Theme

Boiling PoinT / 54 / 2008

Energy in Conflict and Emergency Relief

Market Mapping of fuelwood in Internationally Displaced People camps in Pakistan – p2

Project Gaia uses emergencies to jumpstart transition to liquid biofuels – p11

Darfur Project investigates stove needs in post-earthquake Haiti – p5

UNHCR and Mercy Corps discuss energy in refugee camp planning – p30

plus ‘Lighting a Billion Lives’ in India, understanding the fuelwood market in Burkina Faso and more…

iSSuE 59 — 2011 £5

A prActitioner’s journAl on household energy, stoves And poverty reduction

A publication of the

www.hedon.info

Boiling Point is a practitioner’s journal for those working with household energy and stoves. It deals with technical, social, financial and environmental issues and aims to improve the quality of life for poor communities living in the developing world.

Welcome…

To the latest edition of Boiling Point. We strive to make the journal as accessible and participative as possible, and welcome any comments or suggestions by email or post. Please see the inside back page of this issue for details of how to contribute papers to future issues. Boiling Point is published by the HEDON Household Energy Network (www.HEDON.info). The journal is produced by Eco Ltd, and has an Editorial Team including the major sponsors for each issue.

editorial team

Thalia Konaris (BP Coordinator), Miriam Hansen (HEDON Community Coordinator), Grant Ballard-Tremeer (Director, Eco Ltd),Lucy Stevens (Practical Action) and Lisa Feldmann (GIZ)

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issn 0263-3167 (print)issn 1757-0689 (online)Cover photo: (Source: Mercy Corps, Pakistan Flood, IDP Crisis, 2007)

Contents ThemeEditorial: Energy in Conflict and Emergency Relief 1Value chains in emergencies: Firewood for Internally Displaced People 2 Dee Goluba and Kate Montgomery

Cookstove dissemination in Haiti: Improving collaboration and information-sharing 5 Ashok, J, Gadgil and Kayje Booker

Repackaging the efficient stove as the ‘solution’ to crises in Darfur, Sudan 8 Samer Abdelnour

Using emergency interventions for sustainable development: Jumpstarting the transition from woodfuels to liquid biofuels and efficient agriculture 11 Patrick Timothy Bringardner et al

Energy needs in emergency response operations: policies and best practice 16 Mark van Dorp

Ensuring safe access to appropriate household energy: The work of the World Food Programme and Women’s Refugee Commission 19 Erin Patrick and Catherine Bellamy

Low carbon energy and conflict: A new agenda 28 Frauke Urban and Jeremy Lind

Viewpoints Interview with Jim Jarvie, Mercy Corps Director for Climate Change, Environment and Natural Resources 14Interview of Valentine Ndibalema, Senior Environment Coordinator for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) 30 ToolkitSafe Access to Firewood and alternative Energy in Humanitarian Settings (SAFE) Decision Tree Diagrams 22 Inter-Agency Standby Committee (IASC)

HelplineResponse: Daniel Walden, Kelly Hawrylyshyn and Tamara Curtis of Plan International UK 25Response: Milkyas Debebe and Wubshet Tadele of Gaia Association 27 Practical Actions newsLatest news from Practical Action Editor: Lucy Stevens 32 giZ newsLatest news from GIZ Editor: Lisa Feldmann 34 general Customs policy hinders eco-development: An experience from Nigeria 36 Paul Krämer

Socioeconomics of Kenyan Solar Energy 39 Kyrea Mwangi Njuguna

Lighting a Billion Lives – Empowering the rural poor 42 Debajit Palit and Jarnail Singh

Political ecology analysis of the sustainability of use-patterns of firewood and charcoal in Gaoua, Burkina Faso 46 Marcel Meyer

Call for papersBoiling Point forthcoming themes 49

Design by Dean Ford Creativity Ltd. +44 (0) 20 7000 1055 www.deanfordcreativity.com

Boiling Point. issue 59 — 2011

EDITORIAL

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Recognising that energy access is a vital component of both immediate relief and of long-term rehabilitation, we have sought to answer the following questions. What are the

challenges of energy delivery in a disaster relief context? How can energy access act as an entry point for relief and conflict resolution? How may it reduce or exacerbate the vulnerability of affected communities?

In this issue we visit the work of the International Rescue Committee (IRC), who used the Emergency Market Mapping and Analysis tool (EMMA) in Pakistan to understand how the internal displacement, due to the 2008 civil conflict, has affected the local firewood market (page 2). The Darfur Stoves Project (page 5) advocates that Haiti does not need yet another improved cookstove but better collaboration between existing aid agencies, and Samer Abdelnour (page 8) raises caution against presenting cookstoves as a direct solution to gender-based violence in Darfur. While Mark Van Dorp (page 16) discusses policies and best practice for energy access in humanitarian settings, Project Gaia explains why emergencies are a good time to help communities transition towards alternative, more sustainable fuels, in this case

the use of bioethanol. Urban and Lind (page 26) propose that while low carbon technologies can reduce vulnerability within an emergency context, they can also be the cause of conflict in poorly governed environments.

Our readers may also find useful the IASC Taskforce’s Matrix and Decision Trees presented by the Women’s Refugee Commission and the World Food Programme (page 19), and the views of Jim Jarvie of Mercy Corps (page 14), Valentine Ndibalema of UNHCR (page 28) and Plan International (page 25) on the importance of energy access considerations and youth empowerment in displaced persons’ camp management. General articles also cover a variety of themes including the Lighting a Billion Lives Campaign in India, difficulties posed by the customs policy in Nigeria, socio economics of solar energy in Kenya and the sustainability of firewood and charcoal patterns in Burkina Faso.

We hope you enjoy this issue and we would be happy to hear your impressions and suggestions at BoilingPoint@HEDON.info

Best regards,The Editorial team

Editorialissue 59

Energy in Conflict and Emergency Relief

This age of globalisation may be one of increasing global opportunities but it is also one of increasingly frequent and complex threats. This includes natural threats exacerbated by climate change and resource scarcity but also the threat we pose to each other – human conflict. It is in the spirit of this complexity that the 59th Issue is placed outside the comfort zone of long-term development efforts, to present to our readers energy challenges when vulnerability and instability are at their maximum – during a crisis.

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Conflict between Pakistani Taliban and national military forces in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formally

known as the North West Frontier Province or NWFP) led to mass population movement in 2008. Tens of thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) fled to safer surrounding districts leaving most of their belongings behind; selling livestock and leaving their maturing crops in the fields. Nearly 100,000 IDPs found temporary shelter in camps near Pabbi, a major trading market accessible to IDP camps west of the frontier city of Peshawar.

Pabbi and other areas around Peshawar have served as a refuge for millions of Afghan refugees for nearly three decades.

Large population movements can result in a distortion of markets at a local and sometimes national level. An inter-agency team of emergency and livelihoods experts from the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and Mercy Corps set out to explore this assumption and piloted the Emergency Market Mapping Analysis (EMMA) tool in the Peshawar area to examine the effects this influx of people had on the local firewood market. Specifically, we focused

on the market near and around Jalozai IDP camp, outside of the trading centre of Pabbi. Approximately 50,000 IDPs took refuge in Jalozai camp, overwhelming the population of Pabbi of 40,000. An additional 50,000 people migrated to other, nearby camps.

Our observations in the camps and discussions with key informants lead to our decision to examine the firewood market more closely. The EMMA assessment was conducted over six days by a team of four and should not be treated as a detailed market study.

ThemeAuthors Dee GolubaCountry Director, Mercy Corps, sri Lanka 24/B Mailtland Crescent, Colombo 07. sri Lanka dgoluba@field.mercycorps.org

Kate Montgomery economic Recovery and Development Coordinator iRC Haiti #2 Angle Rue Fabiola and Rue selena, Port au Prince, Haiti katemon tgomery777@hotmailcom

Acknowledgements

Great appreciation is owed to the iRC teams in both islamabad and Peshawar for their assistance with logistics, background information and guidance on security issues. The iRC team of saeed ullah Khan, Abdul Haseeb, Ramiza and Mahwish conducted this assessment with the skill and tactfulness required in this insecure and sensitive environment. Mercy Corps office in Pakistan provided great support to this assessment. Karrie Byrne of the iRC and Lili Mohiddin and Jonathan Brass from Oxfam have championed the emergency Market Mapping and Analysis (eMMA) toolkit in their respective agencies. Mike Albu of Practical Action designed the tool and is the author of the emergency Market Mapping and Analysis Toolkit.

The emergency assessment tool, Emergency Market Mapping and Analysis (EMMA) was used to explore program options for meeting firewood and fuel needs of over 50,000 individuals displaced by conflict and taking refuge in Jalozai internally displaced people camps near Peshawar, Pakistan.

Value chains in emergencies: Firewood for Internally Displaced PeopleKeywords: Firewood, Household economics, Value chain, internally Displace Peoples, emergency assessment tool, eMMA

PeeR ReVieWeDReceived 9 February 2010

Accepted 3 November 2010

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Remaining IDPs: 400,000(In Camps: 40,000Living with Hosting Communities: 360,000)

Expected New IDPs fromTribal Areas: 150,000

Remaining IDPs: 250,000(In Camps: 50,000Living with Hosting Communities: 200,000)

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Abbottabad

Bajaur

Bannu

Batagram

Buner

Charsadda

Chitral

D. I. Khan

Hangu

Haripur

Karak

KhyberAgency

Kohat

Kohistan

KurrumAgency

LakkiMarwat

LowerDir

MalakandPA

Mansehra

Mardan

Mohmand

NorthWaziristan

Agency

Nowshera

OrakzaiAgency

Peshawar

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FRlakki

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JAMMU AND KAS HMIR

N.W.F.P. / F.A.T.A. - Humanitarian Projected Scenario 201021 December 2009

Disclaimers:The designations employed and thepresentation of material on this map do notimply the expression of any opinionwhatsoever on the part of the Secretariat ofthe United Nations concerning the legal statusof any country, territory, city or area or of itsauthorities, or concerning the delimitation ofits frontiers or boundaries.

Dotted line represents approximately the Lineof Control in Jammu and Kashmir agreedupon by India and Pakistan. The final status ofJammu and Kashmir has not yet been agreedupon by the parties.

0 50 100 150 km

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Areas of IDPs Origin (Expected in 2010)

BALOCHISTANMap Doc Name:

PAK069_PHRP_Hum_Proj_Scenario_A4_Portrait_21122009

Figure 1: Map of Conflict Area Pakistan: (source: united Nations Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2008)

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Boiling Point. issue 59 — 2011

The team decided on the following three analytical questions to guide the assessment and shape the program: Does the Pabbi firewood market have the capacity to supply fuel to an influx of more than 50,000 IDPs? With regards to fuel and firewood, what type of assistance is preferable to the IDPs? Cash or in kind? Where on the value chain could an NGO enter this market system (value chain) to ensure sustainable and affordable firewood to IDPs?

Methodology

The EMMA process requires firstly an analysis of the firewood market before and after the crisis, and then an analysis of the effects these market changes are having on the affected population. A variety of tools were used in order to plot and analyse information of the local firewood market including: seasonal calendars and market maps. This information was mapped as a value chain, showing the performance of the firewood market both before and after the crisis. Before and after market maps were compared and price jumps, changes in volume and other characteristics were identified. A household income/expense survey was used to determine the economic relationship between the individual and firewood. Discussions with focus groups and interviews with households, key informants, market actors, regulatory bodies and civil society were also conducted.

The population

Of the people registered in the Jalozai camp, approximately 76% were from Bajaur Agency (administrative district) of the Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA). Typical to the area, Bajour households are Islamic and adhere to conservative social practices.

A typical Bajaur household income is roughly US$300 per month, earned primarily from agricultural produce, the running of small businesses and labour. Major expenses are seasonal and peaks in spending occur during the planting and harvesting of crops, around the time of festivals, holidays and in preparation for the school year. Expenses on other common needs such as livestock, food and transportation remain fairly consistent throughout the year.

This survey showed that typical households in Bajour spend approximately 6% of their income, averaging roughly US$18 per month, on firewood and kindling

for heating and cooking. Alternatives to firewood such as LPG or kerosene are not products easily marketed in these remote areas because of low consumer awareness and high costs of transport.

Firewood market and value chainsWhen seeking the answer to whether the Pabbi firewood market has the capacity to support an influx of more than 50,000 IDPs, the team had to first determine the general ‘health’ of the market, prior to the crisis.

The formal market for firewood in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and nearby regions proved to be robust and has grown to meet the demand through a fairly efficient market chain. Firewood is primarily grown in wood lots under state and private sector ownership. Government wood lots are sold through auctions.

Large logging firms bid for contracts to harvest government wood lots or are hired by private lot owners. The EMMA team

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Figure 3: emergency Map; Firewood Market in Pabbi (source: eMMA Team Pakistan Pilot 2009)

Figure 2: Baseline Map; Firewood Market Map in Pabbi (source: eMMA Team Pakistan Pilot 2009)

Private Wood Lots/

ForestsContractor/

LoggerN: 10 - 20V: 8000

Permits/ license for harvesting

Daily Labour (5 Rs/mand)

WarehousingTendering and bid procedures

Forestry Dept. Policy

Bribes / Corruption e.g. woodlot auctions

Seasonal Demand Variations(Winter-heating, Tobacco-

drying, Brick-making)

Government Wood Lots

Larger RetailersOn main road. In Pabbi N: 8

Commercial Brick Mills

Tobacco Farms

Camp Storage

Transport to Camp

30 Rs/mand

Growing use of LPG

(urban areas)

Illegal Harvesting

Urban Households in Pabbi City

& Region

P: 85 P:180

P: 220 V: 2500

Pabbi District Retailers

N: 30

Small Retailers Near Camp

N: 5

Pabbi Catchment

P: 250 – 270 V: 5000

IDPs HouseholdsN: 35,000 h/h

V: 100Firewood

Scavenging(Unsustainable)

Jalozai Camps

V: > ~10,000 ?

Firewood in Pabbi area: emergency-affected market-systemKey:V = Volume Traded in “Monds” per monthP = Price in Rupees per Mond

Key Market Infrastructure & Services

Market Actors & Linkages

Market (Business) Environment

Child Protection Issues with Scavenging

!

!LPG

P: ~500 equivalent

Fuel efficiency

advice

!

Private Wood Lots/

Forests

Contractor/ Logger

N: 10 - 20V: 8000

Permits/ license for harvesting

Daily Labour (5 Rs/mand)WarehousingTendering and

bid procedures

Forestry Dept. Policy

Bribes / Corruption e.g. woodlot auctions

Seasonal Demand Variations(Winter-heating, Tobacco-

drying, Brick-making)

Government Wood Lots

Larger RetailersOn main road. In Pabbi N: 8

Commercial Brick Mills

Tobacco Farms

Camp StorageTransport to

Camp30 Rs/mand

Increased use of LPG tanks

(in urban areas)

Illegal Harvesting

Urban Households in Pabbi City

& Region

P: 85 P:180

P: 220 V: 2500

Pabbi District Retailers

N: 30

Small Retailers Near Camp

N: ?

Pabbi Catchment

P: 250 – 270 V: 5000

Afghan Refugees

N: 35,000 h/h

V: ??Firewood

Scavenging(Unsustainable)

Jalozai Camps

V: ??

Firewood in Pabbi area: baseline market-system

Key Market Infrastructure & Services

Market Actors & Linkages

Market (Business) Environment

Key:V = Volume Traded in “Monds” per monthP = Price in Rupees per MondEMMA is an assessment tool for

emergency responders. It is designed to improve the effectiveness of early humanitarian action which aims to ensure people’s survival, by helping protecting their food security and livelihoods while avoiding doing harm to domestic markets and supply chains. The tool helps identify key market systems vital to the needs of beneficiaries and acting as sources of potential income; analyses the entire value chain and enables humanitarian agencies to consider creative responses for preserving these systems, rather than implementing distribution programs, common to the emergency sector. EMMA addresses the feasibility of a cash vs. in-kind delivery of assistance and also identifies places along a market or value chain where program efforts may be directed for an overall benefit to those affected in a crisis. The EMMA toolkit was envisaged and commissioned by Oxfam and IRC with support from InterAction and USAID’s Office for Foreign Disaster assistance in 2007.

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followed the wood through a series of service providers who cut, split, dry, store and transport the wood all the way to the shops in Pabbi, which in turn sell the split firewood along the historic Grand Trunk Highway, near the Jalozai camp. Throughout the value chain we found multiple private sector actors including producers, loggers and retailers. We also found high competition in transport, warehousing and labour services. The high number of private sector actors gave the EMMA team reasonable confidence that there was no monopoly at any point along the chain, and that the increase in cost and prices could be considered reasonable and fair.

Firewood is sold in ‘monds’, a unit equalling approximately 50kg. The quality of wood followed, started in the wood lots at US$1.20 per mond (equivalent to 85 Pakistan Rupees) and at the end of the chain was retailed to households between US$3.60 and US$3.85 per mond, just over 300% of the initial price. Most price jumps in this value chain occurred at points involving cutting machinery or transport, due to associated fuel costs. Very little costs are incurred during the splitting of wood, which is done manually or through sun-drying.

The demand for firewood for domestic use remained consistent. Although the environmental sustainability and integrity of the industry were questioned, the EMMA team considered the firewood market to be functional and ‘healthy’.

Post-Crisis: The EMMA team used survey data to determine if the market was stressed by the increased demand for firewood. The short answer to this was no – the market stayed relatively the same with no significant price increase and surprisingly, little increase in volume. Local retail shops indicated a minor rise in business, stating that 20% of sales were made to IDPs who transported firewood to the camps.

Despite the apparent good ‘health’ of the market system, the numbers just did not add up. An influx of 50,000 individuals in Pabbi (and 50,000 more in nearby camps) should have had a significant increase in the volume of firewood trade. Using the household consumption rate

of 5kg of firewood per day provided by the UNHCR, this increase in population should have resulted in a volume increase of approximately 116%.

Households also reported a decrease in monthly expenses on firewood, spending approximately 20% less than when home in Bajour. The loss of income resulting from their displacement distorts this number, however, and firewood jumped from being 6% to 13% of monthly expenses. Most IDP families reported they were living off of savings, charity or remittances and the typical monthly household income of IDPs in the camps had dropped to 40% of their normal levels. Similarly, monthly household expenses had decreased to 40% of the rate prior to the displacement, dropping to about $97 per month. Camp firewood retailers verified the financial stress on households when indicating that firewood sales were of small quantity (1 or 2 logs at a time).

To account for the discrepancy between needs and real consumption, we turned to analytical information. New, economic hardships faced by families resulted in innovation, sacrifice and sadly, negative coping mechanisms. Families reported efforts to conserve fuel. Others reported collecting paper or other scraps for kindling. Many reported purchasing dried animal dung as an alternative source of fuel. Very few individuals refill LPG tanks as an alternative to cooking or heating. The gap is filled primarily through scavenging and it is estimated that over 50% of the wood in the camp is illegally scavenged from neighbouring plots and private property. The numerous negative effects of scavenging include protection issues, deforestation and potential conflict with host communities. As is the case with many such camps around the world, the landscape around Jalozai Camp in Pabbi has been drastically reshaped by the influx of people, with nearly all the vegetation, shrubs and trees consumed by the camp population. In almost all cases, the scavengers are young children, as women under local tradition, do not leave households unaccompanied. Attendance records at UNICEF and state schools in the camps confirmed this observation.

Conclusion

In summarising this assessment and pursuing programme opportunities within the context of the local market and needs, we returned to our Analytical questions:1. Does the Pabbi firewood market have

the capacity to supply the influx of more than 50,000 IDPs? Yes, although long-term sustainability and environmental practices must be considered.

2. What type of assistance to the IDPs is preferable? Cash or in kind? (with regards to firewood/fuel) The IDPs appear to have many options of locally procuring various forms of fuel. Cash was preferred and is recommended.

3. Where on the value chain could an NGO enter this market system (value chain) to ensure sustainable & affordable firewood to IDPs? It appears this market chain is fairly healthy and not stressed by the current situation. Long-term issues remain with the source and sustainability of firewood. Immediate, economic problems exist in this market chain with the purchasing power of the IDP end users.

Short terms and interim response options were developed with the data from the assessment. The team considered vouchers and other, cash options over distributions, as the local market appeared to be vibrant and could absorb the higher volume. Cash options gave opportunity for households to choose LPG tank refills over firewood as a temporary solution in the camp setting. A fuel-for-school attendance option was also considered. All response options included components to increase fuel efficiency at a household level through improved cooking practices or distribution of more efficient stoves. Programmes to repair a damaged and stressed market were not seen as urgent although long-term options all included elements of reforestation and governance over the fuel wood industry.

Figure 4: Water bladder set-up in camp during 2008 floods in Pakistan (source: Mercy Corps)

Figure 5: iCR fuel efficient stove in Purdah area Jalozai camp (source: iRC Pakistan)

Figure 6: Roadside camp in Baluchistan during 2008 floods in Pakistan (source: Mercy Corps)

www.HeDON.info/VMAPRead full article and comment* Author profile and latest contact details* Photos, references and acknowledgements* EMMA toolkit and info*

Meet us @HEDON

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Boiling Point. issue 59 — 2011

AuthorsAshok, J, Gadgil Acting Director in the environmental energy Technologies Division of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

The Darfur stoves Project, 2150 Allston Way, suite 300 Berkeley CA 94704

AJGadgil@lbl.gov

Kayje BookerAdvisory Council Member

Darfur stoves Project, 137 Mulford Hall #3114 university of CA Berkeley, California, united states 94720-3114

Kayje@berkeley.edu

Cookstove dissemination in Haiti: Improving collaboration and information-sharingKeywords: Haiti; Collaboration; Relief; Long-term development plans; stove dissemination; markets

Background

With funding from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) and coordination

provided by Technology Innovation for Sustainable Societies (TISS), the parent organisation of the Darfur Stoves Project (DSP), a team of two engineers and one

social scientist visited Haiti for two weeks in April 2010. Their aim was to determine how LBNL and TISS/DSP’s expertise could most effectively be leveraged to contribute to fuel-efficient cookstove efforts in Haiti. The primary goal of the trip was to assess the current situation regarding stove use and to determine opportunities and

needs for intervention. To do so, the team observed cooking practices in the camps, households, the markets of Port-au-Prince and the market in Mirebalais and held discussions with around 40 Haitian street vendors, household members and employees of several international non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

In April 2010, a Berkeley-based team visited Haiti on a fact-finding mission. The team encountered a high level of interest in cookstove projects, in part due to the outpouring of humanitarian aid and increased attention to economic and social development in Haiti in the wake of the January earthquake. However, one of the key findings of the trip was that because most aid organisations are still focused on immediate relief efforts, there is room to improve the coordination of stove dissemination activities, increase information sharing between interested parties and provide an independent assessment of the efficiency and cultural appropriateness of the stoves currently being considered for distribution in Haiti.

PeeR ReVieWeDReceived 5 August 2010

Accepted 27 september 2010

Figure 1: Port-au-Prince cooking demonstration (source: Robert Cheng)

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Observations of Haitian Cooking Practices and Materials

The majority of the team’s conversations in Port-au-Prince neighbourhoods and camps revealed that residents cook one large meal midday, with smaller meals for breakfast and dinner when food and money are available. The vast majority of Haitians cook some kind of rice and bean dish every day, with sos pwa, rice with bean sauce, appearing most frequently. For this reason, sos pwa was selected as the dish to be prepared in the cooking demonstration. The demonstration included five stoves: the Mirak, StoveTec and EcoRecho stoves, a commonly available Haitian stove made of metal rebar and LBNL’s own Berkeley-Darfur Stove. Each local cook prepared sos pwa simultaneously on five separate stoves while the team timed the entire cooking process, recorded food and water measurements, the amount of charcoal consumed and specific instructions for each stage of the process.

