Xinqiao township, located in Xiaojin county of the Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous prefecture of Aba in Sichuan province, is confronted with a serious shortage of firewood. Not only are villagers spending more and more time to collect firewood farther and farther away, they are also spending more money on transporting firewood and purchasing of coal.

When PCD was introduced by the Sichuan Academy of Social Sciences (SASS) to the Xiaojin Poverty Alleviation Office in September 2002, we organised workshops for township- and community-based facilitators. The purpose of the workshops was to encourage these facilitators to listen to the needs of the local people and at the same time equip themselves with skills to facilitate villagers to discuss and reach consensus on how they would address an issue of local priority. After the workshops, the participants formed into groups and were provided a small grant to apply their new learning in their selected village.

After a series of village meetings in Longwang village, the firewood shortage was set as the people's utmost concern. Coal-burning energy-saving stoves were then recommended as a solution. The initial idea was to help shift dependency on firewood to alternative energy. However, after 58 households installed the new device, the price of coal began to increase from RMB0.3 to RMB0.5 per piece. During the mid-term project review, women in particular were consulted and although they agreed that the new stoves provided an alternative, they dared not use them due to the high prices of coal. Besides, the new stove was seen as being too small for cooking big pots of fodder for pigs.

With reflection, the facilitators involved discovered that there had not been enough participation by the women in the decision making process when the stove had been chosen as a way out of the problem. As women shoulder most of the household chores, they have the best knowledge of those needs. As a result of this review, local villagers then suggested to use a simple and locally available device: a wood-saving stove. A basic feature of this stove's design is the reduced size of its opening so that fire can be concentrated in a smaller area. A small water tank is installed inside the stove so that water is heated at the same time as cooking. A chimney was also added to improve air quality in people's kitchens. This has a significant implication on women's health, since many women suffer respiratory and eye problems due to heavy smoke from cooking. The sixty-eight participating households said that the device has been very effective, and has helped reduce firewood consumption by 30 to 40%.

While it is important to look for a cost-effective alternative energy source, firewood remains essential for local communities. Currently, PCD and local communities are exploring various means to promote a more sustainable livelihood: a) reflection on lifestyles and ways of production so as to reduce wood consumption; b) community involvement in planting and in the management of forests.