edit this page Stove Checklist for Refugee Situations
One part of any energy conservation programme in a refugee situation will normally be the promotion of improved cooking stoves of some description. This paper can be used as a checklist to aid the selection of appropriate cooking hardware. It is designed primarily for use in refugee camps in developing countries where biomass is the dominant fuel.
[top] [end]A. The local situation - Is this a crisis situation or a long term plan? (In refugee jargon it may be referred to as an 'emergency' or 'care-and-maintenance' phase.)
- Has the energy situation in the area been assessed and recorded, ie physical environment, population pressure, fuels in use, existing energy projects, etc?
- Have the views of the people in nearby villages or towns been obtained and taken into account?
- Is there a fuel shortage in the area? (This may increase the likelihood of improved stoves and non-traditional fuels being adopted.)
- What types of stoves are already in use in the local area? Are there any reasons why they would not also be suitable for refugee use?
- What cooking systems and fuels are the refugees currently using? What are the benefits to them of these systems? Are there any good reasons for them to switch to alternative systems? Could their non-cooking needs still be met by other means? (eg space heating, food drying, lighting, socializing).
- Have necessary decisions been made and accepted by the camp populations as to whether cooking should be central, communal or family based?
- Can the fuel and stove situation be handled effectively by the agencies already in place, or should specialists be sought to handle it? Is the energy programme part of a broader environmental management strategy?
[top] [end]B. Involvement of refugees - Are refugees and their organizations, particularly women, involved in the development of alternative cooking technologies?
- What priorities do the refugees have other than fuel saving (eg faster cooking, removal of smoke, increased safety, home heating, better health and hygiene and social status)? Can these be incorporated in stove designs?
- In the selection of cooking hardware, have the refugee's food, fuel, utensils and kitchens been considered (eg the types and sizes of pots, the fuels being burned)?
Is fuel supply by agencies to be considered? Before improved stove designs can be considered, a fuel policy should be established. This will depend on the availability of a continuing supply, and its cost at camp. This should include purchase costs, collection and processing costs in terms of labour and time, and transport costs. It must also take account of environmental damage, the need to protect mature woodlands, agricultural land loss, and atmospheric pollution at the kitchen and camp levels. No available fuels should be ignored - wood, charcoal (traditional or modern production), agricultural residues (briquettes), industrial wastes (old oil, etc), gas and electricity. Basic and secondary fuels should be chosen and quantified, and acquisition and distribution planned. Economic comparison should take account of the fuel efficiency at the kitchen and stove levels.
[top] [end]D. Stoves and kitchens The type of kitchen and stoves needed will depend on whether cooking is central, communal or family based. This needs to be agreed with camp occupants at the outset.
Central cooking will normally need stove/pot systems with a capacity of 200 litres/45 gallons per stove/pot. Proposals/quotes may be obtained from specialist manufacturers, such as Penroche Development Services (stockist of Bellerive Foundation stoves, PO Box 42994, Nairobi, Kenya, Tel: +254-2-570783 or 570792, Fax: 566020; REDI, Geneva; Uganda Fabricators, PO Box 4391, Kampala, Uganda, Tel:+256-41 222411; B&S International, PO Box 5171, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, Tel: +255-51-35217/8 for stoves or complete kitchens. It will be necessary to specify total number of meals per day, number of kitchens, fuel and staff required, stove cost, life and maintenance.
The construction of kitchens and stoves by the camp occupants should also be considered for reasons of economy and to provide useful and paid work for refugees.
[top] [end]Communal cooking (10-50 families) Kitchens - Decide number and size of kitchens.
- Consider kitchen construction by camp management or refugee entrepreneurs.
- Agree how to meet costs, eg shared with families, through women's committees, by subsidies?
Stoves - to suit fuels and type of cooking
- normal/large family type
- large water heaters, possibly solar
- small bread ovens
Consider two or three alternative types for whole camp and how they could be manufactured.
This is likely to be the preferred option of the refugees if they can obtain fuel, and would require the minimum involvement of the camp management.
Basic stove requirements - low cost and can be made from locally available materials and skills
- reasonably fuel efficient (better than three-stone fire)
- meets needs of users and makers
- based on familiar stoves rather than introducing new concepts
The only special requirement for family stoves in refugee camps, is the need for very large number of stoves. Anything more complex than an improved three-stone or simple mud stove will require large stove production capacity, either by a central workshop or small group of 'fundis' (artisans).