Fuel

The most commonly observed fuel was charcoal in the form of small sticks, sold either in large sacks, small plastic sacks or marmites (a volumetric measurement roughly equivalent to the size of a large coffee can, holding on average 0.65 kg). In the cooking demonstration, each stove consumed between 1-1.5 kg of charcoal for the entire meal. Generally, Haitians stated that their household use of charcoal was 1-1.5 marmites (roughly 0.65 to 1 kg) per day, slightly less than was observed in the cooking demonstration. Given that each marmite costs 20-25 Haitian gourde

(HTG) (US$0.5-0.62), households spend 20-30 HTG (US$0.50 – 0.97) per day on fuel (Booker 2010).

In addition to charcoal, the team also observed cooking with fuelwood in the smaller city of Mirebalais and the more rural areas of the Central Plateau. Even within Port-au-Prince, there appear to be some households cooking on three-stone fires with fuelwood, usually when people cannot afford either stoves or charcoal.

In Port-au-Prince the team observed kerosene stoves in households and on sale but were unable to observe one being used. Those who did have a kerosene stove, due to fuel cost, seemed to reserve it for preparing smaller meals that take less time to prepare, or for making coffee or tea.

An additional fuel mentioned was liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) , common in upper class homes in Port-au-Prince (Booker 2010), but not generally available to the poor or widely available outside the capital. There was also mention of a proposed programme to switch large numbers of Haitians to LPG use. This idea is reportedly popular with upper and middle class Port-au-Prince residents but raised concerns in some quarters. Such concerns included import dependence, the need for massive subsidisation, lack of infrastructure, switching from a locally available and income generating fuel to a foreign one, and moving towards fossil fuels instead of trying to sustainably manage what could be a renewable resource.

In Haiti, there are currently various groups working to develop fuel alternatives to both wood charcoal and fossil fuels. Some of these alternative fuel sources cook much the same as current wood charcoal and can be used in current charcoal stoves, while others offer entirely

new approaches to cooking, such as gasification of biomass pellets that would require new stoves as well. At this stage, these charcoal alternatives are limited in their distribution but seem to have drawn considerable interest from NGO and government actors.

User Feedback

Based on observations and conversations with stove users, the team compiled a list of desired stove characteristics including an ash pan; easy access to charcoal during the cooking process in order to control thermal power of the stove to match the particular stage of cooking; capacity to support large pots; ability to cook pot contents evenly; adjustable height to be comfortable while standing; a stove lifespan of multiple years and a cost comparable to current stoves. (Cooking demonstration participants thought that 250 HTG (US$6.25) would be a reasonable price for any of the improved stoves from the demonstration.)

Supply Chain

The preference for local manufacture was extremely strong, both in Port-au-Prince and the Central Plateau. Haiti is known for its metalwork, and the currently available traditional and rebar stoves are made by local artisans from scrap metal. Large-scale manufacturing of a metal stove in-country is possible. One important note regarding the metal supply in Haiti is that there are large quantities of recycled metal available in Port-au-Prince, and there are many skilled artisans able to create almost any kind of stove from that material. If a metallic improved stove were to be introduced, and if that stove cost more than other locally available models, informal discussions in the market place implied that there would almost certainly be a problem with competition from inferior copies produced from scrap metal.

Recommendations

Given the abundance of improved stoves targeted towards Haiti, the team did not

Figure 2: Pot on stove made of Rebar (source: Kayje Booker)

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Boiling Point. issue 59 — 2011

believe that development of a new stove should be a priority at this time. While there certainly are technical opportunities for stove improvement, given the breadth of currently proposed stove activities and the number of organisations already involved, the team thought it necessary to identify what unique contributions are still needed. One critical area in which there is much work to be done is the removal of the information barriers that prevent optimal decision making by NGOs and Haitian stove users alike. In order to remove or reduce these information barriers, one valuable contribution which LBNL and TISS/DSP hope to make is to provide an unbiased, independent assessment of different stove types, a cooking protocol, and recommendations to current stove projects on design modifications that incorporate factors such as local pot size/shapes and user feedback.

The project has developed a Haiti Cookstoves Google Group where it has posted the draft of the Haitian Controlled Cooking Test (CCT) using a Haitian cooking protocol and is seeking feedback to ensure that the Haiti Cookstove CCT is compiled in a collaborative manner and that distinct testing groups create comparable results.

Stove Testing

The team found extensive NGO interest in stove dissemination projects, both for short-term relief and longer-term development. Much of the current stove activity appears to be ad hoc relief efforts; with NGOs unable to invest the time and effort needed to find the most appropriate stove for the needs of the Haitian recipients. Given the team’s observations of Haitian cooking, they believe that not all proposed stoves would meet the particular needs of Haitian cooks nor operate efficiently under the conditions imposed by Haitian cooking. In collaboration with local NGOs, LBNL and TISS/DSP hope to provide a valuable service to NGO stove efforts by characterising the performance of various proposed stoves in terms of both efficiency and cultural appropriateness.

Contribution to Development EffortsOver the medium and long-term time frames, a different type of intervention will be required. Reports by various agencies have documented the negative impacts of the current stove and fuel situation in Haiti. To ameliorate these negative effects on a large-scale will require a much more sustained, broad and thorough intervention, probably a large-scale switch to an alternative fuel source in addition to more efficient stoves.

This type of intervention would require more time and resources than the minor stove modifications being considered for the short-term. This longer-term, larger intervention strategy will likely involve technology development in both stoves and fuels. To be successful, such an intervention will require a much more systematic analysis than was possible in the two week fact-finding mission.

LBNL and TISS/DSP plan to take steps to begin such an analysis to lay the groundwork for a larger, longer-term intervention. An effort on this scale will need partnership between scientific agencies such as LBNL, international aid agencies (both governmental and non-governmental), the private sector in Haiti and the Haitian government agencies.

Conclusion

At this stage in Haiti’s reconstruction process, the LBNL team and its partners have decided that they will most effectively contribute to the reduction of fuel consumption and indoor air pollution by providing an unbiased, independent assessment of different stove types.

Hesitant to introduce another stove to the market before fully assessing what is currently available in Haiti, focus will be placed on developing a more nuanced understanding of the different players, stove models, dissemination approaches and impact assessment strategies existing or planned.

Analysis will be shared with the aid community to promote coordination and further collaboration.

References Booker K., 2010. Haiti Trip Report. 1-8 smucker G., 2007. environmental Vulnerability in Haiti. united states Agency for international Development. Van der Plas R., 2007. Haiti: strategy to Alleviate t he Pressure of Fuel Demand on National Woodfuel Resources. energy sector Management Assistance Program Technical Report 112/07.

Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank Dr. Robert Cheng, senior scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and volunteer engineer scott sadlon for their participation in this project. Additional thanks to the Darfur stoves Project for logistical support and coordination of the April 2010 fact-finding trip to Haiti.

www.HeDON.info/eFXNRead full article and comment* Author profile and latest contact details* Link to Haitian controlled *

cookstove test

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Figure 3: Sos Pwa (bean sauce) preparation (source: scott sadlon)

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In 2004, advocacy and development organisations began to promote fuel-efficient stoves (FES) in Darfur as a

means to reduce the risk of rape and other forms of gender-based violence (GBV). Many assumed that stoves requiring less fuel would reduce the risk of violence by decreasing the time women and girls spend venturing outside internally displaced people (IDP) camps collecting fuelwood (RI 2005).

Initial optimism surrounding the use of FES as a tool to reduce rape risk has faded, and it is now known that stove initiatives are questionable at best in their ability

to prevent the risk of rape (RI 2007). It is yet unclear whether the failure of FES to reduce the risk of GBV is specific to the FES technologies employed, or the way in which FES programmes were implemented. What is certain, however, is that many IDPs were unable to realise energy efficiencies from complex stoves and where efficiencies did exist fuelwood remained in demand as a means for income generation. Even after questions regarding the effectiveness of FES as a means to reduce GBV began to emerge, some advocacy and development organisations continued to promote stoves as a solution for sexual violence. In addition,

few international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) operating in Darfur openly consider the implications of interventions for GBV inside IDP camps, or sexual/domestic violence more broadly.

Remarkably, the promotion of stoves as a panacea for sexual violence in Darfur is but part of a 40-year history of repackaging stoves as the solution to crises in Sudan. This article provides an overview of FES repackaging in Sudan/Darfur, raises questions as to the effectiveness of presenting stoves as a solution to complex social and environmental challenges, and presents themes and implications for consideration.

In response to increasing attacks on displaced women and girls when collecting fuelwood, advocacy and development organisations began to promote fuel-efficient stoves (FES) as a means to reduce the need for fuel and hence the risk of rape. Although it became clear that the promotion of stoves did little to reduce GBV, the language of sexual violence continues to be associated with efficient stoves for Darfuris. The unsuccessful promotion of FES as a means to reduce rape risk is not without its consequences for both beneficiaries and stove promoters. Nor is it without its history. Ironically, during the past four decades efficient stoves have been promoted as a solution to multiple crises in Sudan. This article presents a brief history of efficient stoves in Sudan and most recently Darfur, and the crises they were reported to resolve. Themes and implications are drawn and cautions presented when promoting stoves as a means to address complex social and environmental challenges, for conflict and relief contexts, or as a carbon offset tool.

Author Samer AbdelnourPhD candidate in Management, London school of economics

16 Florida street London, uK e2 6AL

s.r.abdelnour@lse.ac.uk

Figure 1: Women potters show their goods in el Fasher, North Darfur, August 2008 (source: samer Abdelnour)

PeeR ReVieWeDReceived 25 March 2010

Accepted 22 september 2010

Repackaging the efficient stove as the ‘solution’ to crises in Darfur, SudanKeywords: Gender-based violence, Fuel-efficient stove, Non-governmental organisations, Humanitarian crisis, sudan, Darfur

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Forty years of fuel-efficient stove solutions in SudanThe history of FES in Sudan can be traced through three crises: energy, health, and sexual violence. Each is presented chronologically.

Energy crisis “For huge numbers of people, fuelwood will be increasingly scarce and expensive. And no alternative fuels are in sight that could relieve this deepening crisis” (Eckholm et al. 1984: 13).

As a result of the 1973 oil/energy/fuelwood crisis, global concern motivated bilateral agencies, international NGOs, research institutes, and governments to seek a solution to impending deforestation in low income countries. Fears that the poor would not be able to afford the conversion from fuelwood to petroleum energy did not escape Sudan. In 1979 the Khartoum-based Sudanese Society for the Advancement of Sciences (SSAS) began a project to design and test metallic charcoal stoves, versions of which are still in use today. In 1983, the work of SSAS was absorbed by Sudan’s Energy Research Council (ERC). Also in 1983, Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere (CARE) imported a metal-ceramic stove design from Kenya and began experimenting with designs in El Obeid, Kurdofan.

After initial failures, ERC helped CARE improve their approach by marketing the stove through contests and contracts involving local artisans and entrepreneurs. At the suggestion of USAID, a Kenyan artisan entrepreneur was brought to assist with this process. The resulting market-oriented intervention saw efficient stoves gaining acceptance and wide dissemination. Based on this success, CARE was awarded a grant by ERC in the mid-1980s to extend experimentation with FES across Kurdofan and Darfur, including the development of the first mud stoves (Gamser 1988). CARE’s first experiments with mud stoves were also seen as a failure due to unsuccessful acceptance by the women working with

the projects; however, years later and without NGO engagement modified mud stoves were produced and sold through local markets, often by the same women involved in the initial CARE projects (based on an interview with a NGO official who had been part of the initial CARE FES projects).

Health crisis

The global push to promote FES in the 1980s led to stove interventions in almost every low income country, creating ample opportunity to collect evidence of their effects. One positive benefit of FES technology is the reduction in indoor air pollution and smoke inhalation. This served as a platform for the global promotion of FES in the 1990s as a solution to improve the health and living conditions for up to half of the world’s population (WRI 1999).

“The smoke from burning these fuels turns kitchens in the world’s poorest countries into death traps. Indoor air pollution from the burning of solid fuels kills over 1.6 million people, predominately women and children, each year. This is more than three people per minute” (Warwick and Doig 2004: 6).

As a result, from the mid-1990s into the early 2000s international NGOs and United Nations (UN) agencies promoted a call to action to address the risks of indoor air pollution. Global awareness of the smoke and health pandemic made its way into FES programming across low income countries, including Sudan. The first programme in Sudan to address the health concerns of cooking promoted liquid petroleum gas (LPG) stoves (ITDG Sudan 2003). However, the momentum associated with the July 2003 launch of Sudan first “Smoke and Health” programme in Kassala would be upstaged by violent armed conflict in Darfur.

Sexual violence crisis

The humanitarian crisis and widespread incidence of GBV motivated urgency among advocacy groups, international agencies and NGOs. When the call to action came, FES were once again positioned as a solution for an emerging crisis.

“By reducing the need for wood and emission of smoke, a switch to simple, more fuel-efficient stoves could reduce the time women spend collecting wood, a task that exposes them to the risk of rape and other forms of gender-based violence” (RI 2005: 1).

The call inspired intense interest in FES programming, in part because it offered a deliverable technology as a solution for protecting vulnerable women and girls in Darfur. At the time the statement was released, a handful of actors were engaged in the promotion, production, and dissemination of mud stoves for Darfur. International NGOs and their partners brought to Darfur a diverse array of FES technologies including mud, brick, metal and solar designs for IDPs in Darfur and Darfuri refugees in Chad (Abdelnour and Branzei 2010). When reports began to emerge contradicting anecdotal evidence that FES was effective for protecting IDP women and girls, some advocacy organisations retracted the claim that FES is a solution to GBV risk in Darfur. At the same time, possible benefits from using the stoves were positioned front-and-centre.

“While there is little evidence that producing fuel-efficient stoves reduces violence against women […] the international community should continue to promote them but not solely or even principally as a protection measure against sexual violence but as a vital part of a holistic response to the urgent environmental and humanitarian issues confronting the conflict-affected peoples of Darfur” (RI 2007: 18).

1980

METAL CERAMIC/METAL LPG MUD METAL SOLAR BRICK/MUD

1990 2000 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

1973 Oil Crisis (causing the fuelwood crisis and fears of deforestation) with first efficient stove programmes appearing in Sudan in 1979

Health concerns over indoor air pollution from smoke

Gender Based Violence. 2004-5, after start of large-scale armed conflict in Feb 2003 in Darfur, resulting in mass displacement and the Darfur humanitarian emergency

Figure 2: evolution of stove types and how that coincides with various cases (Adapted from Abdelnour et al 2010)

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Learning from history

A number of themes and implications can be drawn from the 40-year history of efficient stoves in Sudan, and in particular the more recent history of FES in Darfur. These include the technology-user tension, the reliance on anecdotal evidence, and the limitations of existing models of relief/development.

Technology-user tension

The technology-user tension emerged particularly strong with FES programmes in Darfur because higher efficiency was assumed to correlate with greater reduction in rape risk. As a result, the fuel-efficiency of the stove became more central than usability for many NGOs. Pressures to achieve maximum effectiveness through efficiency came at many costs. In most FES programming for Darfur, there was limited assessment of basic market dynamics, user preferences and needs, or engagement of local actors and beneficiaries in the design and marketing of complex stoves.

The Darfur case provides important lessons for those interested in promoting stoves as a means to accumulate carbon offsets or reduce conflict in emergency and relief contexts (Eltayeb 2010; Urban and Lind 2010). Carbon offsets, like GBV, can motivate technological efficiency as a primary goal of FES programming. Donors, policymakers, advocacy organisations, and NGOs interested in FES as a carbon tool should prepare for the unintended consequences of pursuing such an agenda in terms of user acceptability, local market suitability, and project sustainability.

Reliance on anecdotal evidence

Advocacy groups and NGOs were central in elevating the urgency for promoting FES in Darfur. Many of these organisations used personal stories taken from the beneficiaries of their own programmes for advocacy and marketing efforts. These stories are extremely important and relevant; however, it is widely known that communities receiving or hoping to receive aid are often uncritical of

interventions even when flawed in design or approach. Anecdotal evidence presented by development and relief organisations, in particular when used for securing funds and political advocacy, raises deeper questions of ethics and accountability (Ebrahim 2003).

For example, some organisations used anecdotal evidence in marketing materials targeting concerned citizens in western countries, implying that the prevention of rape could be accomplished through a simple donation to a FES project. Many of these fundraising programmes continued even after questions emerged regarding the ability for FES to reduce the risk of rape in Darfur. NGOs should exercise caution when claiming to address serious and complex societal injustices through the provision of stoves or other technology solutions.

Limitations of existing models of relief/development

The historical experience of FES in Sudan draws attention to the limits of relief and development interventions for addressing substantial social and environmental crises. In the case of Darfur, the response to the epidemic of GBV helped mobilise tremendous support for FES programming. Promoting technological interventions as a solution to reduce GBV created illusions of hope which, based upon history, predictably failed to meet promised expectations. The urgency associated with addressing the crisis of GBV pushed some NGOs to deliver relatively expensive technologies at little or no cost. As a result, displaced women warehoused in urban camps accessible to NGOs often received multiple stoves, while those at inaccessible rural camps went without.

Evidence suggests that the potential benefits of FES will not be realised without engaging longer-term, culturally acceptable and local market approaches. CARE’s early stove failures from the mid-1980s provide key lessons for the future of FES in Sudan. By realigning programmes to ensure participation of local artisans and entrepreneurs, CARE was able to help create technologies that could spread through local markets. More interesting are CARE’s

mud stove ‘failures’, the designs of which were eventually modified and successfully marketed by local entrepreneurs.

Concluding remarks

40 years of FES in Sudan provides ample fuel for reflection. Viewing the repackaging of FES through the lens of multiple crises raises a number of discomforting questions. Doing so also recognises the diversity of interests and motivations among donors, NGOs, advocacy groups, scientists, designers and researchers. Taking these into consideration with the needs and desires of the user-beneficiary as central may reveal opportunities for improved FES programming. In particular, lessons from FES interventions in Darfur suggest a need for enhanced donor/NGO coordination, monitoring and assessment, standardised testing, quality assurance, user acceptance, and engagement of local market actors. Importantly, FES stakeholders might take an opportunity to consider their own experiences; lest stoves are once again repackaged as an infeasible solution to impending crises.

References eckholm e., Foley G., Barnard G., Timberlake L., 1984. Fuelwood: The energy Crisis that Won’t Go Away. earthscan: London.

ProAct, 2008. Assessing The effectiveness of Fuel-efficient stove Programming: A Darfur-wide Review. Nyon: ProAct Network.

Refugees international, 2005. sudan: Rapidly expand the use of Fuel efficient stoves in Darfur (October 24 2005), Refugees international: Washington.

www.HeDON.info/YCXNRead full article and comment* Author profile and latest contact details*

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Figure 3: Producing metal stoves in Nyala, south Darfur, July 2008 (source: samer Abdelnour)

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Boiling Point. issue 59 — 2011

Introduction: Relief or development – or both?

The need for targeted energy interventions during relief efforts, especially for cooking but also for

other household needs such as lighting and refrigeration, is becoming both more critical and more apparent. Nevertheless, supplying energy to people in crisis has frequently been neglected in relief efforts leaving displaced populations to fend for themselves. Cooking energy is almost always their largest energy need. Where cooking energy has been provided, it has not necessarily been with consideration for what will happen after. Thought must be given to what can be sustained by local populations after emergency aid ends. Helping subject populations to develop the capacity to produce liquid biofuels on a small scale with efficient agriculture may offer an important solution.

Energy for cooking usually constitutes 70% to 90% of total energy demand in Least Developed Countries (ESMAP 2007). In Africa, it is responsible for over 90% of the woody biomass harvested (PROBEC 2006). The demand for cooking fuels, especially for urban markets, is advancing deforestation hundreds of kilometres out from the city. Many of the poorest countries

are severely deforested, at rates approaching 98% (ESMAP 2007). Deforestation brings with it other environmental problems – erosion, sedimentation, floods, mud slides, decline in ground water supply and local climate change. When disasters hit and emergency intervention is required, increased dependence on local resources such as wood fuels increases the vulnerability of populations and sets back remediation. The way in which food aid has been provided offers a case in point (CHRGJ 2010). The same is so for energy aid. This is why emergency interventions must now consider issues of economic and environmental sustainability—what will cause the least impact on a fragile, already degraded environment, what will help to restore that environment during and after recovery, and what will help to create or rebuild local markets so that they can carry on after the crisis is over.

The earthquake that struck Haiti on January 12, 2010 claimed the lives of at least 222,570 people and displaced 2.3 million (MINUSTAH 2010). The theme of emergency relief efforts, put into place by the Clinton Foundation and the United Nations (UN), is to “Build Back Better.” This theme joins the ideas of emergency relief and long term development as compatible goals—as goals conjoined of necessity. The

relief and development efforts that now confront Haiti are how to build back better. These should address Haiti’s household energy crisis, made worse by the social and economic disarray after the earthquake, but which existed before the earthquake and of which Haiti’s almost complete reliance on woodfuels (charcoal and fuelwood) for cooking, despite the almost complete deforestation, is symptomatic.

An assessment conducted by the Women’s Refugee Commission (WRC) in Haiti in March 2010, just two months after the earthquake, found that the price of charcoal had risen by 40% (WRC and WFP 2010). The large increase in price was the result of interruption in normal supply lines compounded by the inelasticity of supply, given the high deforestation and the need to import charcoal from the Dominican Republic (Groneworld 2009). As Haitians have become more impoverished, they have come to rely increasingly on charcoal and fuelwood as their primary energy source for cooking. Since over 70% of Haiti’s total energy demand is for cooking fuel, and since existing domestic sources of fuel cannot meet demand, a new energy strategy is essential as relief efforts seek to address the immediate needs for cooking in the post-earthquake displaced communities.

Supplying energy to people in crisis has frequently been neglected in relief efforts. Cooking is almost always their largest energy need. Where cooking energy has been provided, it has not necessarily been sustainable after emergency aid ends. Helping subject populations to develop the capacity to produce liquid biofuels on a small scale in efficient agricultural operations may offer one important solution to energy poverty and contribute to long term development of energy self-sufficiency as well as employment and livelihoods. Project Gaia and the International Rescue Committee (IRC) have joined with local partners in Haiti to develop ethanol stoves and fuel, both as an emergency intervention and as a longer term project.

PeeR ReVieWeDReceived 08 March 2010Accepted 07 May 2010

Using emergency interventions for sustainable development: Jumpstarting the transition from woodfuels to liquid biofuels and efficient agricultureKeywords: ethanol, sweet sorghum, sugar cane, Haiti, ethiopia, Project Gaia, international Rescue Committee, Micro distillery, Alcohol stove, CleanCook stove

Authors Patrick Timothy Bringardner1 Brady Anne Luceno2 Harry Stokes3

1 Haiti Project Coordinator pbringardner@projectgaia.com 2Haiti Project Manager bluceno@projectgaia.com3executive Director hstokes@projectgaia.comProject Gaia, inc, Box 4190 Number 1 Lincoln sq. Gettysburg PA 17325 usA

Kate Montgomery4 (Former) economic Recovery and Development Coordinator 4iRC Haiti, #2 Angle Rue Fabiola and Rue selena, Port au Prince, Haitikatemontgomery777@hotmail.com

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Using relief to spur developmentThe search for alternatives to petroleum fuels and solid fuels such as wood, charcoal, coal, dung and residues, through the use of the simple alcohols, particularly bioethanol, has been central to Project Gaia’s work in Ethiopia’s refugee camps. Early in its efforts in Ethiopia, Project Gaia demonstrated an ethanol stove sourced from Sweden (Electrolux, now Dometic) that could create a market for ethanol manufactured in Ethiopia’s first industrial distillery, the Finchaa Sugar Factory. Working with the UNHCR, Project Gaia provided ethanol stoves for selected refugee camps. Pilot studies were conducted in Shimelba Camp (Tigray), Bonga Camp (Gambella) and Kebrebeyah Camp (Somali Regional State) with favourable results (Amare et. al 2006). After a successful scale-up in the Kebrebeyah Camp, a decision was made, in 2007, to provide stoves in two neighbouring camps, Awbarre and Sheder camps (Hassen 2006).

