EnDev News

In the province of Abel Iturralde, in the department of La Paz, women from the 20 communities of the Tacana Women's Council (CIMTA) in collaboration with the EnDev Project of the German Cooperation GIZ, facilitated access to and development of local capacities in the construction, use and maintenance of 20 improved artisanal clay ovens (Vicente efficient oven).
The Vicente efficient oven has been developed by EnDev, based on local knowledge of traditional dome ovens made of clay and the technology of the Malena Kitchen.
In this adaptation, the heat transfer systems, thermal insulation and construction aspects have been perfected to improve the performance and efficiency of this ancient technology. The Vicente efficient oven offers advantages in terms of savings in the use of firewood (more than 60%), thanks to its more efficient combustion.
It is also equipped with a metal chimney that allows fumes to be evacuated out of the environment, helping to preserve the operator's health by preventing them from being inhaled during the roasting process. Finally, it provides greater hygiene, avoiding direct contact of ashes with food.
The collaborative work of the Tacana Women's Council (CIMTA) of the Abel Iturralde del province and EnDev, generated from the demand of the communities, strengthens the strategic objective of the Council to contribute to improving the quality of life of Tacana women, generating extra income for them and their families. Improve the preparation of food and the diversified supply of products made using the Vicente oven. This will contribute to food security, generate immediate opportunities to meet local demand, and at the same time, strengthen the links and social relations of the community fabric. 
The EnDev Project supports gender equity and women's empowerment through different measures.
EnDev contributes to the achievement of SDG 7 on universal energy access and SDG 5 on gender equality, addressing them together and harmoniously to promote women's empowerment and full participation in economic activities and enterprises that access and use affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy.

The EnDev project installed a distributed generation system interconnected to the conventional electricity grid. This system helps to lower the overall electricity consumption in the project offices. The system consists of three solar panels and a power inverter, which allows the energy generated by the panels to be injected into the office's AC system. These panels have a power generation capacity of up to 1kW. 
Through this system, a 40% reduction in the monthly electricity consumption bill was achieved (months prior to the pandemic). This integrates the project objectives by using renewable energies and the CSH measures of the GIZ.
In 2020, the average energy generation of the solar panels in the EnDev office was 1500 Wh (watt-hours). This energy can be stored in lithium batteries; in this way it could be fully operated (day and night) with photovoltaic energy.
At the same time, a Solar Charging Station has been built, which is powered by the system and serves to charge electric bicycles and scooters, thus promoting electromobility and contributing to the elimination of the carbon footprint. Several colleagues in the project have purchased electric bicycles or adapted their existing ones to travel from their homes to the office and other types of trips.
The initiative arose with the idea of promoting the use of renewable energies in the office, and at the same time to have a photovoltaic system installed and to show how the technology works to staff of the counterparts or community members of the rural area and all those interested in the activities of the EnDev Project. 
The system is monitored through an application that generates curves showing energy generation by months, days and hours.

In recent weeks, the bolivian government approved Supreme Decree 4477, which aims to establish general conditions to regulate the activity of Distributed Generation in electricity distribution systems; and to determine the remuneration for the electricity injected into the Distribution Network by the Distributed Generation activity. In the future, any Bolivian household could be an active player in electricity generation with environmentally friendly sources.

The EnDev project in its Grid Densification and Photovoltaic Systems components has included, since 2019, messages of NO to violence against women, an action well received by the national counterparts and the final recipients of the implementation.

Awareness-raising on issues of non-violence against women in the electricity sector has started with the directors and managers of the different electricity distributors and cooperatives in the country, who have been convinced of the importance of their support by approving the inclusion of the message not only on electrical materials but also on their invoices or consumption notes.

The message is painted on the electricity meter boxes that are delivered to distributors and rural electricity cooperatives throughout the country. In other materials or technologies the message is accompanied on stickers or on the printout itself.

With this measure implemented, the official help numbers are made available and directly known, so that women or families can receive assistance if they find themselves in a situation of violence. 

