SEPARLE – Sustainable Energy Powering Agriculture & Refugee Livelihoods Enhancement
THE CHALLENGE
Over 2 million people in refugee settlements and host communities across Uganda face a lack of clean, affordable, and sustainable energy sources, leading to heavy reliance on unclean fuel sources. Heavy firewood collection drives deforestation which negatively affects the environment and increases tensions between refugees and local communities. Poverty is also widespread due to the lack of refugee employment opportunities, and as a result, many refugees rely on UNHCR subsidies for basic survival, creating an unsustainable cycle of aid dependency.
THE SOLUTION
In response to the dual need for improved energy sources and income generation opportunities, Mandulis launched its “Sustainable Energy Powering Agriculture & Refugee Livelihoods Enhancement” (SEPARLE) project under which it designed and manufactured a fully operational briquette making machine that converts agricultural processing residues into clean cooking wood replacement non-carbonized briquettes. It further developed, designed, and manufactured a fully scalable, affordable clean gasifier cookstove which it distributed alongside affordable clean cooking briquettes to families across three of Uganda’s refugee hosting districts and settlements. Farmers were also given training in the sale of post-harvest waste residues and the use of gasifier cookstoves to convert biomass briquettes into biochar for organic fertilizer. Throughout the CHIC grant period, a total of 7,941 end users were reached with high-quality clean cooking biomass briquettes at below the price of charcoal or firewood and/or given access to electricity from the biomass gasification plant. Of the 307 farmers who accessed milling services weekly, their income increased, on average, by 149% each month. Meanwhile, 3,046 individuals reported additional sources of income through selling carbonised residues and/or launching or expanding their retail businesses with the newly available electricity from Mandulis Energy’s Biomass/Biogas Solar PV Hybrid mini-grid.