An early participant in this work (2006) was the IRC, which embraced the stoves because of their cleanliness, operational safety and energy efficiency. The IRC funded a number of stoves in the Kebrebeyah Camp as well as some of the supporting infrastructure—jerry cans, tanks, tent storage for the barrels of fuel and small equipment. Project Gaia’s partnership with the IRC proved to be mutually complementary with the IRC sharing its know-how in providing multifaceted relief.

While Project Gaia has been working with the UNHCR and the IRC in the refugee camps, it has also worked to stimulate a commercial ethanol stove and fuel project in Addis Ababa under local ownership by a Small/Medium Enterprise partner. The key benefit that the commercial project provides to the donor funded refugee project is the creation of local capacity to make ethanol stoves, which would enable donors to acquire them locally for the camps. The key benefit that the refugee project provides for the commercial project is a market for the locally built stoves. The local SME that

will produce the stoves will sell them not only to individual consumers but also to institutional buyers such as the UNHCR, which could purchase in large numbers.

Why cooking energy is critical

According to UNHCR’s 2009 annual report, 43 million people around the world were uprooted by conflict (UNHCR 2010). Some 36 million people were displaced by natural disasters, with climate-related disasters displacing over half of this number (IDMC 2009).

Those who are fortunate enough to find shelter in organised camps may be provided with food but are less likely to be provided with the fuel to cook it. Displaced people sheltering in informal camps usually do not fare this well. They have the double problem of food and fuel. In situations where woody biofuels are scarce and should not or cannot be gathered, the lack of other options has potential large consequences not only for the displaced community but also for the host community.

Why bioethanol instead of woody biomassA number of solid fuel stoves have been proposed for Haiti, including stoves that burn wood, charcoal, paper trash (“trash briquettes”) and agri-residues such as rice hulls (see @HEDON for more details). These stoves offer improvement because they can cook more with less, using their fuel more efficiently so that it will go further (Bioenergylists 2010). This solution, however, may be limited in the following ways:1. Solid fuel stoves, especially those

relying on wood and charcoal, are still consuming scarce woodfuels, not providing an alternative to them

2. The energy efficiency gains may be significant relative to the baseline but not significant overall (e.g., an improved stove may double the efficiency of a traditional stove but still operate at a low efficiency)

3. Improved solid fuel stoves are often very smoky, sometimes producing more air

pollution than the traditional stoves they are meant to replace (MacCarty 2010).

In contrast, bioethanol is a clean fuel. Its combustion produces no smoke, only trace particulates and very low carbon monoxide (MacCarty 2009). Bioethanol is easy to burn because of its volatility (moves readily from liquid to gaseous state, which promotes combustion) and bioethanol stoves exist that operate at high relative efficiencies, similar to liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) stoves (MacCarty 2010).

From an economic and an environmental point of view, bioethanol also offers advantages. It allows a switch from reliance on woody biomass, trees and bushes, to reliance on agricultural crops. Trees, whether planted or wild, take time to grow. Fast growing trees may have a coppice rotation of three to five years or a whole tree harvest cycle of 25 to 30 years. If the harvest rate exceeds replacement growth, the biomass is not renewed. Unlike woody biomass, agricultural crops grow quickly and can be harvested one to several times per year. This provides both economic and environmental benefits. People living at or near subsistence need quick returns and cannot afford to invest years waiting for a crop to provide benefit. Agricultural crops return their inputs quickly, paying the dividends that their rapid growth has yielded. Well chosen agricultural crops grow quickly, withstand poor soils, unpredictable rains, and provide exactly what is needed, such as sugar or starch for fermentation to ethanol.

Woody crops are generally not as fast-growing as certain agricultural crops, especially the so-called C4 crops that add biomass more efficiently than other plants (Blume 2007). Examples of these are sugarcane and sweet sorghum (National Research Council 1996). These plants produce biomass rapidly, both above and below ground, and transfer high amounts of sugars (e.g. carbon) into the soil, leaving this carbon behind when they are harvested, in addition to what is left with the roots. The roots hold the soil, populate it with microorganisms and make it productive for the next crop. Both sweet sorghum and sugarcane grow extensive roots that go deep and place a lot

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Boiling Point. issue 59 — 2011

of organic matter into the soil (National Research Council 1996).

If the harvested portion of the plant, the stalk, leaves and seed head, is efficiently processed to the desired end uses, one of these being ethanol for stove fuel, then the agricultural crop has produced value in a short period, paid dividends from the energy provided by the sun, and provided not only economic returns, but environmental and health returns as well, including a clean fuel for cooking.

Where will the ethanol come from? Is the supply of ethanol sustainable? Not only was Haiti once a leading sugar producer and distiller of beverage ethanol for export, but also Haiti exists on trade routes over which billions of litres of ethanol flow each year on their way to a growing fuel market in the United States. This ethanol, mostly from Brazil, generally the most competitively priced in the market, can serve as a source of cooking fuel for Haiti—cheaper than kerosene and LPG—as Haiti builds up its own local production.

Twenty-nine years ago, Haiti harvested 80,000 hectares of sugarcane to support its sugar industry and worldwide sugar trade—its historic export commodity. Today, Haiti harvests less than 17,000 hectares of cane, with much of the traditional cane land now unused or only marginally productive (See Figure 2). The decline in sugar production reflects a general, across-the-board decline in Haiti’s agriculture, as cheap, imported foodstuffs have weakened Haitian agriculture and undercut local food and commodity crop production. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is widely viewed as having been harmful to Haitian agriculture, even by President Clinton himself (Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch 2010). Today, Haiti not only imports sugar for its domestic needs, but also rice, pulses, eggs and poultry and other staples it had always produced for itself.

Were Haiti to return to its 1981-82 sugarcane production, it could produce, using typical modern conversion rates, a whopping 300 million litres of ethanol per

year over and above what it produces now (assuming an annual yield rate per hectare of 6400 litres). Taking a daily consumption rate of one litre per family, this would provide cooking for more than 800,000 families—most of Haiti’s population. The sugarcane harvested and processed today goes for small scale Clairin production, with some to higher quality rum for export (177,000 litres in 1997, down from highs above 400,000 in 1991) (UNData 2010). Rum and Clairin are relatively small markets that cannot support a return to scale in sugarcane agriculture. Since Haiti can probably no longer compete in the global sugar or rum trades, new markets need to be found to enable a return to past production levels. Local energy markets could serve this purpose.

The daily buying and selling of cooking fuels is probably Haiti’s second largest cash market after food (Anglade 2009). Some 7,000 tons of charcoal were estimated to come into Port-au-Prince for sale in 2007 (ESMAP 2007). Using values from the SAFE report, this charcoal could have a retail value of 250m US$ annually. The Bureau of Mines and Energy estimated the value of the Haitian charcoal business at 150m US$ in 2008, with a volume of 380,000 tons per year. This values charcoal at about 0.40 US$ per kg. Most charcoal is bought and sold on the street.

Thus Haitian agriculture, if returned to its former strength, could support a large fuel ethanol industry. In the meantime, ethanol purchased from Brazil could start the local stove market and gain time for small farmers and distillers to build their local production capacity. Since Haiti was much more successful in feeding itself in years past, its food production peaking with its sugarcane production, the issue of food vs. fuel can be effectively addressed – based on Haiti’s own experience.

The decline in Haitian agriculture, with the drop in food production and competitiveness, is now understood to be an issue primarily of markets—the need of farmers to be able to sell what they grow, whether for food or energy, to earn the cash they need for replanting next year (Georges 2004). The clash between local production and imports, perhaps along with a certain amount of food dumping, has undermined Haiti’s competitiveness as a food producer for its own people. Haiti’s problem had not been one of competing crops pushing arable land out of food production (Georges 2004).

The way forward in Haiti

The ethanol (CleanCook) stove represents a good choice for Haiti that can address the emergency situation and also serve to rehabilitate the country’s agricultural sector when the crisis is over. The conventional choices in cooking fuels—wood, charcoal, kerosene and LPG–are scarce, expensive or not available. Ethanol can be purchased from Brazil and delivered for less than the current cost of charcoal, and also for less than the cost of kerosene and LPG. But ethanol can also be made cheaply in Haiti from the abundant sugarcane resource, which, along with other crops such as sweet sorghum, could help to revitalise Haitian agriculture.

Figure 1: Correlation of Peak sugarcane and Rice Production (source: uNData 2010)

Figure 2: Decline in sugarcane Production (source: uNData World statistics Pocketbook)

Figure 3: Traditional ethiopian tea ceremony in Addis Ababa using CleanCook stove (source: Project Gaia)

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Could you tell us a little about yourself and your role within Mercy Corps? What is the role of the environment, natural resources and climate change in your operations?

I am an ecologist by background with more than 14 years experience in South East Asia, particularly in Indonesia.

Before joining Mercy Corps, my work was largely based around conservation and natural resource management and at the time of the Tsunami in Sri Lanka, on natural resource conflict. I joined the agency at the time of the Tsunami as country director, and never quite left. It struck me then that a lot of the work we were doing on natural resource conflict actually had sustainable environmental management as a fundamental basis. The Climate Change, Environment and Natural Resources team at Mercy Corps started with just a partner in our Edinburgh office, Dory McIntosh, and myself, and is now expanding. It is important to clarify that we do not do climate change programming per se, rather that climate change is incorporated into everything we do. Adaptation is also incorporated in our programmes as part of ensuring the sustainability of our development efforts.

Whether suffering from a natural disaster or displaced due to conflict, what are the energy challenges that the communities you work with are having to face?

Take an area like the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where we are implementing a project around Goma

in the North Kivu region. Many people there remain displaced because of war, and are threatened by three rebel groups and the army. We went in there working on so‐called “traditional interventions” like water and sanitation and camp management. But what became clear was that women were becoming victims of sexual attack and children of abduction, because they needed to leave their camps in search of wooded areas to collect firewood.

We received funding through grants from ECO and the United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees (UNHCR) to implement programmes on fuel-efficient stoves and on fuelwood production through agroforestry with the objective of improving human security. In Myanmar for example, mangroves had already been so overharvested for firewood collection, that the Nargis floods and cyclone reportedly caused a high number of casualties in the area. So our activities in Myanmar involve tree planting of around 145,000 saplings in mangrove and on dry land to increase resilience to future storm surges. In parallel we are introducing fuel efficient stoves to decrease fuelwood consumption.

In East Timor the issue is more that people in the rural areas are highly neglected. Around 98% of firewood is being collected from the remaining timber naturally available. This is resulting in more frequent, localised disasters due to fires or landslides, and so our programmes there intend to involve introduction of fuel efficient stoves and the development of small timber plantations, or even just

woodlots, to reduce consumption, linking that also to provision of lighting.

There are two dangers I see: The first is that of making too direct a link between providing fuel-efficient stoves and reducing GBV. It is too generic a link and one has to look in more detail at how the chain works.

The second danger, and this is one I am very concerned about, is that a lot of the stoves promoted actually are not particularly efficient.

What long-term solutions can you offer to displaced communities that do not have and probably will not have for quite some time ownership of the land that they occupy?

I think the best thing we can do is facilitate. Many internally-displaced people (IDPs) are displaced away from where they live. They may be displaced to a city, like Port au Prince in Haiti right now, where people are in slum areas or in private lands belonging to other people. Or it may be in Sri Lanka where people were displaced first by war, then by a tsunami, and have had to move to agricultural land or national parkland. That wood however, is of course owned. If not by the state, then by private hands, and that creates major tensions.

And because camps, especially in the worst areas of the world, tend to be there for a long time, a decade or more for example is not rare, they devastate the surrounding area because they are collecting with no incentive to replant or look after it at all. So, in my opinion,

Interview with Jim Jarvie, Mercy Corps Director for Climate Change, Environment and Natural Resources

In this Viewpoints feature, we met up with Dr. Jim Jarvie who directs strategic planning and provides technical expertise to Mercy Corps’ climate, environmental and natural resource programmes globally, to get insight into Mercy Corps IDP refugee camp planning.

Viewpoints

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Boiling Point. issue 59 — 2011

where nongovernmental organisation (NGOs) and governments can be of assistance, is by beginning to plant trees at the early stages of camp development, recognising that the camp will most likely not be temporary.

Could you explain further the cash‐for‐work concept?

The victims of the incident, who have suffered from a disaster or a conflict and hence in most cases have no capital, get money in exchange for labour. This can be implemented in the very early days of the response. Obviously you have to deliver upfront aid and deliver necessities, but at the same time you’re pumping money into the local economy, to jumpstart purchase from local communities so that there is development on economic terms and less resentment in the long term.

Otherwise you get host communities, who are equally suffering from poverty, asking: ‘Why are the refugees getting all the goods for free? I live here and haven’t received anything at all’. And so cash‐for‐work enables development, such as land restoration or growth of fuel crops, and supply of fuelwood right from the beginning, so that the landscape is stabilised as much as possible before the unavoidable wave of unsustainable extraction.

In Mercy Corps’ response strategy, how early in an emergency response is environmental sustainability considered?

If we assume disaster response and development to be two consecutive stages, the response stage offers a transitional period where new technologies and cheaper, more effective ways of doing things can be introduced.

But in order to enable mid to long term development and transition from disaster, I think it is very important to boost the local economy through its value chains. People will already be buying energy products out of necessity, whether they are buying kerosene lamps, kerosene batteries or whatever else. It is an ideal time to introduce highly beneficial and ultimately cheaper energy products into traditional value chains.

But this has to be incorporated into conventional market processes for economic development to be sustainable,

and that is certainly the track we are taking within Mercy Corps in countries like the DRC, Myanmar, East Timor and Indonesia right now.

How early in the response process is energy a priority?

Lighting comes up very early on, particularly to do with security within the camp.

Lighting is firstly needed for feeling more secure, but it is actually directly related to security. Lighting is then needed for children to do their homework, for fishermen to repair their nets, people to cook food or sell things in the evening. So certainly energy for cooking comes up very early on and soon lighting follows. And that is a good opportunity to begin introducing alternative energy resources such as solar power and fuel efficient stoves. Otherwise people resort to the most common solution for lighting, kerosene, which of course can easily cause fire in a camp.

Is there potential to give centralised, grid electricity access post disaster to previously unelectrified communities? Have there been cases where governments were willing to do that?

I have actually seen the opposite. According to my observations, if people were not connected to the grid before a disaster, or funding allocated for that purpose in the near future, then it is certainly not going to happen after a disaster. If anything I would say that a disaster would reduce the likelihood that those that were off grid, will become on grid – it is just so expensive.

Would you say other humanitarian organisations share Mercy Corps’ market orientated approach towards rehabilitation? And do they have the mindset to facilitate it?

Mercy Corps is a both a humanitarian and development agency and there are many other agencies of a similar nature, including Save the Children, Oxfam and Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere (CARE). There is an increasing awareness of the importance of market mechanisms and for those who have been experimenting

with such processes and much more scope for collaboration and sharing practices.

In your experience has there be any coordination on the ground between agencies on energy access during a humanitarian response?

I do not think I have seen any energy clusters in operation, however coordination does happen on the ground. For example, during our programme in the DRC we are working closely with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) in distributing a lot of community woodlot fuel that WWF has been planting over the last decade or so. So coordination is there, but it needs to be stronger and incorporated into strategy and processes.

Jim, what aspect of energy access in an emergency context do you personally feel most strongly about?

One is that in many emergencies, particularly large, conflict-based ones, people are normally displaced for a long time especially in the poorer parts of the world. They will immediately need energy as soon as they settle in a camp, and hence energy provision needs to be considered right from the beginning of an emergency response, in order to keep the areas around the camp environmentally safe. The second priority, involves reducing the demand for energy which means introducing fuel efficient stoves, but I mean very fuel efficient stoves. The third priority involves providing lighting though alternative energy sources and reducing dependency on kerosene. Given that modern, environmentally less harmful energy products are decreasing in price and increasing in efficiency and life span, there is absolutely no reason why they shouldn’t be introduced in any humanitarian response from the word go.

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Figure 1: New stove pilot testing and a three stone stove (source: iRC Pakistan)

Figure 2: stove in the refugee camp (source: iRC Pakistan)

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Background

The sustainability aspect of energy needs is often not sufficiently addressed by those who provide

assistance in humanitarian crisis response operations in post-conflict and post-disaster situations. Despite the fact that UNHCR and other emergency aid organisations have included substantial elements of sustainable energy supply in their policies and plans, implementation is often late or insufficient. The resulting long term humanitarian and ecological effects can be dramatic.

An advocacy and learning project has been set up on the issue of energy use – with a focus on household fuels – in humanitarian crisis response situations, collaboratively between the Institute for Environmental Security and IUCN-Netherlands Committee. The goal of this project is to improve the policies and practices of (Dutch) humanitarian aid organisations on fuel-related issues, and to encourage policymakers in the Netherlands to push the issue higher on their agenda. A brief scan of policies and best practices of humanitarian aid organisations and

potential alternative energy sources and technologies was published in 2009 and has formed the basis of this article (van Dorp 2009). As a follow-up, a workshop was held in April 2010 in Amsterdam on Emergency Aid and Ecosystems, involving a group of international experts (IES 2010). It is worth mentioning that the IUCN Netherlands Committee, through its Ecosystem Grants Programme, has been providing small grants for initiatives directed at improving environmental management in emergency response situations over the last 10 years (see IUCN-NL, forthcoming).

Energy needs in emergency response operations: policies and best practiceKeywords: Fuel, energy needs, Fuel-related policies, Alternative energy, Humanitarian aid, emergency response, Darfur

This article provides an overview of initiatives to improve fuel efficiency in humanitarian aid situations, with special attention to fuel-related policies of Dutch humanitarian aid organisations. It is concluded that safer and more effective fuels or energy technologies need to be mainstreamed into standard procedures and budgets of humanitarian aid agencies. To stimulate this, an advocacy and learning project has been set up on the issue of energy use – with a focus on household fuels – in humanitarian crisis response situations, by the IUCN National Committee of the Netherlands in cooperation with the Institute for Environmental Security and DUVILLA.

Author Mark van Dorp Director, DuViLLA Panamalaan 6-G, 1019AZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands, vandorp@duvilla.nl

Figure 1: energy needs in humanitarian crises (source (left to right): eric van de Giesen, Virginia echavarria, emmanuel de Merode (ies))

PeeR ReVieWeDReceived 09 August 2010Accepted 22 May 2010

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Cases of ecological damage in and around refugee or IDP campsTwo case studies of recent crises response operations demonstrate that the ecological impacts of refugee camps and settlements can have disastrous consequences on future livelihoods of both displaced and host communities.

Case Study 1: Rwandese refugees in Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)

The influx of Rwandese refugees in Tanzania and the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in the mid-1990s led to an ecological disaster with huge impacts on forest and water resources, biodiversity and protected areas. In north-western Tanzania, six months after the arrival of half a million refugees, tree resources within 5 km of the camps had been cut down. One year after their arrival, the average distance for getting fuel was 10 km or more. Pastureland in the vicinity of the camps was seriously overgrazed by the thousands of cattle, sheep and goats that came along with the refugees. Another area of environmental degradation was water shortage and pollution of water resources (soil and groundwater). In some places the vegetation was completely cleared for refugee settlements (HPN 1995).

Various programmes have been set up in response to the environmental damage caused by the refugee camps, lead by organisations including the German Cooperation Agency (GIZ), the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the African Conservation Fund. An emergency environmental programme was started by GIZ focusing on Kahindo Camp in the DRC, which bordered the Virunga National Park. IFRC later expanded the initiative to include Kibumba Camp. GIZ also provided a local NGO with technical and financial support for environmental measures in Lac Vert Camp. Together these camps housed 365,000 refugees. The focus was on energy efficient systems, fuel-saving technologies and cooking techniques. An extensive

environmental awareness programme reached more than 70% of the refugees. The GIZ experience highlighted that the promotion of better cooking techniques for fuel efficiency was found to be highly valuable.

Case Study 2: Displaced people in Darfur, Sudan

In Darfur, where two million displaced people have been living in camps since 2003, there has been severe deforestation around the larger camps. According to a report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP 2007), people living in IDP camps in Darfur are forced to find timber and fuelwood in the surrounding areas, as fuel is not provided for by any humanitarian organisation. Also, wood is collected for fuelling brick kilns, as a means to generate income. Manufacturing bricks by burning wood can require up to 200 trees per day in some camps in Darfur. Nonetheless, such practices are sometimes encouraged by development organisations (International Alert 2007). Between 2003 and 2005, international agencies were the main consumers of construction timber as they set up infrastructure for IDP camps. It is estimated that 1.5 million kilograms of firewood is needed on a daily basis to provide the 2 million people with fuel (Gadgil & Amrose 2006).

Firewood collection is practically uncontrolled. This has led to situations where camp residents have to travel up to 15km to find wood, in some cases even up to 75km (e.g. in Kalma Camp) (UNEP 2007; UNEP 2008). It is reported that, due to this lack of accessible firewood, the food security of a significant number of IDP families has been threatened. In the recent past, firewood patrols have been organised to protect women and girls during firewood collection, but these have been abolished due to lack of security for patrollers and lack of wood still remaining to be collected (Pers. comm. E. Patrick, Women’s Refugee Commission,

2009). The vibrant relief economy is fuelling a large market for bricks and charcoal, with a dramatic impact on future livelihood options. This is often the only means of earning some income for displaced people and host communities (Tearfund 2007).

The need for coordination of fuel-related initiatives is more acute in Darfur than in nearly any other displacement situation. This is caused by the aridity of the environment combined with the serious protection concerns associated with collection of firewood. This has lead to a wide variety of actors becoming engaged in fuel-related programming with different motivations and with varying results. A report by Tearfund (2007) concludes that in Darfur, environment is not adequately integrated in the relief programme and suffers from a lack of technically skilled personnel. More and more relief agencies have begun focusing on fuel without taking into account what other agencies are doing and without considering the multi-sectoral implications of their work (WRC 2006a). This has led to situations in which some projects implemented to reduce protection concerns are unwittingly contributing to environmental degradation (Pers. comm. E. Patrick, WRC, 2009). Many of the agencies do not have prior experience with fuel-related projects and therefore may not always be implementing in the most effective way. They may also not know how to effectively monitor the impact or evaluate the outcomes of fuel-related projects.

Frontrunners on fuel-related issuesA number of organisations working on humanitarian crisis response are actively promoting fuel efficiency and alternative energy sources and technologies. One of these frontrunners is UNHCR, who is leading the process of integration of environmental issues in humanitarian aid projects. In 1996 the first version of the UNHCR Environmental Guidelines was released. Since then, much has happened

Figure 2: impact of population displacement on natural resources in Rwanda and eastern DRC (source: ies 2008)

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in terms of translating this policy into practice. However, the organisation also admits that much remains to be done. Environmental concerns are still not dealt with in a consistent manner in refugee and returnee situations, but some promising efforts are underway.

