Practical Action: energising the energy sector in Sudan
Context
The burning of biomass fuels in traditional stoves is an inefficient process which results in the release of heavy smoke containing large
amounts of health-affecting toxic pollutants. In Sudan, biomass fuel constitutes more than 80% of the total primary energy supply. In turn,
80% of biomass fuel is consumed in the household sector in the form of firewood, charcoal and agricultural residues. Firewood is mostly
burned on three-stone stoves, the efficiency of which is around 10%, while charcoal is burned on traditional metal stoves, with an efficiency
of about 15%. Dependency on charcoal and firewood has resulted in deforestation throughout Sudan. Between 1990 and 2005 Sudan lost
over 11% of its forests (approx. 8.8million hectares). Deforestation has a significant detrimental impact on the environment and is a major
contributory factor to the rising levels of carbon dioxide and global warming. Deforestation also causes a decrease in firewood availability
which has negative effects on women and children. They either have to travel further from their homes to find wood which makes them
vulnerable to attack or they have to use more of their limited income to buy fuel.
An alternative to biomass is Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG). This is a cleaner, more efficient and more cost friendly energy source. Its use is
also in line with national strategies in Sudan (e.g. Government, UNEP and UNOPS) to introduce LPG into households. Practical Action has a
decade of experience of implementing LPG promotion projects in Sudan. We have reached over 7,000 households with LPG in this time. We
have good links with LPG suppliers and extensive experience of setting up and supporting Women Development Groups to facilitate the
process.
Experience to date
Between 2002 and 2007 we implemented a project in Kassala state, East Sudan, focused on changing people’s cooking practices from wood
and charcoal to LPG. Up to 1,500 households changed their cooking practices as a result of this project. We took the learning from this
Kassala project and applied it in North Darfur in 2008. This project is funded by a carbon credits company. The project is based in urban El
Fashir, the capital of North Darfur, and adopts a very similar method to that of the project in Kassala.
Each year we distribute LPG and fuel efficient stoves to women who previously used wood and/or charcoal. At the beginning of the project
we set up a revolving fund. Women are given loans from the revolving fund to purchase the LPG equipment which they then pay back in
instalments. The revolving fund is managed by the Women Development Association Network formed of representatives of community
members from local Community Based Organisations. As the networks are comprised of local people they recognize the problems that the
women may face in repaying these instalments e.g. during the rainy season income may be low and so repayments may be difficult.
Therefore they are flexible with the repayments and are able to develop instalment plans with the women that meet their circumstances.
This has seen a high rate of repayment as can be seen by the table setting out the Darfur repayments below:
Year
Level
of Source of funding
repayments to date
1
2
No. of women
receiving
equipment
561
1855
3
1227
97%*
4
1358
85%*
5
742
81%*
99%
100%
Start-up funding from the carbon credit company
Repayments from year 1 revolving funds plus the agreement from Nile Petroleum
Company that they would accept payment from us in instalments for the equipment.
This agreement continues to this day.
Repayments from year 1 and 2 revolving funds plus additional funding from the carbon
credit company
Repayments from year 1, 2 and 3 revolving funds plus additional funding from the
carbon credit company
Repayments from the project’s revolving funds
*Some women are still making instalments for the equipment distributed in these years and so these figures may rise.
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We use the revolving fund (as opposed to giving the LPG equipment away for free) for a number of reasons:
1. If we wish the women to invest their own resources in this project then we have to ensure that the intervention is the most appropriate
for their needs. We must fully explain the project and the equipment, demonstrate benefit and effectiveness to the women, and listen and
address their demands if we wish them to invest. This ensures their full engagement and guarantee of suitability of the project which can
sometimes be lacking in projects that give hand-outs.
2. The revolving fund is managed by the WDAN who represents the communities involved. All the money paid back is invested back into these
communities. This ensures that the project and therefore the benefit doesn’t stop once the stoves are initially handed out. Every time the
cost of a stove is paid back another woman can be given a loan. This ensures the project is sustainable and far reaching.