[top] [end]E. Stove design for family cooking - Do new stove designs need to be introduced or developed, or are there existing designs which can be modified?
- Choose two or three designs of one-pot or multi-pot stoves selected for the fuels agreed.
- There are, three main types of biomass stoves likely to be suitable for camp conditions: mud/improved three-stones ceramic liner stoves either portable (metal-clad) or set in mud steel stoves.
Each requires local sources of material. Mud stoves require skills which can be provided by training for a week or two. Ceramic stoves require months of skilled training and should only be considered where some pottery is already being made available or where a long term programme of training involving future employment preparation is being considered.
- Mudstoves are usually user built with the assistance of a local building artisan. Their efficiency depends on the accuracy of building which can be more easily controlled in a camp than in a village. They can give fuel savings of up to 25 per cent if well designed, made accurately and kept in good condition.
- Ceramic liner stoves have much longer lives up to about two years, some even lasting five or six years. They can be much more accurately made with tolerances as low as one centimetre for the critical dimensions and so can save up to 40 per cent of actual fuel use.
- Where energy efficiency is a major concern (and it normally is) have the efficiencies of the stoves been tested in a camp setting? Do the improved designs (a) enclose and insulate the fire and (b) allow for control of the airflow?
- Are stoves being considered for alternative biomass fuels (eg dung, dry grass, rice husks, sawdust, etc)? Are stoves being considered for non-traditional fuels (briquettes, peat. kerosene, etc)?
- If stoves for alternative fuels are to be promoted, can reliablesupply systems for stoves and fuel be assessed? If they will not burn wood fuel efficiently then a wood stove may also be needed.
- Are materials available for slow cookers/fueless cookers/ hot boxes, eg baskets and boxes woven out of sticks and insulated with material such as waste cloth, banana fibres, newspaper, wood shavings, etc?
- Have hay-baskets been tried using the refugee food? Do they achieve significant fuelsavings? Would refugees buy them or work to obtain one? Are they safe?
- Bearing in mind the complexity of stove manufacture on a large scale, are there reasons why ceramic or steel stoves would be a better option than mudstoves? eg: better efficiency more hygienic, ability to burn different fuels produce, less smoke, no materials available for mudstoves, higher social status, income generating opportunities through manufacture
- What designs and materials are already available within the region (eg steel, fired clay or a steel body with an insulated clay liner)? Can these be used by refugees? Is it likely that refugees will pay for them?
- Can they be manufactured on site? Can refugees or nearby communities be involved? What infrastructure is available for making new stoves: (traditional skills, local artisans, available materials, pottery kilns, sheet metal workshops, possible outside assistance, etc)?
- What training programmes will be needed, and who will provide them?
- What quality control procedures will be needed?
- What tools and materials will be available?
[top] [end]G. Dissemination of technology - What sort of promotional campaign should be mounted? Will this involve refugees fully?
- Has a hardware dissemination strategy been developed? If so, is the strategy part of a co-ordinated environmental education programme?
- Will hardware be given free to any groups (eg in the emergency phase, for technologies previously unknown to the refugees, or for vulnerable groups such as the disabled or sick)? Is it likely that freely given stoves will be sold locally? Will they remain in the area or be transported elsewhere? Is this a problem requiring attention?
- Alternatively, and more sustainably, can refugees pay for the stoves and pots (eg with labour or cash or trees planted)?
- Do the refugees already have some familiarity with fuel saving technologies? Will they need training in the use of any unfamiliar cooking devices'?
[top] [end]H. Monitoring and evaluation - Are there systems in place for regular and thorough monitoring of fuel consumption and developments in cooking practices?
- Are there systems in place to allow for feedback from refugees on stove use and other domestic energy matters?
- Is there enough flexibility in project programming to allow for modifications to existing strategies?
[top] [end]Some successful stove models for consideration: - Shielded fires ie three stones covered with mud or surrounded by walls of mud or metal, suitable for burning wood or any biomass fuels.
- Mudstoves, one or two pot seats, many designs with or without chimneys.
- UPESI (maendeleo), a ceramic liner stove either set in a mud platform or clad in metal for portability, one pot and without chimney.
- UPESI multi-pot with chimney.
- Thai bucket, a metal/ceramic stove from South East Asia.
- Special stoves for alternative fuels, eg sawdust stove, rice husk stove, briquette/charcoal stove.
NB: Chimneys are not a good idea in refugee situations due to fire risk in shelters, also cooking is often outdoors.
[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
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