In 2001, UNHCR initiated a project known as FRAME – Framework for Assessing, Monitoring and Evaluating the Environment in Refugee-related Operations (UNHCR/CARE International 2005). The project was designed to develop, test and deliver a series of tools to a wide range of users, primarily UNHCR managers and field staff, but also implementing partners government authorities and others working on environment-related support projects or programmes. The toolkit was developed in collaboration with CARE International. The toolkit can help to obtain a clearer picture on fuel-related issues as illustrated in the example below.

Other toolkits that are paying attention to fuel-related issues include the Sphere Handbook and the Camp Management Toolkit. The Sphere Handbook was developed by a group of humanitarian NGOs and the Red Cross and Red Crescent movement in an effort to improve the quality of assistance provided to people affected by disaster. Environment is included in the Sphere Handbook as a crosscutting issue and has been incorporated into the relevant sections of each key sector. There is no section specifically dedicated to energy, and the guidelines are related to improved cook stoves mainly.

UNHCR is also one of the initiators of the IASC Task Force on Safe Access to Firewood & alternative Energy in humanitarian settings (SAFE), which recently published a number of fuel-related policy guidance tools.

Fuel-related policies of Dutch humanitarian aid organisations Among five Dutch Humanitarian Aid agencies interviewed, (Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Holland, ZOA Refugee Care, Cordaid, Oxfam Novib and ICCO & Kerk in Actie), there is general consensus about the severity of the environmental impacts in and around refugee and IDP camps. The problem of fuelwood shortage was highlighted by the organisations interviewed. Some organisations are actively using the Sphere Handbook.

However, the response to the problem of fuel wood and energy use varies significantly from one organisation to the other. Only a few organisations are actively working on environmental impacts (and thus livelihood impacts) of household fuel use and these include ZOA Refugee Care. In their field operations in Ethiopia, ZOA has been working on the improvement of fuel efficiency for several decades. This includes promotion of improved stoves as well as solar cooking. Cordaid, who is active both during the emergency response and the reconstruction phase, is supporting projects with fuel-related components, for example through the provision of fuel-efficient stoves in DRC and Sri Lanka.

The review has revealed that most humanitarian NGOs recognize the need for more attention to fuel projects in refugee camps. However, they either lack the funding and/or the technical and human resources capacity to carry them out.

Discussion Among international humanitarian agencies and NGOs, there is consensus on the need for more attention to fuel strategies in refugee camps. However, making this a priority within these organisations/departments is much more complicated. On an organisational level, most agencies claim they either lack the funding and/or the technical and human resources capacity to carry them out. The problem is that the speed and scale of the coping strategies are lagging behind the urgency and dramatic scale of the problem of fuel scarcity in many protracted refugee situations. A key factor is that the fuel - ecosystem link is not mainstreamed into operational procedures.

Most of the training and stove distribution in refugee and IDP camps have, so far, been ad hoc in nature. There has been little sharing of best practices within or between agencies in the same region, leading to significant inefficiencies in programming and design. A general tendency is that emergency aid organisations (working in the acute emergency phase) focus more on the protection/security issues of fuel, while organisations that are focused on early recovery and rehabilitation focus more on the environmental/livelihood issues of fuel. Despite the difference in scope (short term vs. long term), both types of organisations are in essence striving for the same thing: more sustainable fuel supplies and improved livelihoods.

Recommendations Emergency relief should not destroy future development options for the refugees, returnees or host populations. It is crucial that the long-term ecosystem impacts of the relief operations are fully taken into account from the planning stages. Donors of emergency aid programmes must assure this approach is mainstreamed in order to also avoid potentially huge development aid expenses (caused by soil erosion or lack of drinking water supply) in the future.

More attention is needed on the inclusion of local conflict analysis and preferably a “Do No Harm” assessment before the implementation of fuel-related projects. The Do No Harm method was developed by the US based CDA Collaborative Learning Projects. Environmental security should have the same weight as food security, in order to ensure that future livelihoods and human security are not endangered.

There is a need for a more structural change of mind-set by humanitarian aid organisations towards willingness to tackle fuel problems in refugee camps. The tools and policy guidelines are readily available and it is now a matter of mainstreaming and implementing them within every humanitarian agency.

The budgets of relief operations should include the implementation of low impact domestic fuel supply and related staff capacity building.

There is a strong need for better coordination of fuel-related initiatives, starting with further dialogue on this issue among humanitarian organisations. The starting point in this dialogue took place in April 2010 during a workshop on Emergency Aid and Ecosystems, organised by the Institute for Environmental Security and IUCN National Committee of the Netherlands.

Acknowledgements The author would like to thank all the people interviewed for this project. special thanks to Mark van der Wal (iuCN National Committee of the Netherlands) and eric van de Giessen (institute for environmental security) for their support and inputs.

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Boiling Point. issue 59 — 2011

Their journeys usually begin before dawn. Hundreds of thousands of women displaced by war or

disaster, in different countries around the world, leave the relative safety of their camps to search for firewood to be able to cook for their families.

Sometimes they walk for hours before they find even a small bush to chop up, other times they wander into the midst of an ongoing conflict, sometimes they are directly targeted for rape, assault or even murder by militias, bandits, soldiers – or just opportunists. In some of world’s more arid regions and in some of the most densely populated displaced persons’ camps, unsustainable harvesting of firewood over time has caused permanent environmental degradation. In some of the bleakest cases, such as Darfur, all of the above is true.

Many displaced women are also dependent on firewood as their primary source of income. They may collect it to sell, or perhaps use it to make charcoal.

Most of the previous attempts by the humanitarian system to respond to this problem have been less than successful due to a lack of technical knowledge and an over-reliance on ‘solutions’ not

appropriate to local contexts. In many of the cases where organisations have disseminated fuel efficient stoves (FES) or alternative fuels, the projects are too frequently (and self-admittedly) incongruous and inconsistent and ultimately unsustainable. Programming focused on income generation, or alternatives to collecting firewood for sale, has also been limited.

Despite the gravity of the environmental and protection risks, strategic investment has not been forthcoming. Ensuring safe access to appropriate household energy deserves urgent and specific attention. As recently recognised by the humanitarian system, what is needed to help protect displaced women is the establishment of a comprehensive, cross-sectoral approach to household energy.

IASC Task Force SAFE

Recognising both the myriad of concerns associated with the collection and use of firewood as well as the fact that there was no single existing humanitarian agency or policy for addressing these concerns, in 2007 the Women’s Refugee Commission spearheaded the creation

of the InterAgency Standing Committee Task Force on Safe Access to Firewood and alternative Energy in Humanitarian Settings (IASC Task Force SAFE). The Task Force, which was in existence from 2007 to 2008, was co-chaired by the Women’s Refugee Commission (working under the authority of the United States NGO consortium InterAction), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the World Food Programme (WFP) and counted 14 other key humanitarian agencies as its members.

The main goal of the Task Force, as stated in its Terms of Reference, was to

‘Reduce exposure to violence, contribute to the protection of and ease the burden on those populations collecting wood in humanitarian settings worldwide, through solutions which will promote safe access to appropriate energy and reduce environmental impacts while ensuring accountability.’

The Task Force members understood that the issue of household energy crosses many traditional humanitarian response sectors, and any responses that are developed must be cross-sectoral in nature in order to be effective.

Authors Erin Patrick senior Program Officer, Fuel and Firewood initiative Women’s Refugee Commission 122 e 42nd st, 11th Floor New York NY, 10168 usA erinp@wrcommission.org

Catherine Bellamy Policy Officer united Nations World Food Programme Via C.G. Viola 68/70, 00148 Rome, italy catherine.bellamy@wfp.org

The collection and use of firewood – and consequences thereof, such as rape and environmental degradation – is a multisectoral issue, which cannot be effectively addressed by a singularly-mandated agency acting alone. The InterAgency Standing Committee Task Force on Safe Access to Firewood and alternative Energy in Humanitarian Settings was created to reduce exposure to violence, contribute to the protection of those populations collecting wood in humanitarian settings worldwide. The Task Force also created the International Network on Household Energy in Humanitarian Settings to serve as an information sharing platform for developers and implementers of household energy technologies that are applicable for use in humanitarian settings. The Women’s Refugee Commission and the World Food Programme are now working to ensure implementation of the guidance created by the Task Force.

PeeR ReVieWeDReceived 12 July 2010

Accepted 20 October 2010

Ensuring safe access to appropriate household energy: The work of the World Food Programme and Women’s Refugee CommissionKeywords: Refugee, internally displaced people, Humanitarian, Household energy, Gender-based violence, Cooking fuel, Firewood, environment, united Nations

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After 18 months of inter-agency effort to build an effective and holistic response to household energy needs, the Task Force developed the first ever global guidance focusing on the need to ensure safe access to appropriate household energy in humanitarian settings from the start of every emergency. This guidance consists of three key outputs:1. A Matrix on Agency Roles and

Responsibilities for Developing a Coordinated, Multi-Sectoral Fuel Strategy in Humanitarian Settings (Figure 1);

2. Decision Tree Diagrams on the Factors Affecting Choice of Fuel Strategy in Humanitarian Settings; and

3. The International Network on Household Energy in Humanitarian Settings (www.fuelnetwork.org)

The Matrix

There is no ‘lead agency’ within the humanitarian system that is charged with addressing household energy needs, in the way that the World Health Organization (WHO) addresses health issues or that WFP addresses food and nutrition issues, for example. Given the multisectoral nature of household energy, however, this lack of a single lead agency is not necessarily a bad thing: in fact, a comprehensive and holistic response to the myriad of needs and concerns associated with the issue cannot be effectively put in place by a singularly mandated agency or cluster acting alone. Such a response requires the input and expertise of a wide variety of actors.

However, before the creation of the Task Force, there was no framework in place to assist the humanitarian system in determining what household energy-related activities needed to be implemented by which agency, where or when. The result was that critical activities were either not being implemented at all, or were implemented in an ad hoc and unpredictable manner.

In order to address this problem, the Task Force developed a Matrix, which defines the key household energy-related activities that must occur in each of the eight issue areas, in order to achieve an effective, predictable, cross-sectoral response in new and ongoing humanitarian crises. Most importantly, it tasks key agencies with ultimate responsibility for ensuring that the listed activities are indeed implemented. In short, the Matrix lays out who (which agency) must do what (specific fuel-related activities), when (in which phase of response).

So, for example, under the issue area Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM), the Matrix lists several fuel-related activities such as conducting fuel-related needs assessments in collaboration with partners/beneficiaries and establishing a fuel strategy that CCCM agencies are responsible for undertaking. The added value of the Matrix is that it presents, for the first time, a clear framework for cross-sectoral coordination of fuel-related activities in the context of emergencies.

Decision Tree Diagrams

Recognising that there is no ‘magic bullet’ solution for addressing household energy needs, the Task Force developed Decision Tree Diagrams to assist humanitarian actors in these various settings to determine the most appropriate strategies for their specific situation. See Toolkit pg.23 for further information.

International Network on Household Energy in Humanitarian Settings

The Task Force worked primarily at the headquarters level (in Geneva and New York). Therefore, in order to ensure the relevance of its work, to ensure that field-based actors and interests were represented in the process, and to create a body that would live on after its disbandment to ensure long-term sustainability and the continued relevance of its work, the Task Force created the International Network on Household Energy in Humanitarian Settings. In short, called the ‘Fuel Network’.

The Fuel Network, a web based knowledge portal, was also created to respond to what was seen by Task Force members as the insufficient technical capacity within existing humanitarian agencies, to actually carry out many of the household energy-related activities and solutions detailed in the Matrix and Decision Trees.

Figure 1: A Matrix on Agency Roles and Responsibilities for Developing a Co-ordinated, Multi-sectorial Fuel strategy in Humanitarian settings (source: iNsC Task Force 2010)

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The key goal of the Network is therefore to create an information sharing platform, linking the implementers of household energy technologies in humanitarian settings with these ‘non-traditional humanitarian actors’ who are developing new fuels and technologies that are applicable for use in humanitarian settings.

With over 100 members and additional users from all over the world, the Fuel Network provides a wide variety of information, reports and evaluations on numerous household energy technologies and projects. These are organised by issue area (protection, health, environment, etc.); region; and type of intervention. In 2008, the Fuel Network also hosted the world’s first major international research conference on household energy in humanitarian settings, bringing over 100 individuals from two dozen countries to New Delhi to present and demonstrate projects and interventions.

The Fuel Network also hopes to develop a monitoring and evaluation toolkit for energy projects in displacement settings and providing resources for analysing the policies of and engaging with local and national governments.

Next Steps: The SAFE initiative of the World Food Programme (WFP)

WFP has remained firmly committed to working in partnership with other relevant actors to ensure a coordinated humanitarian response to the collection, supply and use of household energy. Last December, WFP’s Executive Director committed WFP to reaching six million beneficiaries in displacement settings through the SAFE Initiative by the end of 2011.

In order to achieve this goal, WFP is working with the Women’s Refugee Commission on aspects of project design and assessment. It is also partnering with the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the German Society for Technical Cooperation (GIZ), UNHCR and others to take the recommendations of the IASC Task Force SAFE forward. This three-part SAFE Initiative is a comprehensive strategy which aims to scale up the dissemination of fuel-efficient stoves and alternative fuels; explore and pilot environmentally friendly energy technologies; work with partners to promote the creation of livelihood activities and reduce the reliance on firewood collection for income.

SAFE activities have been launched in Sudan and Uganda. A rapid assessment has been undertaken in Haiti with a view to initiating relief activities, and feasibility studies have recently been conducted in Kenya and Sri Lanka. Additional activities are being planned in Ethiopia.

One example where the SAFE approach is being implemented is in North Darfur, where WFP provides food aid to 1.5 million people. As such, WFP is in the unique position to undertake a comprehensive approach for ensuring safe access to firewood – focusing on protection, livelihoods and the environment – through a series of targeted activities.

Through this project, WFP is working with partners to provide and assist almost 100,000 women in North Darfur with fuel-efficient stoves. These households will reach more than half a million beneficiaries.

Conclusion

By working together through the IASC Task Force SAFE and now on the implementation of the SAFE programme in several countries, the Women’s Refugee Commission and WFP hope to ensure that millions of displaced women have safer access to one of the most fundamental of human needs: the fuel to cook their meals.

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Figure 2: stove testing in Mugungu and Goma camps in the DRC in 2009 (source: Mercy Corps)

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New guidance for disaster assistance organisations: An implementer’s toolkit for fuel-efficient stove programs in humanitarian settings

Over the past five years, an increasing number of humanitarian organisations have become involved in introducing fuel-efficient stoves (FES) to disaster-affected populations around the world. Because attention to household energy needs in disaster settings is a relatively new focus among aid organisations, there has been little existing guidance on lessons learned and good practices in this sector. In response to this information gap, beginning in 2005, the Agency for International Development (USAID) undertook a series of assessments of FES programs and stove performance tests in northern Uganda; Darfur, Sudan; and northern Kenya. Those assessments revealed a variety of implementation problems associated with inadequate numbers of technical staff, user training, stove design, monitoring, and evaluation. These findings prompted USAID to develop a toolkit for organisations carrying out FES programs in humanitarian settings.

The resulting Fuel Efficient Stove Programs in Humanitarian Settings: An Implementer’s Toolkit is organised into twelve guidance steps and associated tools that range from how to determine if a stove program is appropriate and feasible in a given disaster context, to monitoring and evaluation questionnaires. Other steps include information on staffing, household and site surveys, project proposal development, stove choice and specifications, and end-user training. The toolkit aims to improve the overall quality, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness of humanitarian stove programming.

All three outputs of the IASC Task Force SAFE provide practical guidance on developing effective,

holistic coordination and response mechanisms for the range of concerns associated with the collection, supply and use of household energy in humanitarian settings. The Decision Tree Diagrams should be read in conjunction with the Matrix for guidance as to which clusters/agencies are responsible for ensuring that specific fuel-related activities are undertaken. For additional technical information, please refer to the website (www.fuelnetwork.org).

The goal of these Diagrams is to address the range of and difference between fuel-related needs in the field – recognising that there is no single fuel or energy technology appropriate for use in all humanitarian contexts. Thus, the Diagrams present a clear means of determining which factors should influence the choice of fuel strategy in an individual setting, based on simple responses to a series of questions about local priorities, access, availability, etc. The term “strategy” is used to reflect the fact that many settings may require more than one type of fuel or energy technology, especially over the long term.

Recognising that short and long-term fuel strategies may by necessity be different, the Diagrams cover two response phases: acute emergency and protracted settings. The acute emergency Diagram is particularly intended for emergency response teams, site selectors/site planners and camp managers at the outset of a new emergency and, as such, focuses on only the most essential fuel-related concerns. The protracted settings diagram is intended for all field-based actors with responsibility for determining a long-

term fuel strategy and, as such, provides guidance on the inter-linkages between a series of considerations and the cross-sectoral ramifications of each.

Importance of Participatory AssessmentsParticipatory assessment is a process of building partnerships with displaced communities by promoting meaningful participation by people of all ages and backgrounds through structured dialogue. An in-depth participatory assessment with refugee and IDP communities, as early as possible after their displacement, is important for a variety of reasons outlined in more detail. Specific to fuel, however, participatory assessments are key to ensuring the long-term viability and sustainability of a fuel strategy. Simply put, if the fuel strategy does not respond to the needs, habits and preferences expressed by the community itself, the community will seek other fuel options – including perhaps the unsafe or unsustainable options that these Diagrams are attempting to minimise.

A detailed methodology for conducting multifunctional participatory assessments is available at www.unhcr.org/protect.html. In addition, a questionnaire for beneficiaries specific to cooking fuel needs and preferences is available on the accompanying flash drive or can be downloaded from www.fuelnetwork.org.

It is imperative that participatory assessments with beneficiaries are conducted alongside the use of these decision tree Diagrams, as an integral part of the process for determining the most appropriate and effective fuel strategy in a particular setting.

The Decision Tree Diagrams are one of three main outputs of the InterAgency Standing Committee Task Force on Safe Access to Firewood and alternative Energy in Humanitarian Settings (IASC Task Force SAFE). The other two outputs are the “Matrix on Agency Roles and Responsibilities for Ensuring a Coordinated Multi-Sectoral Fuel Strategy in Humanitarian Settings” and the International Network on Household Energy in Humanitarian Settings and its informational website (at www.fuelnetwork.org).

Safe Access to Firewood and alternative Energy in Humanitarian Settings (SAFE) Decision Tree Diagrams

ToolkitAuthor Inter-Agency Standby Committee (IASC)

iasc@fuelnetwork.org www.fuelnetwork.org

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Boiling Point. issue 59 — 2011

TOOLKIT

24

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25Boiling Point. issue 59 — 2011

Rationale

Plan International is a child-centred community-development organisation. Children and a

rights-based approach are at the heart of everything we do. For that reason Plan would require all data collection for such a project to be centred on the needs and views of children and young people, and children’s rights in the emergency context.

In emergency situations involving children and young people, relief and recovery processes ensure that their interests are adequately addressed, and recognises the important role that children can play in this context. It provides a form of psychosocial support, offering children the opportunity to adjust and take control in an uncertain environment, and benefits the community more broadly. In order to benefit from the perspectives and experiences of young people, an environment must be created in which they feel comfortable, safe and confident to share their views with their peers and with Plan (or local NGO) staff.

A child-centred approach to data gathering means not only that children must be given the opportunity and supported to take part but also that the views, needs and rights of children are taken into account in discussions among adult stakeholders – whether they be humanitarian actors or community members.

Plan would expect the local NGO to also involve children in different stages of project design (e.g. how to distribute cookstoves, what kinds of cookstoves to propose) as well as implementation (i.e. the actual distribution of cookstoves, who gets them first etc.) and monitoring and evaluation processes for learning from the experience.

Plan would support exploration into the use of appropriate renewable energies in the immediate, medium and long term; and aim to ensure the future climate and other risk resilience of chosen energy interventions. However, in light of external evidence seen, Plan would not support the use of solar cookstoves.

Practicalities

Focus group discussions are an effective tool for gathering children’s opinions and, in the case of this scenario, collecting data. It should be noted however, that focus group discussions must be carefully designed and structured if they are intended to collect quantitative data – since they are primarily conducive to qualitative information sharing.

Other child-friendly or youth-friendly activities could also take place for data gathering, which may be drawn from a number of available Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) or Participatory Needs Assessment (PNA) tools.

It is important to consider from the beginning whether taking part in such activities will create a burden for participants. This might be due to family responsibilities or other factors related to their current context, which may cause stress for the children if they were also to take part in this process. The local NGO should remain context-sensitive, and in doing so respect children’s other priorities and actively uphold child protection standards and rules.

Once children’s views, perhaps recommendations, have been gathered (children themselves can be trained and supported to lead activities including focus group discussions if appropriate), these views must be shared with adult groups including community leaders, and vice versa, to ensure the reciprocity of the process and to provide an opportunity to address any significant discrepancies.

Youth facilitators are a great intermediary between children’s groups and adults’ groups. Such a ‘youth-led’ aspect in project planning and implementation not only increases the uptake and interest among children themselves, but also enriches the process for everyone involved.

Gender responsiveness and gender disaggregation are important for including women and girls and securing accurate and relevant data collection and analysis. In terms of data collection, there may be

Response: Daniel Walden, Kelly Hawrylyshyn and Tamara Curtis of Plan International UK

HelplineA local NGO in Peshawar in Pakistan has partnered with your organi-sation in order to support the dissemination of fuel-efficient cook-stoves to a camp of 50,000 IDPs, displaced by the August ‘10 floods.

More specifically, the NGO has been requested to collect energy data from the camp, to aid them towards the appropriate dissemination of the fuel-efficient cookstoves, and to carry out the dissemination as is needed. The cookstoves would be provided by your organisation.

They would like advice on the type of energy data they should be collecting, and how they should go about collecting it. They would also like advice on how they should use his data for distribution of the stoves. For example, who should they prioritise? Should the stoves be given out free of cost? What options could they consider?

AuthorsDaniel Walden1

Programme Officer, Disaster Risk Reduction

Co-Authors Kelly Hawrylyshyn2

Deputy Programme Manager, Disaster Risk Reduction

Tamara Curtis3

Programme Officer, Disaster Management

Plan international uK 5-7 Cranwood street, London eC1V 9LH united Kingdom

1Daniel.Walden@plan-international.o rg

2Kelly.Hawrylyshyn@plan-international.org

3Tamara.Curtis@plan-international.org

HELPLINE

GENERALHELPLINE

several social, cultural and other barriers which might prevent girls and women from taking part at all in such data collection.

Plan therefore would recommend that such barriers are addressed and that girls and women are given access to information about data collection activities, and supported to attend should they wish to.

In the current context it is especially important that women and girls are included in data gathering, and are supported to share their views, since it is often their responsibility both to collect firewood and to do the cooking itself – they will be the primary users of cookstoves and must be able to share important, relevant information.

Underlying social and cultural factors may affect the ability of girls to take part, in particular lack of access to information about such activities and duties with the family or in the ‘household’. Similarly children – and adults – with disabilities, or at a different position in the social hierarchy may be excluded by default and this should be recognised and addressed. Consultant experts might be called on for advice on this respect.

One should bear in mind that humanitarian actors are also likely to have energy requirements in the camp and as such representatives from these agencies should be involved in the data collection process.

Technicalities – what type of data Plan would recommend that a local NGO would remain consistent with Plan’s work and determine the various energy priorities, and as such data required, through working with camp coordinating committees. This may be government-led or NGO-led, or run by local community leaders. In the case of the latter, local community hierarchies should be taken into account together with any bias that may prevent proportionally equal distribution of energy-related aid. Coordination committees for this purpose must remain unbiased in order not to skew the data collection process.

