Comprising 50.9 percent of the population, illiteracy stands at 75 percent for women and their presence in local regional councils remains very low, between 10-15 percent. Despite this lack of human capital and political voice, approximately 29 women s groups already exist, with varying degrees of success. Very few have been active in the area of micro-credit, perhaps because of the particularly high level of poverty in these regions. However, other regions within Senegal have had encouraging results with micro-credit for women s programs. Regarding their involvement in rural energy, a 1997 survey found that virtually all the small retailers of charcoal, selling in Tambacounda, Ziguinchor and Kolda as well as along the roadside are rural women.
Men dominate the production side of charcoal and large-scale retail sales in the urban centers.
The recommendations from this report will be used to help formulate technically, socially and economically sound community management plans which take gender roles into account. In October 1998, seminars on gender inclusion and traditional energy management took place in various project sites.