3. Once the WDAN has the skills to set up and manage a revolving fund they can replicate it to meet other needs in the communities without
needing outside support.
Alongside the provision of the equipment we provided awareness raising and safety training to the women who were interested in the
project. The awareness raising introduced the ideas of LPG and revolving funds to the women and those women who were interested could
sign up for further information. They were then trained in how to safely use the equipment. On average women use about one sack of
charcoal each month which comes to approximately 130SDG. If they change to LPG they, on average, have to refill their gas canisters once a
month at a cost of approximately 45SDG. Savings can therefore be up to 65% a month if the women change to LPG. Therefore we saw and
are still seeing a huge demand for LPG. The money saved from using LPG rather than charcoal and wood assists the women in paying back
the cost of the equipment. In addition to the cost benefits women have reported seeing an improvement in their health and now have more
time to dedicate to other activities. Environmentally we see a reduction in the number of trees that are cut down and the degradation of land
as a result of this.
The project in Darfur has now been gold standard accredited and to date has reached 6,540 women. In addition Oxfam and Plan have
replicated similar models elsewhere in North Darfur.
We have implemented some smaller projects in Blue Nile to pilot similar approaches to using clean cook-stoves. In Blue Nile in 2008 we
trained 30 women in how to make and use clean cook-stoves. They were trained as trainers and they went on to train a total of 300 women.
In 2012 we tested LPG in Blue Nile with 30 women, setting up a revolving fund system in a similar model to that of Darfur and Kassala.
Future plans
Accreditation limitations have restricted the project in Darfur to the urban areas of El Fashir. Whilst there is significant need here, and
working in the urban areas has allowed us to engage and influence the Nile Petroleum Company to offer instalment payments and to widen
their coverage of LPG canister refilling, we see greater need in the rural areas. This is primarily due to the fact that wood and charcoal is
less available there and so collecting it puts women at risk and puts greater strain on limited natural resources. We would therefore like to
expand the reach of this project into the rural areas of North Darfur including rural El Fashir, El Kuma and Kilimondo.
Sudan covers a vast area with many different contexts across the country. Demonstrating to a company like Nile Petroleum Company a
successful model in the west does not necessarily guarantee its success in the east of the country. Therefore to be able to have impact on a
Sudan wide scale and develop an evidence base for influencing and replication we need to be able to demonstrate the project’s success in
different locations and contexts.
Kassala is one of the eastern states along with Gedarif and Red Sea. It is a socially conservative state which suffers from drought, flooding
and deforestation. Our 2002-2007 project was a success and only stopped due to funding constraints. Despite the project’s success a
survey we conducted in 2007 found that 85% of households still use wood on 3 stone stoves for cooking. We would like to continue our work
building on our previous success to be able to create a sustainable system that has a much wider impact. Demonstrating the work in
Kassala would allow us to demonstrate the success of this approach in the context of the eastern states.
Blue Nile is a state in south-east Sudan bordering Sinnar state and sharing international borders with Ethiopia and South Sudan. The area
has been the site of violent conflict since September 2011 although there is hope that the violence may be reducing. Blue Nile houses some of
the poorest people in Sudan. In a 2011 report by UNICEF it was found that 64% of Blue Nile’s rural population live below the poverty
line. Practical Action conducted a needs survey in 2011 in Damazine and Rosaires localities in Blue Nile and found that only 1% of households
have access to gas services. The majority of households rely heavily on conventional sources of energy (firewood and charcoal) for their
cooking needs despite the higher costs associated to this fuel. In addition to improving people’s disposable income, demonstrating work in
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Blue Nile would allow us to influence the work in the other border areas. In addition, working in Blue Nile we could pilot and potentially
expand our future strategy of conducting development work in emergency settings.
We also want to trial solar as a potential energy source. This is a new area and will require further research before we develop a strategy.
There is great potential in Sudan for the expansion of sustainable, cleaner energy services and this is an area that stakeholders including
the government are eager to see develop. It is the opportune time to be investing in this area and we would welcome the opportunity to work
with others interested in energy in Sudan to see how we can further energise the energy sector for the benefit of those most in need.
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