The presence of the local NGO itself serves as a valuable tool from Plan’s point of view as the NGO will be able to assess needs against the background of local context,

nuances and hierarchies and, approach discussions with a coordinating committee accordingly. The local NGO in particular will be able to speculate about impacts that project activities may have on local resources and routines. Plan would recommend that the local NGO, in discussion with the coordinating committee, ask for details on the following factors:— Physical arrangement of the camp

including how many families, children and total people are in each area

— Arrangements for food aid in the camp (how food is supplied and distributed currently; details on cooking arrangements and fuel supplies; within families, whose responsibility it is to meet food-related needs such as fuel collection and cooking; etc.)

— How energy needs are currently being met in the community prior to the floods and in the camp currently

— Proportion of unaccompanied children in the camp and procedures in place for temporary care-giving

— Effects on camp members of current climate and weather context

— Presence of, and arrangements around, education facilities in the camp including attendance of children and young people in education sessions

— Fuel collection and environmental management (what kind of source fuel is collected from; current and estimated future availability of fuel; alternative sources; etc)

When discussing children and young people, there must be a distinction between children (under the age of 18 and in need of a care giver) and young people (under the age of 25). Different age groups, for example under 12 years old, 12-18 and 19-25, enable different perspectives to emerge. The situation of participants might then also be considered including young mothers, etc.

Collecting the data and distributing the energy aidPlan would recommend that the local NGO, having determined what kind of information is needed, establish and support focus group discussions in the

camp, with women and men, boys and girls, to establish a clear and comprehensive picture of what is needed and where. In collecting data and qualitative information from focus groups, the same data should be sought from all participants. The difference will lie in the approach to questioning – depending on who is taking part: women, men, boys or girls.

Any distribution strategy should take place in coordination with the United Nations Clusters, if present; and should incorporate other important crosscutting development issues such as disaster risk reduction, children’s rights, sustainable environmental management and gender responsiveness.

In the interest of promoting the return to education, Plan would recommend that priority be given to the installation of cookstoves in temporary schools and child-friendly spaces. Plan would also support the installation particularly in communal kitchens, with a view to promote the reconvening of a community, or support for the ‘social fabric’, and as part of psychosocial welfare especially for women.

Figure 1 & 2: Focus group discussions with children and young people following Haiti earthquake (source: Kelly Hawrylyshyn, Plan uK)

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Boiling Point. issue 59 — 2011

GENERALHELPLINE

Boiling Point. issue 59 — 2011

Energy surveys which focus on measurement requiring quantity and unit, can be difficult to conduct with

precision when the targeted population has only a limited knowledge to estimate and quantify their daily/weekly consumed energy. Though going through all the process of energy data gathering may be costly and time consuming, doing so is necessary for a successful household energy intervention.

A questionnaire is one of the most effective methods of collecting energy data of IDP households. Usually, in such scenarios the energy data gathered through the questionnaires might not be accurate enough and needs to be backed up by other methods. In this case, actual fuel measurement in sample households would be the most appropriate. The energy data questionnaire basically focuses on finding out daily demanded quantity of fuel/energy, which will be estimated by the household. It asks for the household’s energy requirement before and after they become displaced. The expectation will be that their energy demand will be different, due to change in cooking habits to cope with the current set up.

The households historical and present cooking habits shows the current energy demand, which is the information being sought. To reach at this valuable information it is advised that the following steps are followed.

Camp Observation

Household visits During the visit, NGO staff observe and question households from different sec-tions of the camp on their cooking habits, commonly-used types of cooking fuel and stoves. This helps in questionnaire design and in focusing the study area. Notes should be made if there is a significant dif-ference in cooking habits or cooking fuels used in different sections of the camp.

Camp set upThrough the visit and help of other partners, the camp set up in terms of clan formation or other factors that affect cooking habits and cooking fuel-use should be investigated.

In the case of a uniform camp distribution, a sample from the entire population can be chosen randomly for the energy data gathering process. If the camp has a non-uniform set-up on fuel-type use and consumption (cooking different traditional foods), a stratified sampling technique will be more appropriate for easier questioning and analysis. Arrange a discussion with cooks from the campSetting up a discussion with the cooks, usually the mothers of the households, is very important for understanding foods usually cooked and to know fuels used. During this discussion, common units of measurement for energy fuel and quantity of food will be developed by the commu-nity for later use in the survey, and con-verted to the standard units of measure-ment afterwards.

Survey Designing questionnaireThe survey questions should include family size, age distribution, cooking habits, energy type and quantity used. Data is to be collected for both before and after displacement. The survey should be first tested in sample households to correct ambiguous questions, to see how the units of measurements work in the survey and find out unforeseen problems/information in the survey.

Survey implementationSample households should be selected from households differing in family-size and other criteria, depending on the IDPs uniformity. Qualified surveyors should be selected and get trained well, prior to starting the survey.The surveyors visit each sample household and supervise the surveying process to ensure data quality.

Result analysisDuring the analysis of collected data comparison of historical energy needs of households with current needs will be conducted and the reasons for any difference in energy demand determined.

Sample Household Energy MeasurementIn this method which supports the data gathered by the questionnaire, households will be selected from study households with different family sizes. The selected households will be introduced to the recommended improved cooking technology. Appropriate training and enough time to get used to the stove needs to be given. The households’ energy use is surveyed through actual measurement of the households daily energy use. A household’s estimated daily energy requirement gets measured for its next day use. At the end of the day’s cooking session the remaining fuel will be measured and similar measurement will be done the day after. Samples of daily energy consumptions are gathered for crosschecking with data collected through the questionnaire.

The result of the two methods will be crosschecked and summarised to give a reasonable estimation of energy demand for each family size of households.

Improved Stove DisseminationDissemination of stove cannot be done at once for 50,000 IDPs. Therefore, the distribution needs to be done step by step and this ultimately requires prioritisation. One basic principle is prioritising the most vulnerable within the IDPs. Vulnerable are those people who are exposed to more danger or have limited ability in securing their energy need due to different factors. Based on this, female-headed households, elderly people, households with disability, households with special needs and other such criteria should be identified and those households should be addressed first.

Response: Milkyas Debebe and Wubshet Tadele of Gaia Association

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Authors

Milkyas Debebe1 Wubshet Tadele2

1Director

Milkyasd@projectgaia.com

2Deputy Director wubshett@projectgaia.com

Gaia Association, Box 1460CODe1250, Bole sub-city, Kebele 03, Addis Ababa, ethiopia

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THEME

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Global climate change is considered one of the greatest threats to development efforts (IPCC, 2007).

It has been proposed that adaptation may reduce conflict by helping societies to live better with the consequences of climate change. However, there is still no clear understanding of how climate change relates to the dynamics of contemporary conflict or how adaptation might reduce conflict (Lind et al. 2010). The distributed nature of renewable energy technologies (RET), meaning they can be easily provided to households off-grid, makes them well-suited to responding to the needs of displaced people as well as populations living in areas under the control of armed groups where the state may fail to provide services. On the opposite end of the low carbon energy spectrum are large-scale projects such as hydro-electric schemes and wind farms, which many developing countries are pursuing to increase energy supply and expand industrial production. In countries such as Ethiopia and Kenya, these projects are raising long-standing governance questions around the role of international capital, unequal power relations, and how livelihoods can best be supported in local areas where projects are being developed.

Exploring the connections between conflict and low carbon development

For low income countries and least developed countries with already very low emissions, low carbon development is not about cutting emissions but rather new benefits and opportunities such as green jobs, access to electricity, and distributive

effects (Urban 2010, Urban and Sumner 2009; Mulugetta and Urban 2010). The provision of low carbon energy can help to overcome some of the livelihood problems faced by populations living with armed conflict. Yet, efforts to promote low carbon development in conflict-affected areas confront the same longstanding difficulties that plague development interventions in otherwise peaceful contexts. These include questions of governance, power, and politics surrounding equity and fair distribution of the benefits of development actions.

The cases reviewed below highlight the complexities of promoting low carbon developments in conflict-affected areas.

The provision of the renewable energy technologies through aid organisations and markets can lead to better livelihood outcomes, as the following case study on Darfur illustrates. The second case study highlights some of the risks confronting low carbon energy projects in weakly governed contexts.

Solar Cooker Project in Chad

It should be noted that although the Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children mentions the Darfur Solar Cooker project, the success of the project has not been evaluated externally.

The armed conflict in the region of Darfur in Sudan has immense impact on people’s lives and livelihoods. It is estimated that up to 2.5 million Darfurians are being displaced and have fled to refugee camps in Darfur and the neighbouring countries Chad and the Central African Republic (Save Darfur 2008).

For collecting fuelwood, the women and girls have to leave the safety of their camps

and risk “rape, assault, abduction, theft, exploitation or even murder” (WCRWC 2006a:1). The Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children (WCRWC) advocates for alternative energy options to reduce the vulnerability of women and girls associated with fuel wood collection (WCRWC 2006a; 2006b).

In this context, the Solar Cooker Project, which provides solar cookers to refugee women and girls as an alternative to fuelwood, is an example of how low carbon energy can help improve people’s lives as well as reduce pressure on the environment in a context of instability. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Dutch foundation KoZon and Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere (CARE) International started supplying solar cookers to the refugee camps Iridimi and Ouré Cassoni in Chad. In 2006, they supplied roughly 7000 people with solar cookers (WCRWC 2006b). Today, the NGO Jewish World Watch (JWW) leads the solar cooker project which currently operates in the refugee camps Iridimi, Touloum and Ouré Cassoni and benefits about 60,000 people (JWW 2010).

Most of the refugees have lost access to their primary income from farming and many of the women and girls are illiterate. Being trained for making the solar cookers increases their ability to earn their own income, although it might not be enough to make a living. Each family in the refugee camp gets two solar cookers distributed by the NGO for free. Every women and girl of the age of 15 or older gets trained how to use and produce a solar cooker. The “CooKit” cookers are made of cardboard and foil and are manufactured locally in the refugee camps by the women refugees.

Low carbon energy and conflict: A new agenda Key words: Climate change, Low carbon energy, Conflict, Development, Darfur, Kenya

Much of the public debate on the linkages between climate change and conflict focuses on how climate change might increase resource scarcity leading to new conflicts and armed violence. There has been relatively little exploration of the linkages between low carbon energy and conflict, such as how low carbon energy can improve the lives of those affected by conflict. This article seeks to tentatively map out some of the linkages, with illustrations from Darfur and northern Kenya.

PeeR ReVieWeDReceived 27 september 2010Accepted 19 October 2010

AuthorsFrauke Urban1 Jeremy Lind2

1 Fellow, Climate Change & Development Centre f.urban@ids.ac.uk

2 Fellow, Vulnerability & Poverty Reduction Team

j.lind@ids.ac.uk

institute of Development studies at the university of sussex Brighton BN1 9Re, uK

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Boiling Point. issue 59 — 2011

There is a small manufacturing facility in each camp where the cookers are made. The cookers are easy to use and maintain, reduce pressure on forests and woodland and are a climate-friendly low carbon way of providing energy for cooking (Andres 2010; JWW 2010). A survey from Iridimi refugee camp showed that more than 70% of the surveyed women and girls collected fuel wood between 3 - 7 times per week. Since using the solar cooker more than half of the women and girls do not collect fuelwood at all, while about a quarter collect fuelwood only once a week (JWW 2007).

Despite the positive effects of the solar cooker project, there are practical and cultural drawbacks. One drawback is the low lifespan of the “CooKit” solar cooker which is an average of only a few months (JWW 2007). In addition, it takes longer to cook with solar cookers than it does using fuelwood. Yet, JWW reports that women are able to undertake other tasks such as visiting the local market or childcare while cooking with solar cookers since the cooking time is longer and constant supervision is not required (Andres 2010). Finally, the solar cookers require a rethinking of traditional cooking methods and need to become culturally acceptable.

Wind power development in northern Kenya

The push to expand low carbon energy in weakly governed contexts carries significant risks. These are apparent in northern Kenya, where a Dutch-led consortium of international and Kenyan investors is developing what will be the largest wind farm in Africa when it is completed in 2012. Northern Kenya is a historically marginalised region that is inhabited by interacting groups of livestock-keepers.

The livelihoods of the region’s pastoralists have been chronically insecure and disparities in wealth are increasing (Fratkin 1998; Buchanan-Smith and Lind 2005). Many herders are seeking alternative economic activities, even though their options to do so remain limited. Yet northern Kenya is poised for a development transformation.

The Lake Turkana Wind Power Project (LTWP) is constructing a US$760m wind

farm in the Marsabit region of northern Kenya with lending from the African Development Bank acting as the lead arranger. Up to 365 wind turbines are to be constructed on the Chalbi Desert plains providing an estimated 17% of Kenya’s power generation to the national grid . Eventually the LTWP project plans to generate fully 300MW as base load power by introducing a “wind storage facility” (Personal communication, Lake Turkana Wind Power 2010).

The area of Marsabit in northern Kenya where the turbines are being constructed is off-grid and is sparsely inhabited by pastoralists who use the surrounding rangelands seasonally to support mixed-species livestock herds. LTWP intends to generate US$5m annually in revenue for area development projects, which will be distributed by a specially-established trust. So far, the consortium has invested in extensive road upgrades to transport equipment from Nairobi to the site (Vourlias 2009). Unsurprisingly, the project has been backed by county political leaders in Marsabit as well as the area parliamentarian.

Pastoralists in northern Kenya have not benefited from previous energy development projects. Most of the region outside of the largest centres and district capitals is off-grid. The largest existing energy project to date in the region is the Turkwel Gorge Dam, completed in 1990, which supplies hydro-power to the national grid although it operates at under capacity due to the lack of water. Stave et al. (2005) found that the riparian forest in the downstream arid floodplain, which provides seasonal grazing for the region’s Turkana livestock-keepers as well as wild foods and other forest products that support livelihoods, was sensitive to flooding. They concluded that preserving the width and diversity of the forest (essential to the wellbeing of the pastoralists) would depend on a flow regime that permitted periodic downstream flooding. However, experience to date has shown that a stable supply of energy from the dam, and hence the maintenance of appropriate water levels which is still below capacity due to the lack of water, has trumped any consideration of the livelihood needs of downstream Turkana herders. The state has provided little in the way of basic services or social support to the Turkana, whose livelihoods remain

deeply insecure due to chronic insecurity and a decreasing ability to manage the impacts of droughts that are an altogether normal feature of this environment.

Conclusion Low carbon energy developments can improve people’s lives and livelihoods in conflict areas but positive outcomes are not guaranteed. As with any development intervention, much depends on how governance issues are handled and whether local livelihood needs are addressed.

Solar cookers have helped refugee women and girls in Chad to avoid the risks involved with fuelwood collection. This protected them from potential harm they encounter when collecting fuelwood. The women have also been supported to make the solar cookers and train others to use them, giving them an additional source of income as there is a demand in the camps for affordable alternative energy sources.

Hydro-electric schemes, which fell out of favour for a time in the 1980s and 1990s, are back on development agendas as developing countries seek to expand energy supplies. In Kenya, the largest wind farm in Africa is being constructed in an area of chronic conflict. It promises to generate significant development benefits for local communities. Yet, the extent to which these benefits are shared fairly and also whether the project might help address historical development inequalities are huge challenges.

Meaningful local consultation and robust measures to transparently manage development funds generated by the project will be key to determining the long-term success of the project. By failing to address the livelihood needs of local pastoralists, the project might otherwise perpetuate the longstanding neglect of herding groups and create new tensions in an already unstable environment.

Figure 1: The Turkwel River Gorge in the foreground. To the left of the photo a straight line can be seen. This is the bush clearing for the power lines taking power away from local Turkana and Pokot pastoralist and agro-pastoralist communities, to Kenya’s large urban centres. The area around the dam is largely off-grid so the local communities do not benefit. (source: Jeremy Lind)

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VIEWPOINTS

Valentine, could you tell us a little about yourself and the Environment Unit?

Yes, I am the Senior Environment Coordinator of UNHCR, responsible for all environment-related activities at headquarters and during field operations.

When we have a displacement of refugees, or internally displaced people (IDP) in the case of a conflict, our role begins with an assessment of the situation. Based on that assessment we design interventions to make sure that at the operational level the environment is taken into consideration.

This could be in terms of energy access, sourcing building materials in an environmentally friendly manner, site identification and planning to mention a few. We also take into consideration the site’s own resource demands to ensure that the site selected is environmentally sound. In addition, as a unit we coordinate with other actors at global, regional and national levels.

What are the energy access challenges of displaced communities?

Following a displacement, refugees or IDPs soon go out of the camp in search of firewood to meet their fuel needs. In order to facilitate this process UNHCR and other humanitarian agencies concentrate first of all on the resources that are available.

If there is firewood available, we need to make sure that any collected is being sourced or harvested in an appropriate way. We also need to register fuel consumption. This way we can work on reducing consumption by promoting

energy conserving cooking techniques and the use of energy-efficient stoves.

In the situation where firewood isn’t available, we look at alternative options. For example in some operations we are using kerosene in combination with firewood. In others we have introduced ethanol made from sugarcane waste, while in some operations we have provided people with liquid petroleum gas (LPG), depending on the available alternatives in the area.

Are energy access issues prioritised in an emergency response?

In the past, energy was not considered an issue because it did not play a part in environmental considerations in a humanitarian response. Rather it was considered a social issue and a security issue. But with time we have seen that lack of access to energy is also contributing to environmental and protection issues.

For this reason we have redesigned our strategy so that during an emergency, we are responding to a continuously changing environment. We ask ourselves:

How can aid agencies provide protection when women and children are going out to collect firewood? What kind of mechanisms do we need to put in place to ensure that people have access to locally available stoves?

If firewood is also collected for income, do you need to provide livelihood alternatives for women?

Yes. That’s why we not only look at energy issues from an environmental

perspective, but also from a social and protection point of view.

For example, in Chad, we are promoting the use of solar cookers. Women are manufacturing those solar cookers themselves and selling to the projects, thus making an income.

Can there be tension within a camp, exacerbated by the lack of energy access?

The problem is not within the camps. What we are faced with in some operations is a lack of firewood in the area surrounding the camp, which causes tension between the refugees and the hosting community for the same resources. Because of this tension, women going out for firewood sometimes get beaten, face harassment or restrictions by the government.. That’s why you need good mitigation and protection measures right from the beginning of a displacement and to discuss with local authorities how the energy access issue can be resolved appropriately, before tension is created.

How can you avoid potential friction between the hosting communities and the refugees?

It varies. In some countries we have worked with the local authorities and the implementing partner to agree on areas where the wood should be collected from – this can change over time, depending on wood availability.

In other cases people are restricted to collecting wood only, rather than cutting fresh wood. Sometimes we also negotiate with the local authority to provide transport

Interview of Valentine Ndibalema, Senior Environment Coordinator for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

ViewpointsIn this Viewpoints feature we had a chat with Valentine Ndibalema, Senior Environment Coordinator for the UNHCR, to find out considerations for good camp planning for refugees and Internally Displaced People (IDPs), centred around energy access and environmental protection.

Boiling Point. issue 59 — 2011

or protection during collection. We also try to “compensate” the local authority and host communities for what is being used up by for example, establishing a forested area where one hectare is harvested while the other is rehabilitated.

It isn’t necessary that wood is available outside the camp. We have also been promoting compound tree planting within the camp, in order to create a source of firewood and building materials within the camp and in the surrounding area.

Refugees do not own land. Where we have done proper planning, there have been no conflicts, despite refugees knowing that they don’t have land ownership. Because they know they are authorised to utilise a piece of area as best they can.

What is UNHCR’s strategy for taking communities from a post-emergency response to more long term development?

When it comes to planning for the long term, things become tricky. This is because IDPs or refugees are unable to go back to their respective areas for a certain period of time, and the situation is constantly perceived to be short term. But in the past four years we have been carrying out more long-term than short-term planning, offering different livelihoods options, taking into consideration different perspectives, social, environmental etc. and dealing with local authorities to help displaced communities become more self-reliant.

In the past we created what we called settlements not camps. And in some cases the government would allocate land for cultivation for the refugees to produce their own food for consumption and also for sale. This happened in many countries including Zambia, Tanzania, Uganda and Sudan to mention a few. But with time and with population increase, a number of governments have seen that refugees do not normally remain for one or two years, but for many. And hence the idea of a settlement is now discouraged, not wishing for refugees to remain in the long term, and instead the formation of camps is encouraged.

Within UNHCR we are also finding that our camps, often with populations as large as 30,000 or more, resemble towns more than villages. And so we need to use an urban rather than a village planning model. For this we are now working with different partners, especially ones with development experience, for example the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) to provide advice on the planning process.

What barriers is UNHCR facing in providing solutions to energy access?

We are facing energy issues now that did not exist 10 years ago.

First of all humanitarian actors are largely compartmentalised. There is no humanitarian body or government department dealing

with household energy and energy policy in humanitarian operations. This is among the reasons why energy issues in the camps are not taken seriously.

Secondly, UNHCR is not an implementing body, rather we implement through our partners. But we find that our counterparties, such as ministries responsible for refugees and IDPs, don’t have the capacity to consult on energy issues or engage in institutional responsibility during the displacement.

In fact most of our colleagues in the field, implementing NGOs and our own staff, are overworked and lack the technical expertise to implement and monitor the success of energy related programmes. We are trying to overcome this by offering capacity building services to our partners, and improving inter agency coordination so that responsibility does not fall with one agency.

A third challenge is the lack of policy and of an institutional framework on energy issues in the country – instead energy interventions are done on an ad hoc basis. Within UNHCR we have policies on different aspects, but there is no clear policy on how to deal with energy issues. We are trying hard to fill this gap.

Finally, there is the lack of reliable data on fuel consumption and requirements within the camp important also for assessing the performance and achievements of our energy programmes.

Where do you think the data should come from?

In order to collect the data you need people with experience on data collection to go out, observe how IDP and refugees are cooking their food, measure their daily firewood consumption, record their cooking habits, the type of food being cooked and the type of stoves being used. In the absence of such data we are unable to design an energy strategy for a particular operation. So this is one thing we are trying to emphasise: that before jumping into energy interventions, there needs to be data collection on energy use and also availability within the country so that if energy is not available within the vicinity, we know where else it can be sourced from.

Can this data collection be conducted by people living within the camp?

Firstly we need to provide training for our implementing partners. Once that is done we also train refugees and IDPs. For data collection we use so-called community mobilisers, selected members from the community, to support the implementing partners with data collection. These can be volunteers or can receive tokens as payment. They are trained on energy and other issues and also how to collect and record data. But then we need someone who can analyse this data – otherwise the data is useless! That is why capacity building is important.

Have you found yourself in the situation where a government is not supportive of aid agency operations?

In emergencies you need someone on the ground who can speak the language of the government. For example we had one emergency where the government insisted that ‘Refugees should not go out and collect firewood, firewood should be provided to them’. Our response was, ‘Yes, but let us sit down and discuss it.’. Going through government department data we found that if we provided firewood for 400,000 refugees, we would end up using all the firewood available in the country within six months. When the government realised this of course they said, ‘No, this is not possible, tell us what we can do?’. And so we were then able to begin looking to alternative fuels, energy conservation programmes and supporting the government to reforest areas.

This needs someone within the programme with the understanding and experience to firstly observe, so as to not antagonise the government, and then offer advice towards an appropriate solution.

Are there any initiatives trying to resolve some of the challenges you mentioned?

There are several ongoing initiatives. One of these is the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Task Force on Safe Access to Firewood and Alternative Energy in Humanitarian Settings (known as the SAFE Task Force).

However despite developing the guidance note, we are still not able to make different sectors accountable for it. If you tell an agency involved in shelter that they should think about energy, they will say they think about energy when sourcing the building materials. But they need to think about the energy consumption of the shelter they are constructing as well.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

I would like to stress that energy issues need to be integrated into policy formulation and into the analysis and planning stages of agencies and governments involved in humanitarian action. When there is an emergency, all these bodies serve as doctors, education planners, physical planners, and yet energy is not in their mandate. Once the operation begins, it is too late to plan.

