The Energy Potential of Harvested Wood Fuel by Refugees in Northern Uganda

Abstract

For the last three decades, Uganda has lost considerable natural vegetation cover in the refugee settlements and buffer zones due to the high demand for wood fuel and timber. It is worthy to note that the supplies of wood fuel are more likely to dwindle in the near future. This study explored the determinants of harvested wood-fuel choices and their energy potential. It also examined the implemented energy conservation measures and constraints faced by the refugees both in Palorinya and Imvepi refugee settlements in Northern Uganda. The data were collected by conducting household interviews and collection of wood species samples for energy potential laboratory analysis. Findings indicate that the major sources of wood fuel were firewood, charcoal, briquettes, and biomass fuels. The major refugee choices that determined wood-fuel collection included the family size of the house hold, culture, method of cooking, type of food cooked, high poverty levels, and availability of family labour ( P ≤ 0.05 ). The sampled wood tree species had the highest energy potential were Celtis durandii (5,837 kcal/kg), Parkinsonia aculeata (5,771 kcal/kg), Delonix regia (5,153 kcal/kg), and Bligihia unijugata (5,034 kcal/kg). Access to wood fuel by the households was mainly constrained by limited household income levels, long distances trekked, and inadequate awareness about wood fuel sources and availability. To conserve wood fuel, the refugees deploy several measures including the use of mobile solar gadgets for cooking and lighting, taking up agroforestry, use of briquettes, adoption of energy-saving cooking stoves, and establishment of new woodlots. Therefore, to reverse this trend, the Ugandan government and development partners should prioritise energy investments by supporting cheaper energy alternatives such as mobile solar gadgets and energy-saving cooking technologies, and establishment of woodlots.

Sustainable Resource Practices: a Study of Non-timber Forest Product Dependency in the Bijagoi Community, Bau District, Sarawak

“…A majority of community members collecting rewood belong to the middleaged group (40 to 44 years), have no formal education, and have a big family size (average 6 members). The difference in frequency of rewood collection between difference household size may be contributed by the need to provide more food for bigger household size as found by Barasa et al (2022) in Uganda. The biggest difference can be seen between the larger and smaller household sizes.…”

Research on Innovative Design Mode of Wetland Landscape Ecological Restoration in the Era of Artificial Intelligence

“…Times in the high-speed development, rapid socio-economic development, and economic and social prosperity behind a prosperous scene are all kinds of uncontrolled exploitation and depletion of resources, more and more land on the construction of skyscrapers and roads and bridges to adapt to the development of mankind [1][2]. Therefore, the environment is polluted and destroyed, resources are depleted, and there is a serious ecological imbalance [3]. In recent years, the state has increased its attention towards the construction of ecological civilization, and people's awareness of ecological and environmental protection is increasing day by day.…”

“…Zhang, S studied the ecological landscape of Dongting Lake wetland and found that the restored wetland was able to maintain a large waterbird capacity and diversified waterbird populations in winter, and the restoration of the wetland flora and fauna also laterally reflected the sensitivity of the wetland ecosystems to the environmental changes [17]. Zhong, Y et al applied species distribution models (SDMs) to wetland restoration, and they found that the potential wetland restoration area was 1.51× 3 10 2 km and 1.48× 3 10 2 km under RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 scenarios, respectively [18].…”