Concept note for scaling up of capacity building activities on improved energy saving
stoves in Kampala Urban Slums
Introduction
Action for Humanity Initiative (AFHI) is a Youth initiated and Youth led Community Based
Organization (CBO) that serves to support youth and other vulnerable groups of women in
Rubaga Municipality and Kampala District as a whole.
AFHI’s main activities target to improve the standards of living of youth, women and more
especially those residing in slums through identification of challenges they face and turn
them into opportunities.
Basing on our core programs areas, AFHI engages directly in environmental protection
activities focused on promoting use of improved energy saving stoves as a cooking option.
AFHI promotes biomass fuel with focus on honey comb and stick briquettes used as
alternative fuel for cooking. All our interventions aim at contributing to the social,
economical and environmental benefits among the slum dwellers.
In December 2014, AFHI went into partnership with International Labour Organization (ILO)
and European Union (EU) to implement a project titled; Improved Affordable Energy
Saving Stoves for Youth Job Creation. This is a 1(one)
year project that began in January 2015 and will end in
December 2015.The project targets 40 youth of age
bracket 18-35 years in Kasubi parish from the four zones
of Kawaala I, Kawaala II, Kawaala central and Mugema
zones in Rubaga Municipality.
The major project interventions include; mobilise and
organise youth in business working groups, train them in
group dynamics, entrepreneurship skills, making energy
saving stoves, start your business package, link youth
groups to government, NGOs and private sector to
access the existing funding opportunities for business
start up, train them in marketing and sales skills,
monitoring and evaluation.
Kawaala youth training in energy
saving stoves at AFHI workshop
To date Action for Humanity Initiative (AFHI) has mobilised and training 40 youth from
Kawaala, 1, Kawaala II, Mugema and Kawaala central. They have been equipped with
relevant knowledge and skills in making energy saving stoves and how to manage their
businesses to increase household’s incomes while protecting the environment through energy
saving technologies. In our plan, we target to scale up the project to benefit other 50 youth
and increase production of energy saving stoves as a strategy for reducing carbon emissions
that have diverse effects on human health and the environment. In addition, biomass
technologies will also be promoted since there is a lot of wasted biomass in slums where the
project is operating but underutilized. Therefore we will promote honey comb bio fuel
briquettes to reduce on amount of garbage littered, thus reducing methane that is generated on
the daily basis causing a negative effect to the environment.
Situation of energy consumption in Uganda
Uganda derives over 90% of its energy needs from biomass – mainly firewood and charcoal.
An estimated forest surface of 115 football fields is used for cooking every day – either in
form of firewood or charcoal. Biomass resources are constantly reducing because people are
not replenishing the cut down trees. This will also support increased environment
degradation, accelerating global warming and the rate of desertification, to mention but a few.
In Uganda, biomass fuel is mainly used for cooking. In helping households and institutions
use firewood and charcoal more efficiently, AFHI hopes to reduce on the rate of amounts of
wood cut down, so as to preserve the environment and use our resources sustainably. As
such, the Programme promotes the use of energy saving stoves and energy saving cooking
techniques and general energy efficiency. Energy saving stoves are affordable, easy to
acquire, and easy to construct. They are also environment friendly, using less than half the
amount of fuel and release little to no smoke – reducing health risks, especially of women
and children.
Case statement
Despite the capacity building provided to the youth in making improved energy saving
stoves, entrepreneurship, business management, marketing, sales, savings and credit
including start your business package. Youth are still
challenged with lack of start up tool / kits in form of
machinery and materials to enable them kick start their
businesses in energy promotion.
Youth trained have interest in making energy saving stoves as
a business and have committed themselves to start group
businesses, a strategy that will enable them produce in bulk to
meet the existing market demand for energy saving stoves in
the community. These youth are organised in a group of 10
people each making 4 groups and 40 people under target. We
therefore appeal to development partners including NGOs to
support the trained youth to have access to the required start
up kits for job creation. This will enable them to start
businesses that will provide jobs, reduce unemployment and
the same time contributing to the environmental protection.
Kawaala Youth actively engaged in energy saving stoves