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Boiling Point. issue 59 — 2011

PRACTICAL ACTION NEWS

Practical Action’s work on promoting Energy for AllWe are coming to the end of the first year of a three year project aiming to raise the public and political profile of energy for the poor in sub-Saharan Africa. The project is a cross-European partnership between Practical Action, the Stockholm Environment Institute Sweden, the Polytechnic University of Catalunya in Spain and EDUCON of the Czech Republic.

The project ultimately aims to see a step change in European Commission (EC) funding for African energy initiatives. A key achievement in that regard has been the securing of a special initiative report on energy access through the Development Committee of the European Parliament. The report will be titled ‘EU development cooperation in support of the objective of universal energy access by 2030’, and will be launched towards the end of 2011.These reports provide an opportunity to make specific requests to the Commission and the Council, to which they have to respond. It will also give us a far wider range of opportunities for influencing Brussels.

A specific influencing target for the project will be the ACP-EU Energy Facility (EF), one of the few large pots of aid money available for small isolated projects, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. So far there have been two tranches of funding: ‐220 million in 2006 and ‐200 million in 2009. We are lobbying for a third tranche of this funding, and in general greater priority for energy access during the next EDF period. We are supporting this with a range of activities including:— Hosting a fringe event at the forthcoming ACP-EU Assembly

(Budapest, May) – inviting the Development Commissioner and Head of United Nations Energy to headline an event focusing on ‘EU/ACP Cooperation to achieve Universal Energy Access’

— Organising a Parliamentary delegation to Kenya and Tanzania during summer recess – to enable senior and strategic Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) from across the political group to see the reality of energy poverty first-hand

2012 will be the UN year of Energy Access, and will be accompanied by a Global Campaign. Practical Action is currently exploring the possibility of becoming the European partner for this campaign.

Want to get involved?

Make the call: energy for all. The project has launched a cross-European action, calling on the EC Development Commissioner to afford greater priority to energy access. All Boiling Point readers are invited to join the campaign and show their support for giving people the power to challenge their poverty: www.practicalaction.org/makethecall

Poor People’s Energy Outlook

Boiling Point readers will be well aware of the injustice which sees 1.5 billion people with no access to electricity and 3 billion still relying on biomass and coal for cooking, while in the developed world energy is often squandered. To address this, Practical Action recently launched the ‘Poor People’s Energy Outlook’, with support from UNDP and other partners. The report calls for an end to the energy apartheid which chains those in energy poverty to a subsistence lifestyle. See: www.practicalaction.org/ppeo2010

The report proposes the concept of ‘Total Energy Access’: minimum standards of energy services for lighting, cooking/water heating, space heating, cooling, information/communications and livelihoods. Among the recommendations for minimum energy standards are the need for every house to have 300 lumens of lighting, adequate fuel taking less than 30 minutes per day to obtain, used with emissions not exceeding WHO standards, a minimum daytime indoor temperature of 120C and a maximum indoor temperature of 300C. If these standards were met it would mean an end to energy poverty for that family, community or country.

The report argues that this cannot be achieved by the formal energy sector alone, but requires a network of energy service providers working in synergy.

The report is published in the wake of the International Energy Agency’s World Energy Outlook (WEO) 2010, which placed a special emphasis on energy poverty and published a chapter on how to make energy access universal in advance of the main report. Practical Action welcomes the WEO’s recognition of the importance of tackling energy poverty but calls for further action, including greater investment in energy access from developed countries and the establishment of a globally agreed set of minimum standards for energy access.

Simon Trace, Practical Action’s Chief Executive added: “Practical Action is an organisation that puts poor people at the heart of all of its work, involving them in every step of their development. Our report seeks to explore the issue of energy access in more detail and acts as a call to action for the creation of a coalition to tackle the issue from all sides.”

Practical Action Website re-launch

We are relaunching the Practical Action website at the start of April, with a new look, new functionality and improved navigation and content. Our successful Practical Answers service will be fully integrated into the site, as well as new forums and an advanced search function and we will continue to offer appropriate technical information for all levels of users.

Practical Answers has recently launched its Bengali version, and is building up content. The site would welcome contributions in Bengali on energy issues.

NewsEditor Lucy Stevens

Practical Action, The schumacher Centre for Technology and Development, Bourton on Dunsmore, Rugby, CV23 9QZ, uK lucy.stevens@practicalaction.org.uk

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PRACTICAL ACTION NEWS

Project Launch – ‘Demonstration of Healthy Hoods in Nepal’In a new initiative working with the private sector, Practical Action Nepal has joined forces with BSH (Bosch und Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH) to design and test efficient, healthy smoke hoods for developing countries, and create a platform for disseminating knowledge for the promotion of smoke hoods. A two-year project has been initiated in Nepal with the financial support of the German Investment Cooperation, DEG Germany, and BSH. Other partners in the project are Practical Action Consulting and the University of Bundeswehr München, Germany.

A launch workshop was held in Gorkha district on the 13th January 2011, informing all relevant stakeholders about the project activities, developing coordination and creating awareness about the issues of indoor air pollution. The workshop was chaired by Mr Achyut Luitel, Country Director of Practical Action. Fifty five participants representing local governments, district line agencies, political parties, media, cooperatives, private sectors and targeted villages participated in the workshop. Everyone raised the need for co-ordination among stakeholders. They appreciated what the project is trying to achieve, and committed themselves to supporting its work.

Figure 1: Nepal smoke hood installed (source: Practical Action Nepal)

Latest publications from PISCES project

Policy Innovation Systems for Clean Energy Security (PISCES) is a five year initiative funded by the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID). It focuses on the use of bioenergy as a pivotal issue affecting people’s livelihood security, and is a partnership between Kenya, Tanzania, India, Sri Lanka and the UK. Practical Action Consulting is one of the partners in the consortium, which is coordinated by the African Centre for Technology Studies (ACTS).

1. Bioenergy Advance Market Commitments (AMCs) in Sri Lanka PISCES Policy Brief No. 5 October 2010

Over the last decade feed-in tariffs offering a stable and favourable price for electricity generated from renewable sources over that generated from fossil-fuels have been employed in support of renewable energy sectors in several European countries. Feed-in tariffs were initially criticised by more market-oriented countries which favoured more complex renewable obligations and tradable certification schemes. Nonetheless, they have become widely recognised for their effectiveness in creation of renewables markets, and have also been taken up by several low and middle-income countries, including Sri Lanka, which introduced such a measure in its energy policy of 2006. More recently, feed-in tariffs have been grouped under the wider heading of Advance Market Commitments (AMCs). Following pilot application in vaccine markets, AMCs have been proposed for wider application in support of low carbon energy markets in developing countries. Analysis of the performance of AMCs in Sri Lanka to date implies that while AMCs may play a role in incentivising market development, they are not sufficient on their own.

2. Bioenergy MarketSystem Development: Comparing Par-ticipatory Approaches in Kenya and Sri Lanka, January 2011. Prepared for Pisces by Practical Action Consulting

Enhancing bioenergy market systems through Participatory Market System Development (PMSD) offers the potential to improve efficiency and sustainability of such systems. Participatory Market Mapping (PMM) is a key tool in this approach which increases market knowledge and connections by engaging key market stakeholders in the generation of detailed market maps. Such processes have previously shown strong impact on a variety of agricultural market chains, and the PISCES project has trialled the application of these techniques to bioenergy. Workshops were held in Kenya and Sri Lanka in 2009 aimed at identification of market chain actors, external factors affecting the market chains and sub-sector service providers. The lessons learnt from each experience show similarities in the challenges faced by both countries, and provide a model for blending market mapping approaches for future application to Bioenergy market system development.

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Boiling Point. issue 59 — 2011 33

GIZ NEWS

NewsEditor Lisa Feldmann

GiZ HeRA, Deutsche Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer internationale Zusammenarbeit (GiZ) GmbH, Postfach 5180, 65726 eschborn, Hessen, Germany.

llisa.feldmann@giz.de

GTZ is now GIZ

The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) was formed on the 1st of January 2011. It brings together the long-standing expertise of the Deutscher Entwicklungsdienst (DED) gGmbH (German Development Service), the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH (German Technical Cooperation) and Inwent – Capacity Building International, Germany.

New design tool – make your own custom rocket stove!Rocket Stove.org and Prakti Design Lab with financial support from HERA, have developed a new automated design tool that allows users to build a customized institutional rocket stove. After you enter all of the relevant information, the tool will produce a custom set of Rocket stove plans. Stove options include: Brick Stove without Chimney, Rectangular Metal Stove without Chimney, Circular Metal Stove without Chimney, and Rectangular Stove with Chimney. If one already owns a cooking pot, and would like to build a suitable stove, one needs to specify pot and material dimensions carefully and enter the values into the tool. The tool then generates a custom set of Rocket stove drawings for the selected pot. The tool can be used online, directly on the homepage, or as an Excel sheet if there is no reliable access to the Internet. A manual, designed by Peter Scott, helps to build the Institutional Rocket Stove. For more information about the tool see the @HEDON box at the bottom of GIZ news.

Agnes Klingshirn among the 100 top global thinkers We are very proud that our colleague Agnes Klingshirn is among the top 100 global thinkers 2010 according to the Foreign Policy’s annual list! In its December issue the American magazine “Foreign Policy” lists the 100 most important global thinkers. Next to Bill Gates, Barack Obama and Angela Merkel, a former GTZ colleague is among them: Agnes Klingshirn at 42nd position. Together with Peter Scott she has gained this position for advocating that clean and efficient cookstoves really make a change in improving the lives of people in poverty. Agnes Klingshirn organised and managed many stove projects for GTZ. She has been promoting clean and efficient cooking energy at all political levels for nearly 30 years, even when improved stoves were not “in fashion”. Thus, she is regarded as one of the pioneers of the Global Alliance for Clean Cook Stoves.

GIZ-PSDA receives PCIA special achievement award At its 5th Biennial Partnership Forum in Lima, the Partnership for Clean Indoor Air (PCIA) awarded the stove component of GIZ’s Promotion of Private Sector Development in Agriculture programme (PSDA) in Kenya. Component manager Anna Ingwe received the special award for improving technology design and performance.

PCIA especially appreciated and recognized the dedication of the project to rigorous field testing resulting in improved stove design and clean, efficient cooking technologies.

The panel was also impressed by the commercialization of stoves activities, making the product efficient, affordable and easily available. Over 1 million stoves at household level have been disseminated between Jan 2006 – December 2010.

Anna Ingwe stated: “This Award is not only a motivator, but also a reason to focus on our future plans with renewed determination.

Our ambition is to reach 30% of Kenyan households with efficient stoves.” The PCIA Forum was hosted by GIZ Peru.

www.HeDON.info/XeXBGIZ website* Link to RocketStove Design tool* Link to Foreign Policy 100 Global Thinkers List * Links to GIZ’s latest publications* Link to GIZ’s short film on Wood Energy for Africa*

Meet us @HEDON

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Boiling Point. issue 59 — 2011

GIZ NEWS

New publications

Micro-gasification: Cooking with gas from biomass – An introduction to the concept and the applications of wood-gas burning technologies for cooking

This handbook is a compilation of the current state of the art of micro-gasification. It is the very first systematic overview on micro-gasifiers for cooking energy. Topics include: Wood-gas from biomass and its application for cooking; Technologies and applications of micro-gasification to cookstoves; Feedstocks and fuels for micro-gasification.

Modern Energy Services for Modern Agriculture – A Review of Smallholder Farming in Developing Countries

The report highlights the important role played by modern energy services and related technologies in modern smallholder agriculture. It looks at the whole supply chain, from agricultural production, post-harvest and storage to the processing and commercialisation of crops. It also touches on the dual role of agriculture as energy user and producer and suggests management models to minimise risks for farmers by buying energy services on a fee-for-service basis.

Small-scale Electricity Generation from Biomass

By identifying potentials of and obstacles to biomass gasification, biogas and vegetable oil, the series outlines the opportunities of biomass for local, off-grid power generation. Part I: Biomass Gasification, part II: Biogas, part III: Vegetable Oil.

Wood Energy – Africa’s Green Energy Future (Film, 8 min.)

The sustainable production of wood as a renewable energy source has huge potential for Africa. The afforestation of degraded landscapes, establishment of wood plantations and the sustainable management of natural forests can all serve to increase energy security, provide access to energy and reduce dependency on fossil fuels. The audio slideshow promotes the idea of wood energy as a modern and potentially renewable source of energy. It shows examples from different countries where wood is sustainably produced and processed efficiently for energy purposes. The short film (8 minutes) is available in English and French and can be accessed online via GIZ’s youtube channel. If you want to get hold of a hardcopy please contact GIZ HERA: hera@giz.de

Testing PicoPV systems in the field

PicoPholtovoltaic (PicoPV) systems, such as solar lanterns or micro solar home systems, provide a promising option for low-income households in rural areas. More than 100 firms are offering PicoPV systems in developing countries. But diffusion faces various challenges such as the low quality products, lack of warranty or maintenance services and lack of information in the private sector. Therefore, GIZ carried out laboratory tests the results of which are now being cross-checked with field tests. Tests concentrated on lamp designs and features preferred by local customers, lamp performance under real-life conditions, socio-economic impacts, and users’ willingness and ability to pay.

While field tests in Bolivia and Bangladesh are still being carried out, results from Uganda and Ethiopia are now available and will be published soon. In Uganda, seven lamp models were tested over three months. Interviews with 100 households showed the following:

Children used the lamp to study, men spent more hours reading and conducting productive work, while women conduct domestic work in the evenings rather than in the morning hours. The phone charging function proved an additional source of income for 70% of users.

Users preferred multi-purpose lamps with a 360° horizontal light cone, high illuminance level and similar design and functioning as the traditional hurricane lamps. Features that make usage easier, such as a handle at the top of the lamp and indication of switch position (on/off) were also favored. Furthermore, consumers appreciated solar lamps with the ability to adjust brightness and achieve different illuminance levels. Willingness to pay differed depending on the model but was usually lower than real market prices. The absolute maximum price users were willing to pay was USD 87.00.

In Ethiopia, nine lamp models were tested by 24 families in rotation. This qualitative study showed that access to solar lanterns alleviated the need for provision of energy by women. Due to the lower risk of accidents compared to kerosene lamps, children became more autonomous as parents could leave them alone with the solar lamps.

Additionally, users stated an improvement in family life, since the solar lamp provided a large and bright light hence could be used simultaneously by various users. The quality of lamps was defined in terms of glare, cone of light, ease of operation for children and the presence of a regulator in order to change the level of brightness. Moreover, people chose white, bright light instead of a yellow one.

A mobile charger was considered a nice feature, but the crucial factor for the testing persons was the light itself. Interestingly, reliable companies were an important selection criterion. Even low-income households were willing to pay more for products of high quality.

Boiling Point. issue 59 — 2011 35

General

The project ‘Efficient Fuelwood Stoves for Nigeria’ is the first Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)

project worldwide to use improved fuelwood stoves. While project registration by the CDM-Executive Board obtained on the 12th of October 2009 is the first step towards success, the extent of a positive outcome will depend on whether Nigerian internal legal and policy obstacles can be overcome.

During the period of 1990-2005, the household sector of Nigeria accounted for more than half of the total final energy consumed in the country (Dayo 2008), and surpassed other sectors in growth. Therefore, increasing the end-use efficiency of cooking would have a considerable impact on total energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions.

Despite this potential, the company in charge of customs duty collection is posing obstacles to project activities. This is because customs duties seem to be considered from a purely commercial perspective. ‘Holistic elucidation of

the roles of various energy options’ (Dayo 2008) is lacking. The problem is compounded by the unpredictable application of tariffs.

Lack of transparency

Obstacles faced during the project point to a lack of transparency as the root of the problem. More specifically:— Communication between clients and

the customs duty collecting company occurs only via clearing agents. Even if the client should receive a letter from the company, the letterhead will neither bear a telephone number nor an e-mail address.

— As a consequence, it is difficult to know whether information provided by the clearing agent truly originates from the company. For example, in the case of the ‘Efficient Fuelwood Stoves for Nigeria’ project, the team was presented, by the clearing agent, with outdated, scanned information to prove that a more favourable tariff

is only available for members of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), while the correct up-to-date information had been available on the internet even for the company itself.

— We received phone calls – with suppressed number – by anonymous individuals offering quick clearance of containers against payment of a lump sum of money.

Clearance procedure

Characteristics of the clearance procedure further exacerbating the problem were experienced as follows:— Containers not cleared within three

months are considered overdue and are threatened with auction. Despite this, the customs duty collecting company keeps the client busy for many weeks with numerous requests which in the specific project were found to be irrelevant, for example concerning the exact content of the first aid kit, wasting valuable time.

Author Paul Krämer executive board member of Lernen

Helfen – Leben e.V. Lernen – Helfen – Leben e.V. schoppmannweg 6, soest, D 59494, Germany

p.kraemer.soest@t-online.de

Customs policy hinders eco-development: An experience from NigeriaKeywords: improved stoves, Artificial barriers, Transparency, Disincentives, innovative technology, implementation, Policy, Customs.

The current privatised, customs duty collection system disincentivises rather than incentivise initiatives involving renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies. Nigeria lacks an enabling environment for the promotion of technologies which are of vital significance to the country. This paper describes the experience of participants in a Clean Development Mechanism project involving improved fuelwood stoves, with regard to the customs duty collection system in Nigeria.

PeeR ReVieWeDReceived 26 July 2010

Accepted 26 January 2011

Figure 1: Proud new owner of two stoves (source: Yahaya Ahmed, Developmental Association for Renewable energies)

36

GENERAL

Boiling Point. issue 59 — 2011

— In the case of the above-mentioned project, incorrect categorisations and/or use of codes, for instance use of a code applicable to liquid fuel stoves for our fuelwood stove.

— There was refusal to apply a code corresponding to ‘completely-knocked-down’ (CKD) parts of stoves, arguing, that they can never be sure whether stoves are CKD or fully built. When we proposed to open the container and inspect it, the answer was that it was not their business to do so.

— The customs duty claimed by the company was 35%. Even the intervention of the Financial and Economic Crimes Commission (EFCC) did not lead to the correct rate of 5%, but only to a compromise; the rate was fixed at 20%.

— The customs duty collecting company suggested that ‘the documentation may be fraudulent’ and refused to believe that the project stove manufacturer was capable of producing stoves, due to the product not appearing in the name of the manufacturer’s enterprise.

Impact on the project

The above-mentioned obstacles inflicted multiple damages on the project:— The prolonged clearance procedures lead

to insufficient stove supply and hence a lack of income from sales to pay staff, office equipment, transport, the high expenses of numerous fruitless travels to obtain clearance. Furthermore, delay in sales of stoves lead to fewer Certified Emission Reductions (CERs), needed for the payback of upfront payments by the investor.

— The preservation of forests & wood resources is of common concern to both the Muslim and Christian communities working together on the project. These artificial project obstacles have therefore posed barriers and delay to a peaceful common future.

There is evidently a lack of coherence and consistency in enforcement of government policy in the household energy sector. The Registration of our project, ‘Efficient Fuelwood Stoves for Nigeria’ by UNFCCC

was hailed by the Minister of Environment. However, several appeals made since 2007 to the Minister of the Environment and to the Minister of Finance to obtain preferential customs treatment never received a reply, even when diplomatic channels were used.

There is neither a moral nor an economic justification for import duty with regard to fuelwood-saving stoves. The country needs them to preserve wood resources and secure fuelwood supply. The amount of customs duty imposed on our project is high, but is negligible when compared to the indirect losses inflicted on our project through the delay. The criterion of additionality which must be fulfilled in CDM projects means also that the project in question would not be possible without CDM funding. If this funding is largely drained away by high customs duties, it can be expected that the chances of success of the project and of earning CERs for Nigeria are compromised.

The overarching interest of the customs duty collecting company seems to be to make money, with little regard for the environmental and social cost. As a result, it penalises efforts of civil society organisations to reach the declared government policy goals, as outlined in the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper elaborated by the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS, National Planning Commission, Abuja 2004). These commit the government to:— Create an incentive structure that

rewards and celebrates private enterprise, entrepreneurial spirit, and excellence.

— Establish new forms of partnership with all stakeholders in the economy − all branches of government, the public and private sectors, civil society and the international community – to promote prosperity.

— Create a public sector that delivers a prompt and good quality service.

Prospects of fuelwood supply

According to the Ministry of Environment (Abuja, 2003) “...the annual demand for fuelwood is expected to rise from 73.9m m3 in 1990 to 99.0m m3 in 2030. Supply on the other side will decrease from 82.0m m3 in 1990 to 63.0m m3 in 2030”. This means that the wood resource base, on which the majority of households depend on, is diminishing.

The following graph shows that around the year 2000, demand for fuelwood in the entire country began to exceed production in Nigeria. I.e. that the growing stock – the base of the annual re-growth − is being consumed. The situation is made worse by the return of large segments of the population to the use of wood and/or charcoal as fuel for cooking, due to price increase of kerosene and liquified petroleum gas (LPG) and unreliable availability of these fuels.

According to the journalist Raufu (2003), ‘Fuel price hike spells doom for Nigeria’s forests’.

As forest area decreases and population size increases, the per capita share of forests decreases even further, as shown in the table below.

It is evident that business as usual will lead to an ‘ecological downturn’ (NIC 2005) with far reaching political consequences. Therefore, it is in the country’s best interest to use its resources efficiently, not wastefully. Fuel-efficient stoves can help, especially if supported by climate protection funds. The CDM project ‘Efficient Fuelwood Stoves for Nigeria’ (registered by UNFCCC on October 12th, 2009 (Reg. Nr.2711), and by the Gold Standard Organisation on

Figure 2: Cooking vessel inside the heat retaining box (source: Yahaya Ahmed, ‘Developmental Association for Renewable energies’)

Forest Area (Thousands of hectares)

Population(thousands)

Per Capita Forest Area(hectares)

1980 16,935 65,561 0.26

1995 13,780 98,952 0.14

2025 10,640 183,041 0.06

Table 1: Fuelwood production and demand in Nigeria, in 1000m3

(source: FAO 2003)

37

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GENERAL

January 15th, 2010, GS Reg. Nr. 411) is one such example. However, external funding can only help if the money made available is not drained away by unjustified and exaggerated customs duties, before it can have an impact on the rate at which resources are utilised. . Unjustified prolonging of handling formalities leading to increased storage duties, waste of time and money, and the threat of containers being sold by auction, put the promoters of renewable energy (RE) and efficient energy (EE) technologies in a very difficult position which requires appropriate political action.

The Renewable Energy Master Plan (ICEED 2005) characterises the current situation in the following terms:

‘Protracted customs procedures; unpredictability in the application of tariffs and exemptions; outlined policies are not adopted; policy inconsistency; instability and contending interests within government; lack of continuity in government policies; risk of policy implementation; short sightedness; sociocultural conflicts; poor infrastructure; and poor implementation of financial incentives.’ Therefore, “...the Renewable Energy Master Plan proposes a moratorium on import duties for renewable energy technologies. A ‘zero import duty’ regime will give the needed impetus to the industry” (p. 22).

Hochatka (Hochatka, year unknown) puts it like this: “Nigeria is representative of sustainability issues in sub-Saharan Africa, in which poverty and corruption are intermingled, both adding to ongoing ecological degradation… Corruption and mismanagement are reported to swallow about 40% of Nigeria’s 20b US$ annual oil income.”

