce a body of first-hand experiences that demonstrate how gender-specific impacts can be generated through rural energy access projects/markets. The outcomes of this process will be used to exemplify how such impacts could be multiplied.

Mainstreaming of gender in energy projects is a unique activity since this is the first time that mainstreaming is being done systematically in large scale rural electrification programmes, utilities, and improved cook stove programmes in Africa. The gender mainstreaming methodology, developed by ENERGIA is being applied to four large scale projects in Africa:

1. Tanzania: Multi-Functional Platforms (MFP)/Productive Use Containers
2. Senegal: Rural electrification (non-grid) and household energy programme
3. Botswana: national rural electrification (grid/non-grid)
4. Kenya: improved cook stoves project in Kenya.

The projects follow an 8-step gender mainstreaming methodology developed by ENERGIA to guide the process. The steps are:

1. Literature review
2. Project document review
3. Institutional assessment & stakeholder analysis
4. Fieldwork in the community and household
5. Putting it all together and developing a Gender Action Plan
6. Building gender responsive capacity and consensus
7. Monitoring and evaluation plan
8. Communications strategy