Energy Needs Assessment By Afod-Uganda November 2017

Safe access to cooking fuel and alternative energy in humanitarian response setting is critical as food rations is provided as dry ration. Affected populations normally living in camps/settlement have limited resources to cater for their cooking fuel needs, often resorting to negative coping mechanism to get cooking fuel to cook rations provided by relief agencies like the World Food Programme (WFP). Affected populations – refugees living in West Nile Uganda highly rely on firewood and charcoal for both cooking and as sources of income. Firewood collection and charcoal burning are physically demanding activities mostly carried out by women and children, which are often associated with grave protection risks, such as rape, stripping, physical assaults and at times even killings. They have devastating impact on an already highly fragile and degraded environment, thus further reducing opportunities. (WFP 2011). Finally, the smoke produced by the biomass used for cooking causes a series of diseases, including eyes infection, allergies, and respiratory problems.