Introduction of RE and EE technologies will require counterpart funding. But the Renewable Energy Master Plan states “Projects requiring counterpart funding have found Nigeria wanting in the past, with the result that programmes and projects get off to a delayed or slow start and in some cases a no-start at all. Investing in realistic projects and increased political will to back them up is essential.” (ICEED, REMP, p181).

What could civil society organisations do to foster transparency?

The German newspaper Handelsblatt (2010/08/10) published an interview with the industrialist Eginhard Vietz who admits paying bribes, arguing that there are countries (he mentions Nigeria), in which ‘percentages’ are unavoidable. However, he adds that he requires a bill to justify the payment to avoid being accused of tax evasion. If a bill is not forthcoming he pays the ‘percentages’ from his own pocket.

While paying unlawful ‘fees’ from a private pocket is not an option for most non-governmental organisations (NGOs), the presentation of a bill may be a step in the direction of increased transparency. This possibility may have to be explored, until a thorough reform of the customs system is conducted.

Conclusion

Civil society organisations in countries hosting CDM projects which are relevant to the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) should put pressure on their governments to grant preferential customs treatment for renewable energy & energy efficiency projects. In Nigeria the Round Table on Climate Change Policy & Legislation in Nigeria should remind the government of the importance of imposing a moratorium on import duties for renewable energy technologies in the interest of their country.

Civil society organisations running CDM projects, when compelled to effect payments not sanctioned by law − should at least strive to obtain more transparency by requiring a bill for extra ‘percentages’.

References Dayo, F.,B., 2008. Clean energy investment in Nigeria: The domestic context, international institute for sustainable Development. Available at: http://www.iisd.org/pdf/2008/cei_nigeria.pdf Accessed 23rd August 2010

Gardner Outlaw, T., engelmann, R. 1999. Forest, Consumption and Wood Resources. Population Action international, 1999, 47. Available at: http://www.populationaction.org/Publications/Reports/Forest_Futures/summary.shtml Accessed 25th June 2010

uNFCCC. efficient fuel wood stoves for Nigeria, project documentation. Available at: http://cdm.unfccc.int/Projects/DB/RWTuV1245685309.5/view Accessed 23rd June 2010

sambo, A.s. The Challenges of sustainable energy Development in Nigeria, powerpoint presentation. Available at: http://www.energy.gov.ng/index.php?option=com_docman&task=cat_view&gid=21 Accessed 23rd August 2010

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Figure 4: Assembly of stoves (source: Yahaya Ahmed, Developmental Association for Renewable energies)

39Boiling Point. issue 59 — 2011

GENERAL

Since the 1980s, hydroelectricity and diesel power generators have formed the main sources of energy in Kenya.

In the early 1980s, the main focus during policy making was on the modernisation of the rural sector through a transition to use of commercial energy, such as hydroelectricity and petroleum (Raskin et al, 1984). Planning was conducted in a centralised manner to establish a large electricity supply network to serve both urban and rural areas. However, by 2001, 20% of the urban population had access to electricity supply, compared to only 1% of the rural population.

By 2004, 66% of the total population of Kenya of around 30 million, lived in villages (Karekezi et al, 2004). As a result, villages and the majority of the population still depend on traditional fuels like wood to meet their energy needs. Other sources of energy include paraffin and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). Short term solutions employed by the government have been

unsustainable in the long term due to an increasing reliance on a volatile petroleum import market and lack of planning of environmental safeguards to preserve natural resources (Mariita, 2002).

At that time, little attention was paid to renewable sources of energy, which were thought to be alternatives for the future (O’Keefe, 1980). However, around 2006 there were some positive moves towards adopting greener technologies, conducting more accurate electricity planning, and integration with other electricity networks in East Africa (KPLC, 2006; Republic of Kenya, 2002). Today, policy makers are beginning to view this transition in the context of the wider welfare of the population in order to accurately describe the benefits of new energy technologies (Karekezi et al, 2004).

This article describes the qualitative and comparative analysis methodology used in order to investigate the extent of acceptance of solar energy technologies in Kenya.

Stakeholder needs and levels of participation in projectsThe introduction of solar photovoltaic (PV) technologies to Kenya has been historically driven by external influences. Donor priorities, such as financing of selected projects, have defined energy project directions and therefore the participation of stakeholders (Murphy, 2001).One singular event, the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, is said to have accelerated these changes (Jacobson, 2007)..

In recent years, public sector financing of decentralised power generation to meet the demand of both the rural and urban poor has been in decline (Jacobson, 2007). At the same time, liberalised economic markets since the 1990s lead to the reduction of donor financing of state-owned, mainly centralised, electricity infrastructure. Donor attention instead was turned towards the private sector, the

Author Kyrea Mwangi Njuguna Mechanical engineer and sustainability Consultant

10 bis Rue Lucien ViolinPuteaux 92800 FRANCe

kyrea.njuguna@cantab.net

Figure 1: A boy in essam village, Ghana, reads by the light of a rechargeable LeD light provided by empower Playgrounds, inc. (source: Bringham Young university)

Socioeconomics of Kenyan Solar EnergyKeywords: solar; socioeconomic; Rural; Peri-urban; urban; Household; Renewable; energy; Policy

This paper aims to discuss and broaden understanding of renewable energy technology dissemination and its socioeconomic considerations at the household level, with a focus on solar photovoltaic energy.

PeeR ReVieWeDReceived 26 July 2010

Accepted 25 January 2011

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focus of which was on getting significant return on investment. Since only the wealthier areas could fulfil this criterion, improvement in electricity supply was restricted to the urban areas. As a result, there has been little improvement in rural electrification in rural and low income areas.

Demographic research on electrification of rural areas has tended to focus on the household as an independent unit of analysis and its adopted technologies, with little consideration for the dynamic historical and current linkages between households, between communities and between genders within households. Instead, sales of solar equipment are currently primarily going to the rural elite or relatively high income rural households. The rural elite’s response to solar electrification is to apply it for electric light for business, study and social activities at night and also for household appliances (Jacobson, 2007).

To understand the acceptance and uptake of Solar PV technology, it is important to understand the connection between demography, geographical location and culture. Jacobson has observed that connectivity is predominantly influenced by the ability for power distribution. There has been an increasingly stronger rural-urban communication due to increased connectivity resulting from electrification, however this is uneven and heavily dependent on geographical location. And so, connectivity is quite strong at locations but demographically does not have much stretch (Jacobson, 2007).

Infrastructural needs

As previously mentioned, power provision in Kenya has had an urban rather than rural focus. With the exception of cash crops, the relatively subsistent nature of the rural economy has made it a small contributor to economic development. A lack of public service provision from the state has caused a strain on many household incomes, with more time spent on subsistence activities such as walking long distances to collect firewood. In contrast, the growth of

the energy sector from 1980 onwards has contributed greatly to the economy (Raskin et al, 1984).

The average solar PV module found in Kenya is small, with an output of 25W, with the most common unit capable of producing 14W. Such quantities however are much lower than what grid connection could provide, thus putting limitations on the type of appliances that could use solar power. This causes a hindrance to the uptake and acceptance of the technology, unless the challenges of affordability of installing multiple modules can be addressed (Jacobson, 2007).

In the Kenyan rural areas, solar PV is a competitor to battery-based systems. The disadvantage of the battery-based system is its bulky size, and the cost and time consumed in taking the unit to a shop for charging. A strong correlation has also been observed between the sales of television sets and solar PV sales in rural areas (Jacobson, 2007). This is an indication of the purchasing power of the rural elite whereby the motivation to buy solar PV equipment is driven by the desire to own and power a television. Future solar sales, including successful installation and usage, will depend on what needs there are amongst the rural poor that solar energy can fulfil. This will guarantee expansion further down the economic demographic pyramid and across difference facets of rural life (Prahalad, 2004).

Most households in rural areas lack the infrastructure needed for connecting up to the electricity grid safely. Culturally,

there are limitations to the acceptance of electricity for cooking. Wood and charcoal fires are perceived by rural users to be more reliable for cooking specific local dishes and are thus preferred over electric cookers, which most have little experience in using. Some households use a combination of fuels for other reasons. For example, in urban areas, gas and electricity cookers are used, more due to the unreliability of the power supply rather than out of preference (Murphy, 2001).

Capabilities: Regional connectivityThe connectivity of households to a decentralised or centralised electricity network is essential for increasing social and economic development. Kenya has one of the largest per capita markets for solar PV technology among developing countries (Jacobson, 2007). Extrapolating the true market size for renewable technology dissemination is actually quite difficult. A 2003 survey of 76 households in rural Kenya showed that 32% of solar households were using lighting for income generation and work related activities (Jacobson, 2007). Figure 3 symbolise the relative strength of the socioeconomic ties (indicated by the thickness of the arrow). From this depiction of social ties, differentiating rural from peri-urban and urban, one can observe the energy market potential across these groups.

There are subtle differences in socioeconomic ties across regions. It

Figure 2: students at the Golden sunbeam school in essam village, Ghana, use rechargeable LeD lights in the classroom. (source: Bringham Young university)

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emerges that there is not only a negligence of needs in the rural areas, but also in the peri-urban areas or secondary towns. Nakuru for example, Kenya’s 4th largest urban centre, has experienced heavy migration over the years, making it more difficult for the government to provide essential services (Milukas, 1993). Whilst Nakuru is a tourism destination, transport hub and commercial centre for agriculture and agro-processing, little attention has been paid to energy related issues, from the perspective of policy enforcement and attracting investment. One neglected energy trend is the increasing deforestation around Nakuru, which is exacerbating fuelwood resources.

Capabilities: Affordability

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) point towards delivering poverty alleviation to the more than two billion people living without access to modern amenities needed for survival. Solar PV advocates similarly push the technology to this bottom-most tier, but there is a risk of having a skewed perception of the levels of poverty. A survey in 2000 of 1,512 households in Kenya indicates that most families that own solar systems have annual household incomes of over 2,000 US$ per year, while households below the median wealth level have incomes ranging from 660 to 1,300 US$ per annum. Thus, the majority of solar PV system owning households are substantially better off than most of their rural neighbours but may not be wealthy by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) country standards. In this sense, when analysing affordability, one must differentiate between the varying international and national standards and use survey data to

define the local affordability criteria. This helps challenge the characterisation of populations without electricity as a large and relatively undifferentiated mass of rural poor (Jacobson, 2007).

Solar households could be characterised in terms of both wealth and occupations. The two tend to be commensurate in Kenya. Based on the same 2000 survey, 80% of solar owning households reported a professional salary. These vary from jobs that provide professional salaries, such as teaching, to agricultural producers that create considerable income from produce sales. Here, 55% of earnings for households that purchase solar systems came from agricultural earnings (Jacobson, 2007). Tailoring to these categories’ purchasing power can pave the way for optimal acceptance of energy technology systems.

In the case of lower income households a cash-based approach can be considered, where the purchase of a solar system is incremental, with costs spread over time. The 2000 survey data showed that this puts a strain on usage of solar PV for income generating activities and additional activities such as children’s reading purposes. This is because there is only just enough money to spend on a system less than 25W that produces very little electricity. There is also a non-guarantee of quality and performance of solar systems that further weakens the feasibility of solar access for people below the median wealth level (Jacobson, 2007). There is also a lack of subsidies in sales of solar equipment.

Finally, in Kenya it is yet not proven that solar PV can be a stand-alone solution for income generating activities, nevertheless, it is an important emerging contributor to economic growth.

References Jacobson, A., 2007, Connective Power: solar electrification and social Change in Kenya. World Development 35(1), p144-162.

Karekezi, s. and Kimani, J., 2004, Have Power sector Reforms increased Access to electricity Among the Poor in east Africa? African energy Policy Research Network (AFRePReN), Nairobi, Kenya.

Murphy, J. T., 2001. Making the energy Transition in Rural east Africa: is Leapfrogging an Alternative?. Technological Forecasting and social Change 68(2), p173-193.

Prahalad, C. K., 2004, The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: eradicating Poverty Through Profits, Wharton school Publishing, upper saddle River, New Jersey.

Raskin, P. D., Bernow s., and O’Keefe, P., 1984, energy and Development in Kenya – Opportunities and Constraints, Nordic Africa institute.

Editorial Note Thanks to Kyrea for his valuable contribution on the socio-economics of Kenyan solar energy. We invite further submissions on outcomes from their application in projects in different contexts. Please send us your experiences by post or email to BoilingPoint@HeDON.info

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Figure 3: strength of socioeconomic ties in Kenya (source: FAO 2003)

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The International Energy Agency statistics indicate that around 1.44 billion people globally have to live

without access to electricity (IEA 2010). Of these, approximately one out of four people is from India. In absolute terms, 61.47 million households in the country still do not have access to electricity (NSSO 2010). Almost all these households currently use kerosene lanterns or dibri (wick lamps) as a light source. These lamps because of their poor quality and inefficiency, not only provide very dim and inefficient light and emit toxic smoke, hazardous to the health of children reading or women working using these lamps, but also consume much of the family’s income. The monthly consumption of a kerosene lamp is about 7 - 9 litres per household (Mills 2005, Pode 2010), with average monthly expenditure per household estimated at INR 352 (7.7US$) for fuel and lighting (NSSO 2010). A typical rural household in India spends a substantial part of this expenditure on kerosene fuel for lighting.

On the other hand, solar-powered lighting systems are acquiring centre stage in the field of rural lighting, owing to their cost competitiveness and carbon neutral lighting with no greenhouse gas emissions as compared to kerosene-based lighting. Solar lanterns are now being viewed as one of the most effective options for replacing kerosene lanterns and wick lamps used in remote and rural homes

across the globe. In fact, the 360 degree lighting and portability of the solar lantern is considered ideal to serve both as indoor and outdoor lighting. Furthermore, input-output (I-O) analysis done by the Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) indicates that on an annual basis a Compact Fluorescent Lamp (CFL) based lantern could save about 89 kg CO2 equivalent, while a Light Emitting Diode (LED) based lantern could result in a saving of about 93 kg CO2 equivalent as compared to the baseline emissions from a kerosene lantern (Ganju and Mathur 2010).

The Lighting a Billion Lives (LaBL) Campaign*In 2008, TERI scaled up the innovative renting/‘fee-for-service’ model, in which centralised solar charging stations (SCS) are set up in villages and lanterns are provided on a rental basis to households and enterprises. The LaBL initiative is a commitment by TERI to enable a billion lives around the globe to access clean lighting by displacing kerosene and paraffin lanterns with solar lighting devices, thus providing better illumination and smoke-free indoor environment and also creating livelihoods opportunities both at the individual and village level. Quite clearly, lighting is not synonymous with electrification, and can by no means be equated with energisation that includes energy for cooking, irrigation, micro

enterprises amongst others. However, it still is one of the primary amenities required by a household to help step up the socioeconomic, cultural and developmental ladder, which LaBL’s initiative aims to provide in a cleaner and more sustainable way.

Challenges of solar lantern disseminationHistorically, lanterns with individual solar chargers were the preferred model for dissemination in India. However, literature indicates that the dissemination and sustainability of stand alone solar lanterns faced challenges related to operational, financial and marketing aspects (Rubab and Kandpal, 1996; Palit and Hazarika 2002). Some of the common reasons contributing to the poor sustainability of solar lanterns include a lack of awareness among beneficiaries; lack of availability of a range of models catering to varying needs among various user segments; high procurement price vis-à-vis paying capacity of consumers; limited hours of usage and unavailability of effective after sales service networks in rural areas.

The high cost of solar PV panel during the last decade and the cost of maintenance of lanterns in the absence of after-sales services within close proximity to the consumer has contributed to high price of the complete systems. The LaBL initiative attempts to address some of these challenges through an

Lighting a Billion Lives – Empowering the rural poorKey words: solar photovoltaic, Lighting, Lanterns, Rural energy, Lighting a Billion Lives (LaBL).

The design and dissemination of solar lanterns in India was initiated in 1991 under the solar photovoltaic (SPV) demonstration programme of the then Department of Non Conventional Energy Sources (DNES). During the last two decades, solar lanterns have been mostly disseminated through the ‘individual ownership’ model where the lanterns (mostly with Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFL)) along with the SPV modules are provided directly to the beneficiary at a subsidised cost. In 2008, the Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) revived the fee-for-service model and scaled up dissemination of solar lanterns under its flagship programme called Lighting a Billion Lives (LaBL) in which solar charging stations are set up in villages, operated by village level entrepreneurs, and lanterns are rented out from such stations at a nominal fee to the users.

Authors Debajit Palit1

Fellow and Area Convenor, Lighting a Billion Lives Campaign

Jarnail Singh2

Research Associate, Lighting a Billion Lives Campaign

1 debajitp@teri.res.in 2 jarnails@teri.res.in

1,2 Lighting a Billion Lives Campaign, The energy and Resources institute, iHC Complex, Lodhi Road, New Delhi –110003

PeeR ReVieWeDReceived 26 July 2010

Accepted 26 January 2011

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appropriate service delivery model, focusing on product quality, robustness of after- sales service and innovative financing of the initiative.

LaBL service delivery model

The entrepreneurial model of energy service delivery, especially targeting the ‘bottom of the pyramid’ population, forms the basis of the LaBL initiative at the village level. LaBL operates on a ‘fee-for-service’ model wherein charged solar lanterns are rented to households and small businesses in the village for a nominal rent (which also includes charging fee), that is collected by the operator of the charging station (referred to as the LaBL Entrepreneur). A part of the rental and charging fee is used to meet the operation and maintenance costs of the charging station, while the remainder constitutes the entrepreneurs’ monthly income (Figure 1).

At the institutional level the project is being implemented by TERI in association with grassroots-level non-governmental/ community based organisations (NGOs/CBOs) or microfinance institutions (MFIs) etc., referred to as the LaBL Partner Organisations (PO), selected as per the criteria developed by TERI. TERI, alongside LaBL POs, jointly identifies and selects the villages and LaBL entrepreneurs. Villages are selected based on the POs active presence in the area and based on community’s demand for solar lanterns,

determined through a scoping study. Major criteria for selection of entrepreneurs are their entrepreneurial ability to create and sustain demand for the solar lanterns in their area of operation, also their literacy level and the support they can receive from the community. The LaBL-PO thus facilitates a direct livelihood opportunity to at least one person in the village by engaging her/ him as an entrepreneur for regular operation and maintenance of the SCS.

A typical SCS consists of 5 solar panels of 50 peak watts (Wp) to 80 Wp capacity for charging 50 LED or CFL lanterns, providing light for 5 - 6 hours daily. The five panels simultaneously charge 50 LED or CFL lanterns, connected through a junction box designed by TERI (Figure 2). Whereas LED lanterns usually provide a minimum light output of 50 lux (horizontally) and 123 lux (vertically) at 1 foot distance, CFL lanterns with 7 W lamp provide illumination of 370 lumens.

Typically, villagers come for recharging their lanterns everyday and pay about INR 3 (0.07 US$)/- per day while the shops pay the slightly larger amount of INR 5 (0.11 US$)/- per day. The amount paid by households and shops to the SCS operators includes both the rent as well as the charging fee for the lanterns. Alternately, the SCS operator also collects the lanterns from the households in the morning, recharges them during the daytime and distribute the same to the households in the evening. This also ensures better client services and also

regular recharging of the lanterns at the SCS. For all these activities, sometimes they charge an incremental amount of INR 1/- (0.02 US$) over and above the rental and charging amount. Thus a villager spends about INR 90 (2 US$)/- per month on recharging the lanterns, which is less than the amount of money spent on procuring kerosene from the market. However, in the case that LED lanterns are used on the economy setting, they need only be recharged on alternate days.

Financing being one of the key challenges of a solar PV programme, the financial model under the LaBL initiative attempts to bring all stakeholders together on one platform. The government, TERI, local NGOs (LaBL PO) and the community have joined efforts, truly reflective of the P4 (Public Private People Partnership), to support the dissemination of clean technologies. The capital costs for setting up the SCS in remote locations are mainly grant-supported from the LaBL Fund (raised from corporates and government schemes) and co-financed by the LaBL-PO. For ‘not so remote’ villages, where the villagers have some paying capacity, the operators are given the option of setting up SCS as their own enterprise either putting in their equity or availing loans (facilitated under LaBL initiative), with part of the SCS cost being subsidised by the LaBL Fund.

Apart from setting up SCS, the rural entrepreneurs or the LaBL-POs can

Figure 1: LaBL service delivery model (source: TeRi)* All iP rights (trademark, copyright and others) in respect of “Lighting a Billion Lives” rests with TeRi

Figure 2: Views of solar Charging station (source: TeRi)

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also procure LaBL approved lanterns (both with and without solar panels) for sale to individual households. These lanterns, which conform to specifications developed under the LaBL initiative, are procured from selected lantern suppliers. Households purchasing lanterns without purchasing solar panels come to the SCS for recharging the lanterns paying only the recharging fee.

Apart from facilitating efficient lighting, the initiative is also building the capacities of rural entrepreneurs and partner NGOs on technical, operational and business development matters for effective management and sustainability of SCS. To increase income for the entrepreneurs, the initiative is also attempting to upgrade the high performing SCS to SMU (solar multi utility) centres to enable the entrepreneurs to provide a variety of value-added services such as charging of mobile telephones, battery operated devices, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) services etc.

Products and innovations in LaBLTo address the challenge of making available quality products at an affordable price, in the absence of any prevalent standards nationally (for LED lanterns), LaBL developed its own standards and performance specifications. Continuous improvements in products and procedures was carried out to ensure customised service delivery, lower cost for setting up SCS, high product efficiencies, and highest quality of products to meet the needs of rural users. The solar lanterns being disseminated under the campaign have been developed by TERI in partnerships with leading solar lantern manufacturers, and are customised to the needs of rural communities. While the initiative started with development and dissemination

of CFL lanterns, gradually white LED lanterns were introduced as they consume substantially less power, are rugged and portable, have longer service life and no mercury content. While the CFL lanterns operate for 4 - 5 hours, the LED lanterns can operate for 5 - 20 hours depending on the light output for equivalent battery capacity. Furthermore, innovative designs of the SCS are being tested, such as charging a higher number of lanterns within the same recharging capacity of solar panels, thereby improving the access by more than double at reduced cost.

The research team at TERI has also made conscious effort to improve the lighting performance of the lamps through integrated system optimisation, based on selection of low power consuming LEDs and more efficient luminaire designs. Some of the additional customised features introduced in the lanterns based on the requirement of the community include a battery status indicator, a dimming option, a night LED for glowing throughout the night and facilities for mobile phone charging and manual charging by hand.

Furthermore, for ensuring effective post-installation maintenance services for fault-free operation of SCS and proper usage of lanterns, the initiative has been setting up a network of Technology Resource Centres (TRCs) in the areas where it is being implemented. While the TRCs are already providing the required after sales services for sustainability of SCS, these TRCs, in future can also be upgraded to provide necessary services for managing other solar and renewable energy technologies being implemented by the Indian government, especially under the recently launched Jawahar Lal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM). Extensive trainings for SCS entrepreneurs and TRC technicians along with user sensitisation on lantern usage has been made a part of the initiative to ensure sustainability.

Impact so far

A concurrent monitoring and impact study was undertaken by LaBL team covering more than 121 SCS during the period August 2008 to April 2010. The study observed that, on an average, 47.25% of the total available lanterns in a SCS are rented out every day (Figure 4). While the uptake was found to be relatively lower during the monsoon months, the summer months record average uptake of 70% to as high as 100% in many of the charging stations.

There is also a direct livelihoods benefit in the form of ‘green jobs’ for the entrepreneurs managing the SCS and earning through renting. The operators—more than 15% of whom are women—earn approximately INR 1500 – 3500 (33–77 US$) per month by renting out lanterns (Figure 4). Based on the survey of the 121 SCS, the average monthly income of the entrepreneurs managing the SCS was found to be INR 1609 (35 US$)/- with some charging stations recording as high as INR 5000 (110 US$) per month.

