Energy options for Refugee Camps

Boiling Point
Issue 37 (1996) Household energy in emergency situations
Article	Energy options for Refugee Camps
Author	Stephen Gitonga

[top] [end]Background

By June 1995, the East Africa region had hosted some four million refugees which was more than half of the continents share of seven and a half million. The figure is alarmingly high from the energy requirements point of view. It is estimated that the daily fuelwood requirement per person in the refugee camps is 1.7 kilograms. Based on the June 1995 figures, 6.8 million kilograms of firewood are consumed by the East African refugee community daily. Energy requirements are an important part of the refugee situation and severe shortages can have serious social and environmental results.

[top] [end]Strategy

ITDG's Household Energy Regional (HER) Project work includes gathering and sharing information, training, promoting appropriate household energy technologies (giving options) and supporting agencies canying out household energy work in East Africa. The project aims to increase the capacity and commitment of community development agencies in the region to implement effective activities. The experience gained and shared with the East African community over the last four years has enabled the project to help in the drawing up of plans to reduce the risk of energy disasters affecting nutrition and health, and the environment. Heavy collection of biomass fuel by refugees destroys the vegetation in the area surrounding the camps. Work with refugees is usually designed to save lives and prevent disasters caused by the concentration of large numbers of people in camps. Energy is not immediately identified as urgent as food, water, health or warmth, although it is essential for cooking.

The questions to be answered are which forms of energy? How will they be obtained? How will the use of biomass energy affect the environment and communities living around the camps (host country)? The answers to these question will depend on the local situation in each case.

When the refugees first arrive firewood is usually available and sometimes abundant and so the control of procurement and use are very relaxed. The main problem may be transport and distribution.

Check thickness of walls and position of pot in stove

The next stage will be shortages of firewood in nearby areas so that the refugees have to walk long distance in search of fuel and carry heavier loads. Anticipating and planning for this situation is very important but experience has shown that many refugee workers do not recognize this, perhaps because it often builds up gradually over several months.

In the crisis stage there will be a severe shortage of firewood or even a complete absence. Children are the first victims because they have to walk long distances in the hot sun. Old people suffer as well as the children because they both have more need for warm meals. Although other aspects of nutrition and health are important, cooking energy supply is a priority during the crisis stage.

[top] [end]Woodfuel Consumption

Measured daily consumption of firewood varies from one camp to another, ranging from 0.8kg per head in Bangladesh to about 3.0kg per head in the Benaco camp in Tanzania, with an average of about 1.7kg per head. Refugee camps have been known to consume up to one million kilograms of firewood in a week, all obtained from the same area.

[top] [end]Interventions

Urgent and effective interventions are needed, not only to ensure fuel supplies but also to lay the foundations for rehabilitation of the degraded areas. Several alternative measures are available. The guiding principles are to give communities alternative technologies that are culturally acceptable or similar to what they are used to. The more replicable low cost, locally available, easy to make and culturally fitting is the technology, the higher its chance of success.

The best alternative, where the refugees have been using three stone fires, is to introduce mud stoves or shielded fires. This is effective when coupled with the promotion of fuel saving practices such as the use of lids, pre-soaking cereals and beans before cooking and only lighting the fire when needed and putting it out immediately it is not needed. Other fuels and cookers could be tried but should be introduced - with care, preferably giving several alternatives. These end use interventions can be supplemented by planting quick growing trees, some of which produce firewood after three to five years. Emergency assistance should be provided in ways which will support recovery and long term development.

[top] [end]The East Africa refugee situation - case study

In June 1995 ITDG HER staff visited the Kyambslise I and 11 refugee camps in the Karagwe region of Tanzania.

Wet outside of pot and use to form inside of stove

It was established during the visit that the goal of the UNHCR was to reduce the daily fuelwood consumption per head to Ikg in the two camps. The HER project considered this would require a combination of approaches based on the supply of faster cooking food, more efficient cooking systems and economy measures by the refugees and deliberate withdrawal of access to wood resources.

[top] [end]Production and promotion of improved mudstoves

The following recommendations were made:

It was more important to raise awareness of the overall idea of energy conservation among refugees than to promote any particular design of stove. Local variations and innovative ideas need to be encouraged as any mudstove will conserve 30 to 40% of fuel compared with an open fire.
Most of the stoves observed already had the important basic components of protection from draft, adequate air supply and rests for different sizes of pots. However, the following improvements were recommended:
The Togo design which was being introduced at the time of the visit was recommended for people used to using three stones (although the door arch reduces its efficiency)
Small holes in some of the stove seen needed to be removed (a gradual shift to holeless stoves could be tried to start with) as they serve only to allow heat to escape; likewise external chimneys could be avoided
The critical distance between the bottom of the pot and the fire, two fist heights (normally 4 inches) needs to be ensured
The walls of the stove should not be more than one fist (3 inches) or the stove will take too long to heat up
The stove should be built to face the prevailing wind - a gap of about half an inch should be maintained between the outside of the pot and the inside of the stove wall to allow the smoke to escape when the stove has no chimney. Alternatively vertical smoke channels can be made if the pot is sunken or by adding three small pot rests on the top.