Sandra Reyez, technical staff of SETAR, Tarija, comments:
"When they are given the boxes they are happy, the message of non-violence against women in the boxes has been very well received by many ladies. Many have commented that when people pass by, they stay to see the messages and read them, they go away thinking that this is already helping us a little to control the issue of violence against women and to avoid feminicides", (systematisation document on gender experiences, which EnDev Bolivia is preparing).

Awareness-raising on issues of non-violence against women in the electricity sector has begun with the directors and managers of the different electricity distributors and cooperatives in the country, who have been convinced of the importance of their support by approving the inclusion of the message not only in electrical materials but also in their invoices or consumption notes. The task of convincing them is not always easy or well received, but in most cases it has been positive and in some cooperatives the issue has been appropriated by some authorities.

More than 300 enterprising women from the Association of Ecological Beekeepers of the Serranías del Parque nacional y área natural de manejo integrado Iñao, Monteagudo (AESIM), in Chuquisaca, are dedicated to the sustainable use of honey from native stingless bees (meliponas).

Traditionally, harvesting is done by removing the top of the hive, removing the amphorae and stabbing all its components. Harvesting is one of the main bottlenecks in melipona rearing. It takes time and effort, and the honey obtained is not marketable.
The organisations Soluciones Prácticas, Fundación PASOS and the Bolivian company SECOMCI, with support from the EnDev Project of the German Cooperation/GIZ, in partnership with women from AESIM, joined forces and expertise to co-design an electric vacuum pump for harvesting melipona honey.

The innovation for harvesting honey from melipona bees is carried out in the framework of the Project Access to Energy for productive uses and market systems for MSEs and OECAs in Bolivia; implemented by Soluciones Prácticas and financed by EnDev.

The project facilitates access to modern energy technologies for productive use and articulation to market systems for micro and small rural enterprises and productive organisations in Bolivia.

Families in the municipalities of Arque, Aiquile, Sacaba and Tapacarí benefited from the project that EnDev has been developing since August, in alliance with the NGO ENERGÉTICA and the Empresa de Luz y Fuerza Eléctrica Cochabamba (ELFEC).

The project provides a set of photovoltaic tools that aim to give children access to distance education radio programmes that are being developed with the support of the National Programme for Distance Literacy and Post-literacy, which is carried out through the National System of Radios of the Original Peoples, the education of parents is also possible.

The project aims to reach at least 1200 families in rural areas, so that they can have these tools. The set includes a 120-lumen LED lamp with a lifespan of 50,000 hours, can charge mobile phones and operate a radio that will support children in education and information.

It will also serve as a fixed or mobile lamp for night work. The entire system is charged by a 5W photovoltaic panel that is powered by the sun's energy.
These municipalities are part of the first phase of implementation of this type of strategy. In a second phase, 2,500 new Bolivian families are expected to benefit by the first half of 2021.

In order to alleviate the effects of COVID-19 on the population, the EnDev Bolivia project is currently implementing a series of health and education measures based on modern energy technologies. These measures are being developed in the fields of work of the project components: Grid Densification, Photovoltaic Systems and Energy for Productive Uses. 

In the Chiquitano forest, women from the Río Blanco, Santa Mónica and Palestina communities of the Monteverde TCO (Municipality of Concepción, Santa Cruz - Bolivia), lead economic opportunities for the sustainable use of the cusi palm (Attalea speciosa), for the processing of extra-virgin oil and articulation with local market systems for beauty and personal care products. However, the capacity to scale up and expand their supply is limited by the lack of appropriate milling technologies.

Applying the Design thinking, people-oriented innovation approach, ENDEV, the company CIFEMA SAM, in collaboration with the non-governmental organisation APCOB (Apoyo al Campesino-Indígena del Oriente Boliviano) facilitated participatory processes with women's associations in the Monteverde TCO to co-design a gender-sensitive and environmentally neutral cusi milling machine. The solar-powered milling technology reduces fatigue, increases productivity and reduces the costs of processing cusi oil.