making for job creation and environmental protection
As the Uganda grapples with the consequences of global warming and environmental change,
every effort toward facilitating environmental protection is worthwhile. More so, whereas
global and national macro-interventions are largely important, there is need to support and
promote micro-interventions that encourage engagements of communities to promote
environmental protection. It is vital that households, be empowered to play their part in
protecting the environment, by being good stewards and actively preserving our ecosystem
right from their backyard or compound. In particular, the youth and women resource have
remained untapped in the drive to promote environmental protection in slum dwellers of
Rubaga.
Poor waste disposal, pose an environmental threat. This is evident mostly in slum areas of
Kampala City. Following privatization of waste management in Kampala City in 2000, waste
issues were left to private companies with bitter consequences. Most urban poor fail to pay
the waste collection fee and trucks usually take very long to collect the waste for disposal.
Most of the areas with high concentration of people and waste remain inaccessible resulting
into uncollected hips of waste within the communities and their related nuisance.
The uncollected waste produce leatchate, methane and carbon dioxide gas which pollute and
contaminate the environment and water sources resulting into nature destruction such as loss
of biodiversity and outbreak of diseases such as diarrhea, dysentery and cholera that has
contributed to loss of property and life of slum dwellers.
With the existence of the phenomenon of global warming and its negative effects, Kampala
alone contributes 60% to these causes. Notably, the population is high; therefore consumption
for charcoal as a cooking mechanism is high as well as the amount of garbage generated is
also high. Forests are receding because of the large population dependence for fuel. Majority
of urban dwellers use ordinary cooking mechanisms and therefore consume a lot of charcoal
to prepare a meal. In our project we will focus on educating the public on use of new cooking
technologies as well as fuel saving mechanisms. We will also promote production and
popularisation of these technologies.
With support received, we will be able to contribute to the reduction of causes of
environmental destruction, which have led to global warming and its negative effects to
humanity.
Strategy
Partnerships and Networks: We shall create partnership with relevant government and
private sector to widen our funding base and visibility for support. We will work with
International labour Organisation our current donor, Ministry of Energy and Mineral
Development, National Environment Authority, Kampala Capita City Authority (KCCA) and
local youth groups and networks.
Research and dissemination of best practices; In the project, we will document processes
and activities implemented during project period as well as lessons learnt, best practices and
share them with partners for future planning and learning purposes. We shall produce a
10minutes video and a 25 page written documentary that will be shared among partners. This
will increase visibility of the technology and increased adaptation.
Capacity building of communities in improved Eco energy saving making and bio fuel
honey comb briquettes. Furthermore, they will be will equipped with skills in
entrepreneurship, business management; financial management and marketing to enable them
sustain businesses started.
Objectives of the project

To promote and disseminate improved energy saving stoves technologies throughout
Rubaga Municipality and Kampala District in general.

To equip 50 youth with little or no formal education in practical skills of making
improved energy saving stoves for commercial and job creation.

To research and document best practices identified during project implementation for
shared learning and replication.
Why energy saving stove

Reduce pressure on standing carbon in the environment.

Increase efficiency of cooking time.

Reduce on expenditure on energy at household level more especially the urban
dwellers.

Job creation for youth and women
Planned activities

Carry out a baseline survey to assess the availability and effectiveness of energy
saving stoves towards reducing carbon emission in the environment.

Disseminate the results of the assessment to stakeholders in the energy sector for
effective planning.

Make a documentary of successful business people who invested in the promotion of
energy saving stoves as a way of sharing the best practices.

Organise training in making Eco energy saving stoves and honey comb briquettes for
job creation.

Create market linkages for the young engaged in making energy saving stoves.

Train youth entrepreneurship, financial management and marketing skills.

Carry out tests on the products to assess the calorific values.
Future target
Reach out to 200 community people with the skills for self sustenance.