As there was plenty of soil material suitable for making mud stoves more complicated stove technolo gies were not considered to be justified.

Camp community stoves It was considered that large, efficient stoves could reduce firewood consumption by at least 50 per cent. High quality steel stoves were available from several producers in East Africa in 50,100 and 200 litre sizes but their cost was expected to range from US$5-10 per litre capacity.

[top] [end]Other possible fuelsaving technologies

Tests could be carried out with 'fireless cookers' or heat storage cookers, such as hay boxes using maize and beans coupled with food saving practices such as the use of lids.

A solar cooker promoter based in Nairobi offered to introduce them to the camp and so extensive testing was recommended to improve technology and social acceptability using the whole range of WFP rations. A degree of healthy scepticism was advised based on the characteristics of the camp, weather conditions and social requirements of the Rwandan refugee community.

It was not felt that the use of biogas, coal, photo-voltaic energy, or briquetted fuels would be cost effective and that efforts should be concentrated on proven methods such as energy saving biomass stoves and cooking practices and reafforestation, although the introduction of other energy options could be done on a pilot basis.

[top] [end]Community involvement

More widespread adoption of fuel saving practices could be achieved through discussions with key women respected by the community who could pass ideas and information back. Questions of firewood conservation and financial constraints could also be discussed. Such meetings could provide a forum for discussion and choice of practices to be promoted. Most of these would be already familiar to the women who may have good reasons for not putting them into practice. Meetings should be held away from the main camp area to avoid intrusion by men and children and should produce visual material for distribution in the camp.

[top] [end]Energy supply

Experience has widely shown that if firewood is in short supply refugees will, in time, respond by reducing their consumption through the use of improved stoves and economy practices in cooking. This should be encouraged by distributing any available firewood some distance from the camp. Any camps situated near forests will quickly destroy them. Although this was desirable, it was found unrealistic to try to contain refugees and the distribution of fuelwood in controlled quantities but it may be possible to police high consuming activities such as brick burning and charcoal making with the co-operation of the local authorities. As 1,500 tonnes of Tanzanian firewood per day were being consumed by the refugees in Kagera it was imperative to start a reafforestation programme immediately. It was decided to encourage local Tanzanian enterprises to germinate seeds, raise seedlings and carry out planting using seeds, tubes and with financial incentives provided by donors/NGOs. Planting should be at least 10-15km from the camps to maintain an imposed fuel shortage. Tree planting will provide the foundation for rehabilitation work but will not relieve the firewood crisis.

[top] [end]Conclusions

[top] [end]Early planning for energy

Ways of dealing with refugee camp domestic energy needs and their effects on the refugees and existing local communities and environment need to be planned from the time the site is chosen.

[top] [end]Fuels

Camp authorities and community leaders should investigate all possible sources of fuels, particularly biomass. Briquettes, biogas and solar were viewed with some scepticism.

[top] [end]Energy conservation

All forms of energy conservation, old and new, should be encouraged by training and example eg lids, simmering, extinguishing fires, preheating vegetables, wood drying, use of heat storage cookers. Community involvement is essential.

[top] [end]Stoves

Where the refugees are accustomed to using a three-stone fires the project should propose

improvements such as the construction of mud stoves or shielded fires designed to suit the fuels available and the appropriate types of cooking. Advice from stove specialists should be obtained. Large stoves for centralized cooking are much more fuel efficient than family stoves where they are socially acceptable. If not, cooking for groups of families should be considered.

[top] [end]Reforestation

Work should be started as a camp activity as soon as possible and can be productive of firewood in three or four years.

The study showed that despite the complexity of refugee situations. camps share several problems and can learn from experiences elsewhere. One message was very clear - energy and environment considerations should be included.

[top] [end]Contents: Boiling Point 37: Household energy in emergency situations

Energy options for Refugee Camps - ApTibeT Refugee Projects in Ladakh - Solar Cookits for Kenya Camps - Cooking Energy as Seen by a Planner - Stoves in Emergency Actions - Stoves for Centralized Cooking for Emergency Settlements - Camp Cooking - Stove Checklist for Refugee Situations - African Refugee Energy Workshop - Sunseed solar cooker-Tanzania trials 1995 - Vietnam Low-Cost Solar Water Heater - Energy for domestic brewing and bread baking - Indian Chulha technology since 1983

Categories: Boiling Point 37| Refugees

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