Growing up in Itula sub-county, Obongi district, Gladys Amidra would collect cow dung for home use. She narrates that her grandparents would then dry and use animal waste every day as fuel for cooking meals.
Then in 2016, when conflict sparked in the neighbouring South Sudan, refugees began flocking into Amidra’s home district— Obongi. The refugees settled at Palorinya, now a sprawling settlement hosting approximately 135,676 people.
However, this refugee influx has also come with several environmental challenges. Over the years, the increasing refugee population, fueled by the ongoing conflict, has continued to strain forest resources.
One of the major concerns is the rampant depletion of forests for wood fuel. Data from Global Forest Watch shows that Obongi district lost about 2.5% of its tree cover between 2001 and 2023, due to the increase in energy demand, this tree loss has also disrupted the rain cycles thus making refugees, who rely on rain-fed agriculture, struggle to grow crops.
Amid all these pressing challenges, Amidra, 29, thought hard about addressing the energy problem.
Inspired by her grandparents, Amidra began making charcoal briquettes using cow dung. This time she experimented by adding other organic waste, such as maize cobs and sand to enhance its density and the caloric value of the briquettes.
“I experimented with mixing it with sand and small stones to create a more efficient fuel source,” says Amdira, who is 29 and a university graduate. “The stones help to retain heat [when cooking] while adding paper makes it easier [for the fire] to ignite.”
The briquettes can burn for more than four hours and save cooking costs between 20% and 40%, Amdra adds. The United Nations Climate Change study estimates that 0.8 kilograms of briquettes are equivalent to one kilogram of average-quality charcoal. It further notes that each briquettes reduce carbon dioxide emissions by an estimated 4,905 kilograms.
Amidra’s innovation has inspired many, mostly women—both in refugee and host communities— who now produce their briquettes and sell them to supplement their income. Currently, the briquette prices cost between 10,000 and 25,000 Uganda shillings in rural areas and between 30,000 and 45,000 Uganda shillings in town.
“I’m gratified by the positive influence my briquette business has had on women in the community,” Amidra, her face positively beaming.
But her journey has met a few bumps too. She says, locals still struggle to buy briquettes thus pushing them to cut down trees for firewood.
Uniting for a green future
Jeskia Modong, a South Sudanese refugee who fled conflict in 2016, highlights similar challenges. Most refugees, she notes, rely on wood fuel for brewing alcohol to generate income due to the high cost of clean cooking alternatives.
She adds that the previous clean cooking stove projects have failed to thrive due to limited funding and a lack of community awareness.
“We lack experts who can teach us about alternative clean energy sources like how to use solar or briquette-making for electricity. I have not seen any electricity in the camp here or even in the entire district. But again only a few families can afford charcoal, which they buy from the local community,” says Mudong.
Despite these challenges, locals in Obongi are also leveraging more energy solutions. One of them is Rocket Lorena, an energy-saving cooking stove, and fire-shielded stoves that protect the user from heat. Locals say it reduces firewood by 50% and minimizes indoor smoke exposure.
Peter Oyat, Refugee Welfare Committee Chairperson for Zone One, highlights the need to equip such refugees with skills for making better energy-saving stoves, adding that it will cater to households that have never benefited from the previous clean energy initiatives.
Oyat adds they have been encouraging “everyone to plant more trees, which offer numerous benefits like wind protection, shade, medicinal herbs, and firewood, and indeed recently the number of trees planted has increased in the area.”
Energy challenges and solutions
Daniel Wori, a member of the Refugee Welfare Committee in Palorinya Refugee Settlement, echoes the significant impact of clean cooking stoves.
Before the introduction of the clean stoves, he recalls, women would trek long distances to collect firewood, leaving their homes and children vulnerable to strangers and fire outbreaks.
Wori also lauds non-profit Organizations such as the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) that have been implementing clean cooking stove programs and tree-planting projects in the refugee camps.
A report published by the International Energy Agency estimates that about nearly one-third of the world’s population continues to rely on open fires or basic stoves for cooking. These basic stoves also contribute to respiratory ailments and in Africa alone, women and children account for 60% of early deaths related to smoke inhalation.
A 2020 assessment by Mercy Corps found that 62% of households in 12 refugee-hosting districts and Kampala rely on firewood, while 36% use charcoal. In Bidibidi, Adjumani, Palabek, and Palorinya refugee settlements, firewood remains the primary cooking fuel for 76-91% of households. The limited access to clean energy also impedes many women from pursuing education and employment, since much of their time is spent looking for fuel.
“We used to spend a lot on firewood and charcoal due to the traditional cooking methods,” Wori explained. “These methods were not efficient in windy conditions and [they] often lead to house fires.”
Despite the success of local clean energy solutions in some parts of Obongi and most of Uganda, experts say there need for a robust government investment in clean energy technologies for commercial purposes.
On an X space ‘show’ Dr. Didi Bhoka George, the Obongi district Member of Parliament revealed, shortly before the official connection of the West Nile region to the national grid, that it costs approximately 15 million Uganda shillings monthly to operate a clinic using a generator and shs35 million to establish a Hotel fully powered by a solar system in Obongi district.
For a region that had been struggling with power access for six decades, Dr. Didi Bhoka added, connecting West Nile to the national grid would boost development in areas of agriculture, business, and transport. He noted that it also aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 7, which aims to ensure access to clean and affordable energy.
“We must establish systems to ensure that electricity reaches essential government institutions like health centers and local administrative units in parishes. This will ultimately benefit ordinary citizens and various stakeholders involved in the electricity sector. Additionally, adopting an e-governance approach to managing electricity is crucial,” he added.
Dr. Bhoka stressed the need to improve the power evacuation system to the sub-stations to ensure reliability and reduce power disruptions to the local population.
He also highlighted the importance of creating awareness programs to educate the public about the opportunities associated with the grid connection. Dr. Bhoka further highlighted that the electricity connection would boost agriculture, fisheries, livestock, and farming sectors through value addition projects.
The electricity grid is expected to benefit more than 10 industrial parks in the region, including Afojio-Moyo Olia-Adjumani, Orbai-Koboko, Greater Nebbi, and Greater Arua Industrial Park in Madi-Okello. Dr. Bhoka called for the development of a West Nile Industrial Development Plan to attract more investors.
According to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics’ most recent population census, which was conducted in May 2024, the West Nile region has an estimated population of 3.89 million, making it Uganda’s third-most populated region after Buganda and Busoga.
The connection to the national grid is expected to have a significant impact on the region’s development and residents’ quality of life.
However, only 5% of the population in the West Nile region currently has access to electricity, including 13 local government units, except Obongi district.
This according to Dr. Bhoka is attributed to this low connectivity to poor housing structures, urging that there is a need to embrace clean energy and improve their housing styles to ease grid connection.
“To effectively utilize electricity in rural areas, we must upgrade our housing designs and construction materials. This will ensure that our homes are suitable for electrification and can support the use of electricity for cooking, lighting, and other domestic purposes,” he said.
This story was produced with funding from Northern Uganda Media Club (NUMEC) with support from the 11th Hour Project.