Brief

Making Subsidy Reform Work for Women in Nigeria

Kerosene subsidies in Nigeria are inefficient and wasteful—but will kerosene subsidy reform disproportionately affect women, due its primary use as a household lighting and cooking fuel? This policy brief explores principles for making subsidy reform work for women in Nigeria.

By Lucy Kitson, Christopher Beaton, Lucy Kitson, Victoria Ohaeri on May 11, 2016

It is well understood that increasing fuel product prices can be a shock for low-income households, requiring careful mitigation strategies to ensure that subsidy reform does not harm the most vulnerable.

But little research has been conducted on understanding the gender disaggregated impacts of subsidy reform: How do price increases affect individual men and women? Do impacts differ in accordance with the linkages between gender roles and energy use? This policy brief summarizes initial research on this topic in Nigeria, focusing on how women may be affected by the reform of subsidies to kerosene, which is widely used across the country as a cooking and lighting fuel.

Brief details

Topic
Subsidies
Region
Nigeria
Focus area
Climate
Publisher
IISD
Copyright
IISD, 2016