Learners, Refugees Are Key Target Groups for Green Charcoal Adoption, Say UPCHAIN Leaders

Learners in primary and secondary schools, and refugees, are key groups the UPCHAIN project targets to influence as it promotes the use of briquettes in cooking as a cleaner and more environmentally friendly alternative to black charcoal and firewood.

This was emphasized by the leaders of the project during a series of meetings they held recently with local government leaders of Adjumani and Amuru districts, and with government and NGO representatives managing refugee affairs in northern Uganda.

The UPCHAIN team included Prof. Lone Dirckinck-Holmfeld who is the Principal Investigator (PI) of the project, Dr. Agatha Alidri, the Project Coordinator, and Prof. Charles Nelson Okumu, the UPCHAIN Interim Executive Committee Chairperson.

Others on the team were Prof. Arne Remmen, Dr. Geoffrey Tabo Olok, Dr. Geoffrey Openy, Francis Atube, Robert Ringtho, Judith Awacorach and Dr. John Bismarck Okumu.

“We want to introduce green charcoal into the curriculum so that kids can be aware of how to make it and use it, but also about Climate Change and the broader Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),” said Prof. Dirckinck-Holmfeld during a meeting with the Adjumani District LCV Chairman, Ben Anyama, on November 30, 2022.

Dr. John Bismark Okumu, the leader of the curriculum component of the project, said a school is a unit which can easily spread information and knowledge through learners.

“Even the small ones can change the mindset of their parents when they see something new, for example, someone cooking using something different, Okumu said. “We shall be targeting all learners, including those in refugee settlements.”

Adjumani was particularly selected for the project because of the big number of refugees the district hosts, mostly from South Sudan. Number of refugees in Adjumani

“This is a peaceful district, and also unique, unique in a way that the number of refugees is more than that of the hosts,” said Anyama, the district Chairperson. “UPCHAIN will help us to address the issue of conflicting areas, for example the burning of charcoal by refugees. They have no land. This project will help reduce conflicts with the host communities over the cutting of trees.”

Anyama said the district will focus on two areas – mindset change, so that people can adopt green charcoal, and the marketing of green charcoal among potential users.

The following day the team visited the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) in Adjumani and held discussions with OPM officials and representatives of the international NGO Lutheran World Federation (LWF).

The OPM and LWF team, led by Titus Joogo, the Adjumani refugee desk officer, reaffirmed its commitment to the UPCHAI project and applauded Gulu University for taking research and knowledge sharing to the grassroots.

“We have never invested enough as stakeholders to learn through research. However, there is a lot of knowledge which, when shared, can be of much benefit to people. The academia is critical in generating knowledge and disseminating it,” said Swalleh Lule, an environment officer in the OPM.

“We look at energy at the basic level – for cooking, lighting. Unfortunately we are trapped in the use of biomass which, by all standards, is dirty. Somehow there has been very little interest from stakeholders to contribute to the energy sector in terms of research, in terms of funding. Meagre resources have been invested in energy. Your [UPCHAIN’s] coming is timely. It adds to the efforts that we have initiated,” added Lule.

Apollo Nagumya, the LWF team leader said they had tried many alternative energy projects in refugee settlements. Some had succeeded, others had failed.

“We have to bring solutions to refugee settlements, especially for cooking. Some gender based violence at home comes from women having to search for energy for cooking,” Nagumya said.

“We bring solutions [for example energy saving cook stoves] but we don’t know their efficiency levels. The academia is very important in all this. We will support you up to the end. We need your information to help us in our programming. Your solutions should add value,” Nagumya added.