Abstract
Emergency situations require that the migrating communities are provided with basic services. The basic services often revolve around the provision of temporary shelter, food, water, basic sanitation and health. A lot of infrastructural interventions have often focused on shelter, water and sanitation. Investment in sustainable energy infrastructure has not been given much attention. It has probably been looked at as a long-term investment and was thus deemed inappropriate in the context of immediate emergency relief (Lehne et al. 2016). The development of an energy infrastructure has not been well developed in most refugee camps. According to UNHCR only 7% of funds received are allocated to the energy and environment sector in Kakuma Refugee Camp, most of which is channelled towards the procurement and supply of firewood to the over 185,000 refugees. With their limited budgets, the agencies responsible for firewood supply never meet the demands, thus necessitating supplementation by refugees themselves, often from local resources. This has placed pressure on the environment within and outside of refugee camps, with attendant conflicts with host communities. Responsible organizations have thence come up with various initiatives that would address the cooking energy requirements but at the same time relieve pressure on the sensitive environment within and around refugee camps. This paper takes a critical look at three of such initiatives and their acceptability among the refugees. The paper underscores the need for socio-cultural considerations with regard to target refugee communities when designing eco-friendly energy options.
Published Version
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