At the household level, the programme has been instrumental in encouraging children—particularly, the female children, who are usually busy during the day with household activities— in opting for longer study hours. Apart from inducing a smoke-free indoor environment for women, there is improved mobility and safety after dusk for both women and the elderly. In addition, the programme is also advantageous to those who are using the lanterns to earn a living by way of weaving, sewing, vending, running tuition centres, and by providing other village level services. Besides this, it also aids many other villagers by providing extra working hours after dusk for activities like betel leaf farming in West Bengal, eco-tourism in tribal areas of Orissa, basket making in Rajasthan, and bamboo craft in Assam, amongst others. LaBL has also been acting as synergising glue between forest authorities and villagers residing around many protected forest areas across the country. In Assam and in many other states, farmers use the lanterns to patrol their farms at night to address the recurring elephant menace which causes crop loss. Likewise, in Rajasthan, lanterns are helping villagers to shoo away nilgais (blue bulls) and avoid snake and scorpion bites whilst working in the fields.

Figure 3: Lantern facilitating education at KGBV Korba (source: TeRi)

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Addressing challenges in LaBL

The past three years have clearly demonstrated that the growth of the LaBL initiative critically depends on development and creation of institutional and financial mechanisms to ensure its reach and sustainability. TERI has faced challenges initially in taking forward the initiative including institutional, technical and financial difficulties. Selection of appropriate villages and entrepreneurs, effective post installation maintenance of SCS and lanterns for ensuring sustainability and community’s contribution are some of the key challenges. These challenges are being addressed through measures such as:— Collaboration with active grassroots

level POs, having long presence in the target area

— Selection of villages based on demand expressed by villagers and not just considering the status of power supply

— Selection of entrepreneurs according to robust criteria developed under the initiative as mentioned in the earlier section

— Concurrent monitoring of the performance of SCS, entrepreneurs, as well as POs

— Establishing TRCs for providing repair and maintenance support to SCS in clusters

— Training at all levels (TRCs, SCS operators, POs and users)

— Ensuring product quality — Developing innovative financing models

with microfinance organisations to finance entrepreneurs and households. Efforts are being made to sensitise financial institutions on the crucial role they could undertake in extending solar lighting to energy impoverished regions, and form LaBL Partners in Financing, who can also act as channel partners (financial integrators) under the recently launched JNNSM.

Way forward

The initiative is attempting to comple-ment the government’s efforts in improv-ing access to lighting in the rural areas. It is also well-aligned on the path of maintaining equilibrium between en-trepreneurship and empowerment, rural development and environmental protec-tion, as well as local participation to cre-ate a viable and sustainable solution to the problem of energy access.

References

Ganju K K and Mathur R, 2010. The environmental benefits of solar lighting alternatives over kerosene: an input–output approach; energy security insights, Vol 5 issue 1; New Delhi: The energy and Resources institute

NssO 2010. National sample survey Organisation - Household Consumer expenditure in india (64th Round survey) New Delhi: Ministry of statistics and Programme implementation; Government of india

Palit, D. and Hazarika, N, 2002. “Performance and impact of solar Photovoltaic Devices Disseminated for Village electrification in india”, Proceedings of the international Conference on Renewable energy for Rural Development., Dhaka, Bangladesh, Jan., 19-21, pp. 13–18

Pode R 2010. solutions to enhance the acceptability of solar powered LeD lighting technology; Renewable and sustainable energy Reviews 14; pp 1096–1103

Rubab s and Kandpal T C 1996. Financial evaluation of sPV lanterns for rural lighting in india; solar energy Materials and solar Cells 44; 261-270

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Less than 40%

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Figure 4: Average use of lanterns in the surveyed villages (source: TeRi)

Progress of LaBL (as on February 2011)

Around 35,000 solar lanterns in use •benefiting more than 175,000 lives in 640 villages across 16 states of india and in some parts of Myanmar

Livelihood opportunities generated for •650 rural solar entrepreneurs by virtue of running LaBL sCs and providing repair and maintenance services

Typical rent in the villages is about •iNRs 3-6 (0.07-0.13 us$) per recharge per lantern

Average income of rural entrepreneurs •ranges between Rs 1500 to Rs 3500 (33 – 77 us$) per month

More than 65 grassroots partners •leveraging rural entrepreneurial capacities

About ten models of solar lanterns •(LeD and CFL) available for dissemination in field

More than 3500 sponsors from •25 countries engaged in supporting the campaign

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Burkina Faso is a landlocked country located south of the Sahara desert. According to the Human

Development Index (HDI), Burkina Faso is one of the poorest countries of the world. Its population is estimated at around 14 million – of which 80% live in rural areas. Only 13% of the population have access to electricity and a total of 90% of domestic energy demand is met through firewood and charcoal (George 2008).

The use-patterns of firewood and charcoal in Gaoua, Burkina Faso The local environmental context

Gaoua is located in a region with a very high precipitation rate compared to the northern regions of Burkina Faso (Sepp 1994). The area surrounding the town, the rural commune of Gaoua, is mainly characterised by simultaneous growing of crops and trees, but altogether only about 40% of the area of the whole commune Gaoua is intensively used.

Small-town dynamics

The commune Gaoua can be divided into two parts: the urban commune of Gaoua with about 24,500 inhabitants and the rural commune that consists of about 56 villages with 27,500 inhabitants. The number of inhabitants of the district of Gaoua has grown significantly from 39,000 to 52,000 from 1985 to 2006. This growth was accompanied by an increase in the area of Gaoua and land use change in the surrounding areas. (Yili 2005 & PCD, 2008).

Over the last 15 years population growth in Gaoua and urbanisation, leading to an increase in the number of handicraft shops and restaurants, has also led to an increase in firewood and charcoal consumption from 10,593 tonnes per year in 1992, to 47.5 in 2003. The daily consumption of firewood per person increased from 0.8 kg in 1992 to 1.2 kg in 2008.

The town`s financial capital has increased due to a national decentralisation process, yet the financial capital of the firewood and charcoal market in Gaoua in 2003 was nearly three times higher than the official overall income of the commune Gaoua in the same year. Although officially taxes are imposed on harvesting and selling of firewood, the firewood and charcoal market in Gaoua is almost entirely informal – hardly any taxes are paid by any of the stakeholders, sellers or consumers (own survey, 2008).

Although grid electrification increased by 40% (to 2400 households) from 2002 to 2006, electricity is still only available to 10% of the population. Hence firewood and charcoal are the predominant energy sources for households as well as small businesses, restaurants and schools (PCD, 2008).

Identification of the different stakeholders

From 1992 to 2003, the relative share of household energy consumption to the total energy consumption increased from 35% to 64%, indicating that these are the main consumers of firewood and charcoal in Gaoua.

Furthermore, a significant decrease was observed in the firewood consumption of local breweries. This is the consequence of a successful story in introducing improved

cookstoves in commercial businesses in the last years. (Meyer, M. 2008, adapted from EDENE & GTZ, 2003; SOMDA, 1992.)

Where does the firewood and charcoal come from? The spatial structure of the firewood and charcoal market in Gaoua.

In Gaoua, firewood and charcoal sellers either collect or harvest the firewood in the immediate surroundings of their home village. The charcoal is also exclusively produced manually in the surroundings of their villages. There is no specific harvesting or production zone.

A closer look at a typical day of energy supply in Gaoua, reveals that the firewood and charcoal is sourced from different types of natural and agricultural landscapes. The firewood is collected within the urban area of the town as well as in the intensively used areas and also in the zones of the tree-savannah. Sellers use paved and dirt roads to transport firewood/charcoal into the small town. According to these sellers, in the last few years it has become increasingly difficult to find firewood and charcoal. (Meyer,M. 2008).

How does the firewood and charcoal get into the households of Gaoua? Transport of firewood and charcoal

In 96% of cases, transportation of firewood and charcoal into Gaoua was found to be done by women, mostly on foot, who walk

Political ecology analysis of the sustainability of use-patterns of firewood and charcoal in Gaoua, Burkina FasoKeywords: Political ecology; Case study; small-town dynamics; Firewood; Charcoal; use-patterns; spatial structure; stakeholder-oriented approach; Multilevel analysis; sustainability

In 2008 a case study on the use of firewood and charcoal in Gaoua in Burkina Faso was conducted. The energy use-patterns and its sustainability in the dynamically changing environment of the small town Gaoua and its surroundings was critically analysed through the lens of political ecology.

PeeR ReVieWeDReceived 9 August 2010

Accepted 19 October 2010

Author Marcel Meyer Founder and executive committee member of German NGO Ayampe Ayampe – Projekte für lokale Vielfalt e.V. egonstraße 48, 79106 Freiburg i. Br. Germany marcel.meyer@mars.uni-freiburg.de

47Boiling Point. issue 59 — 2011

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over long distances carrying the fuel on their heads, unable to afford other means of transport. (Meyer, M. 2008, adapted from EDENE & GTZ, 2003; SOMDA, 1992). The firewood is normally transported in bunches called ‘fagots’, which have an average weight of about 20kg, while the charcoal is transported in basins with an average weight of about 18kg (Meyer,M. 2008). Only 15% of women travel a distance less than 5km to the central market of Gaoua, while more than 40% walk more than 15km. Transport time varies from half an hour to 8 hours. Although this was stated to be very hard work, it was also mentioned in the interviews conducted that this is the only way for women to make money and no suggestions for a change of this pattern were made.

However the transport and sale of firewood and charcoal is not done every day by every salesperson. The time that one spends on transporting or selling varies individually and across the year. No overall – neither official nor unofficial – organisation or institutionalised structure exists. In most cases the transported firewood/charcoal is directly sold by the same women that have transported it (Meyer,M. 2008).

Sellers The sale of firewood and charcoal usually happens by seller groups at different locations within the city. A particularity is that most of the firewood is sold in the streets very close to the central market, but not in the building or area of the actual market. No market taxes have to be paid that way (Meyer,M. 2008).

From 2003 to 2008 the price of firewood has doubled and the price of charcoal has more than tripled. This increase was supported by the women interviewed (Meyer, M. 2008)

Considering that many of the sellers also collect, harvest or produce and transport their goods, the possible financial income of selling firewood and charcoal can be estimated by their numbers. Women collecting, transporting and selling can gain about 600 - 800 CFA Francs (1.3 – 1.7 US$) a day. Those who transport the firewood or charcoal may not sell it themselves, but sell

it instead to a sub-dealer. Those sub-dealers then can gain about 200 - 400 CFA (US$0.4 - 0.9) for selling that same amount. One woman also stated that she gained about 1000 - 1500 CFA (US$2.2 – 3.2) a day by selling a lot of charcoal in small amounts (own survey, 2008). It is deduced that the amount earned is not significant enough to easily allow investment in for example, more economically effective means of transport.

Households

These represent the biggest stakeholder group in the consumption of firewood and charcoal and their overall absolute consumption has more than doubled from 3,706 tonnes per year in 1992 to 10,768 by 2003 (Meyer, M. 2008, adapted from EDENE & GTZ, 2003; SOMDA, 1992.) About 80% of all consumed firewood and charcoal in Gaoua is purchased commercially within the city. One can conclude that there is a functioning commercial market of firewood and charcoal that ensures supply to the majority of urban households. But still about 20% of the households themselves go out and collect, cut down or produce their firewood and charcoal. The purchasing represents a major expense for the households while harvesting is also a time consuming activity (Meyer, M. 2008).

Is there a regional or national market for firewood and charcoal?

The official regional market is very small. There is only one location in Gaoua where charcoal can be bought in big sacks, mainly by people travelling to the big cities, Bobo- Dioulasso and Ouagadougou. There is also no official local or regional firewood or charcoal merchant in Gaoua. But sometimes the official national firewood transport vehicles can be seen buying and transporting firewood. According to interviews, this only represents a small proportion of the firewood sold (Meyer,M. 2008). Although the official market is small, many locals also buy big sacks of charcoal which they sell on the paved road

to Ougadougou and Bobo Dioulasso, for a price of 2500 CFA (US$5.4), far below the price in the big cities (Meyer,M. 2008).

Multilevel analysis of the use-patterns of firewood and charcoal The use of trees and bushes for firewood and charcoal is only one aspect of the overall local use-pattern of natural resources in the district of Gaoua. Looking at the land use changes one can assume that other stakeholders, such as for example agricultural users, have a stronger impact on local ecosystems.

One essential alignment of interests in the local network of market actors is that neither the rural carriers, nor the salespersons nor the majority of urban households – and therefore nearly every directly involved stakeholder – can afford to pay the officially existing harvesting and/or market taxes. The income from selling firewood or charcoal is small, while household expenses for firewood and charcoal are already high. Therefore paying taxes would imply a significant loss of income which would require a change in livelihood strategies. A threat which could threaten household survival. There is however a conflict of interest between these market actors and the local political stakeholders who wish to enforce such taxes.

In fact, there is a difference in the livelihood strategies between the urban and rural populations, which leads to different reactions towards political and international development interventions and can also lead to conflict. This difference is partly attributed to the fact that urban households are often unfamiliar with the outskirts of Gaoua and do not have the same land use rights as the rural habitants, hence cannot easily go out to collect firewood.

Furthermore, despite the majority of directly involved stakeholders being women, the interests of the female transporters and sellers as well as buyers (the women, being responsible for cooking) remain unrepresented both in

Figure 1: The carriers of firewood and charcoal in Gaoua, (source: Meyer,M. 2008)

Figure 2: The Places of sale of firewood and charcoal in Gaoua, (source: Meyer,M. 2008)

48

GENERAL

the local political frame and in traditional power structures.

Although the regional, national or international firewood charcoal market currently only has a small impact on the local use-patterns, its future development could strongly affect local structures. Environmental politics try to enforce harvest taxes and implement national reforestation programmes, the latter taking place about once a year.

The international political discourse on development in West Africa in the past has often perceived environmental degradation solely as a consequence of specific land use practices, such as the use of firewood and charcoal as a main source of energy (Mainghuet, 1991; Thomas & Middleton in: Krings, 2006; Fairhead & Leach, 1998; Leach & Mearns, 1996; Moseley & Laris, 2008). In the case of Gaoua existing research has also focused on the ecological impact and sustainability of the land-use-patterns of energy-supply. This specific focus was influenced by the project goals of the sponsoring international programmes of development cooperation.

Are the above described use-patterns sustainable?Ecological sustainability

The increase in charcoal and firewood price and statements from interviews indicate that there is an increasing shortage of resources in the commune Gaoua. It can be assumed that there has been a reduction of tree and bush stocks during the last 25 years however scientific studies provide insufficient data to quantify this. Assuming that there has been a decrease in the number of trees a single cause is hard to identify.

Land use changes, livestock farming, the collection of fruits and land use by the military are all factors influencing the current supply of natural resources.

During interviews, various stakeholders expressed concern regarding the increasing scarcity of firewood and the impact this would have on their daily livelihood

strategies, as so many rely directly on natural resources.

Yet ecological sustainability under-standably seems to have a lower priority than securing a sustainable income and health assurance.

Long-term sustainability

This article has drawn the picture of a network of stakeholders of the natural resources in Gaoua that has one very important characteristic: it is dynamic, i.e. constantly changing. The local livelihood strategies of the rural suppliers of firewood and charcoal as well as those of the urban consumers are characterised by their ability to dynamically and rapidly adapt to external changes, to ensure a stable financial situation. These strategies change on a daily basis, for example the sources of revenue, but are also flexible in the long-term. The town also changes constantly, for example in the number of inhabitants, infrastructure or in political interventions. These also influence fuel-use patterns, for example through the national decentralisation process in Burkina Faso which has lead to an increase in consumption.

On the question of long-term sustainability, it seems that this can only be assured through the short-term flexibility of each stakeholder. This implies, however, that at different times different actors can be marginalised if they are unable to adapt. Furthermore, national and international markets require capital for initial investments, planning and competition on a global scale and an active long-term economic participation of market actors. Local actors with no political or financial power to push for their own interests will most likely be unable to compete or influence the national market. This could lead to further marginalisation and fuel poverty if for example, national and international prices of fuelwood increase.

Economic sustainability

For the majority of stakeholders directly involved in the trade of firewood and

charcoal, the latter represents one of the most important sources of income, and is hence an essential component of their livelihood strategies. The structure of the energy supply in Gaoua i.e. its informal nature, the decentralised sourcing of firewood and the very high number of participating stakeholders gives the market network two crucial characteristics. Firstly, its ability to adapt to short-term changes and secondly, the possibility for an immensely high number of local inhabitants to gain a financial advantage out of the energy supply in Gaoua. Thus the network could be considered a sustainable economic assurance of local livelihoods as it is a robust, inclusive system, which serves the economic interests of the majority of directly involved stakeholders. However, the economic advantage is spread very thinly, as individuals earn a small income from selling firewood or charcoal. It is therefore difficult to judge whether in reality this income is sufficient to enable the flexibility needed to assure economic sustainability in this dynamic market.

Acknowledgements: i wish to acknowledge the help of the team of Foyer Amelioré Burkina Faso (FAFAsO) in Burkina Faso and especially the support of Andrea Reikat. i thank all of the German development service Deutscher entwicklungsdienst (DeD), the German society for Technical Cooperation, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), and the German development bank Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) employees for the interesting discussions and support during the research period in Gaoua, Burkina Faso.

www.HeDON.info/GGAPRead full article and comment* Author profile & latest contact details* Photos, references, acknowledgements*

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Figure 3: Official state-run firewood transporter of Burkina Faso, in Gaoua. (source: Meyer,M. 2008)

49Boiling Point. issue 59 — 2011

CALL FOR PAPERS

Boiling Point looks for articles which are written in English, Spanish, French or Chinese, preferably using clear and plain language, and which can be used by other people in their own work. Do not be deterred, however, if you are not used to writing – it is the information that is important – we will review articles, edit them and return them for your approval prior to being published.

Theme articles

Each edition of the journal typically contains 4 to 5 full length theme articles which can include research papers, programme reports etc that are relevant to the theme topic. The next three issues of Boiling Point will be exploring the themes of ‘Energy Markets and Enterprise Development’, ‘Climate Change Adaptation, Resilience and Energy Security’ and ‘Energy Service Delivery Models’. We encourage you to submit articles on your work on any of these themes at any time of the year. Each edition of the journal also contains a Toolkit. If you are interested in contributing to this then please contact us on the address below.

Interviews

If you feel you or someone from your organization should be interviewed on your work in facilitating energy access to households in developing countries, contact us at the email address below. All interviews will be published on the HEDON website and the best will be selected for publication in Boiling Point.

General articles

We welcome submission of general articles at any time, which can cover any topic. Examples include project/programme updates, technical papers, book/report reviews, conference and workshop reports. Please note: Technology based articles should be focused on the real life application of proven technologies.

HelpLine

Would you like advice from experts on an aspect of your work in household energy? Contact us at the address below with your questions and we will strive to direct you to those who can help. Questions we feel are relevant to a wider audience are selected for publication in the HelpLine section of Boiling Point. HelpLine sections in the past have included dilemmas on marketing and monitoring and evaluation.

Front cover photo competition

HEDON are offering you another fantastic opportunity to get your best image onto the front cover of Boiling Point. We are looking for a full colour photograph for the front cover that illustrates the three future themes of Boiling Point. The photo must be: of good quality format and suitable for high resolution colour printing (A minimum resolution of 300 dpi and a higher quality file type i.e. not .bmp); sent to us in it’s original format (not pasted into an MS Word file); credited to the correct person, with a caption if appropriate; owned by the person/organisation entering

the competition; and preferably with a central focal point, a bold composition and rich colours. The editor’s decision is final and the selected photo will win absolutely nothing, apart from the admiration of thousands of subscribers and of course our thanks. For more information please visit www.hedon.info/XRBB

Guidelines and submission dates

We now accept articles and front cover photo competition submissions for the ‘Climate Change Adaptation, Resilience and Energy Security’ issue until Friday 2 December 2011.

Articles can be submitted digitally in a commonly used word processing format, using the Article Template or by post. Articles should be around 2,000 words in length. Illustrations, such as drawings, photographs, graphs and bar charts are essential and should follow the ‘Figure Formatting’ guidelines. All references should be provided in the format given in the ‘References’ guidelines. Articles should also include a 100-200 word summary, a 50 word profile for each author and up to ten keywords that you feel best describe your article. More detailed guidelines and the Article Template can be found at www.hedon.info/DVBB or via the @HEDON link below. Files can be emailed to the editor at boilingpoint@hedon.info or posted to the address below. Final article selection is based on article quality, originality and relevance.

Thank you for your cooperation, and please do not hesitate to contact us for any clarification.

Regards,The Boiling Point Team

HeDON Household energy Network email: boilingpoint@hedon.info

Call for papersBoiling Point forthcoming topics:

— Energy Markets and Enterprise Development — Climate Change Adaptation, Resilience and Energy Security — Energy Service Delivery Models

Boiling Point is peer reviewed and published quarterly. We are inviting readers to submit articles, papers and news on a rolling basis at any time. So if you feel that you have something to contribute to the wider household energy community on any theme, including the above four, then please read the information below and send us your experiences – HEDON would love to hear from you!

Boiling Point. issue 59 — 2011 49

A prActitioner’s journAl on household energy, stoves And poverty reduction

A publication of the

www.hedon.info

The HEDON Household Energy Network is dedicated to improving social, economic and environmental conditions in less developed countries, through promotion of local, national, regional and international initiatives in the household energy sector.

The HEDON Household Energy Network has recently established itself in the UK as a charitable limited company registered with the UK charity commission, managed by five Trustee Directors (Andrew Barnett (The Policy Practice); Dr Grant Ballard-Tremeer (Eco Ltd) Dr Stephen Bates (Independent); Dick Jones (Independent) and Dr Kavita Rai, (Independent)) and

coordinated by a team of dedicated volunteers. The network itself is comprised of thousands of active members with diverse backgrounds: from practitioners and policy-makers to academics, business owners and Non Governmental Organisations from all over the world. We exchange experiences, learn from one another and create new knowledge.

Our Patrons

HEDON Household Energy Network has the goodwill and support of two patrons: Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa, Professor Kirk R. Smith, Professor of Global Environmental Health, at the University of California, Berkeley, USA.

To join us go to www.HEDON.info/registerHEDON Household Energy Network is registered with the UK charity commission, charity number 1141286

Our Vision A world where everyone has access to clean and sustainable energy; in fairness, respecting the environment and combating climate change.

Our Mission To inform and empower practitioners in order to unlock barriers to household energy access by: addressing knowledge gaps, facilitating partnerships and fostering information sharing.

What the HEDON Household Energy Network offers: Boiling Point online www.HEDON.info/Boiling Point

59 issues over the past •29 years

Available online in •English, French, Spanish and Chinese

Free online access •and download

An interactive web platform offering:

The latest news, events •and jobs in the household energy sector mailed to members in our monthly newsletter emailed to HEDON members www.hedon.info/news

Wikipedia style resources •on household energy and poverty

Discussion forums •www.hedon.info/SIGs

Regional Interest Groups •(RIGs) www.hedon.info/RIGs

E-conferences and •E-workshops www.hedon.info/Econferences

“As a patron, I believe that HEDON, in its work to address energy and climate improves lives for people living in poverty. I am a supporter of their work and would recommend others to support their endeavours further” Archbishop Desmond Tutu

“HEDON is the oldest international network of organisations promoting clean and efficient household energy sources for improving heath and welfare. I have been involved since its inception in the 1980s and it has provided both intellectual support and inspiration in my work to understand the health and climate implications of household combustion” Professor Kirk Smith