Safe darfur

Protection  Empowerment  Resilience

Safe Access to Firewood and Alternative Energy (SAFE) in Sudan Information Leaflet 2013

Background In the Darfur region of Sudan, more than 2 million people have been displaced by conflict. The Safe Access to Firewood and alternative Energy (SAFE) initiative exemplifies how WFP has adapted its emergency programme to respond to the evolving needs of displaced and other vulnerable people.

Due to environmental degradation and on-going conflict in the region, the supply of firewood for cooking and selling is both limited and difficult to access. Women and girls must often venture into disputed and unsafe territory, risking harassment, rape and other forms of violence. As environmental degradation continues, they are increasingly forced to travel longer distances confronting greater risk of attack. Women are reported to be adopting different strategies such as collecting firewood at night or organising large groups for collection trips.

At the same time, the cost of firewood has become prohibitive with the continued conflict. Many households must exchange food rations for cooking fuel or purchase it at the expense of other needs. Interviews with women revealed that they can spend a fullday’s wage on firewood alone. WFP also confirmed repeated stories of children struggling to bring firewood to school to help communities with the costs of cooking school meals.

Firewood consumption is a major contributor to rapid deforestation in Darfur, which is already vulnerable to climatic changes and poor in environmental resources. Stripping the land jeopardises the resumption of agriculture and livestock practices that were common prior to the conflict.

To date, SAFE has reached nearly 1.5 million beneficiaries in Darfur, Sudan

WFP’s SAFE Approach in Darfur, Sudan WFP’s response WFP implements a comprehensive approach focusing on protection, livelihoods, and the environment through a series of targeted activities.

WFP has adopted a three-pronged strategy:  Reduce the vulnerability and frequency of exposure to gender-based violence through scaling up and improving dissemination of fuel-efficient stoves and briquettes.  Promote the creation of livelihoods to reduce the reliance of women on firewood collection through the promotion of tree nurseries and community forests.  Ensure that firewood is not an obstacle to school attendance, through the provision of fuel-efficient stoves and briquettes to schools.

Working with communities

 SAFE works with 16 Farmers’ Interest Groups and has set up 5 Agri-Business Centres to promote low-cost, sustainable agricultural practices.  Through 34 tree nurseries and community forests, SAFE promotes income generating trees (e.g. including gum Arabic and Jatropha) aimed to provide a revenue of up to US$2,000 for the community.

Creating impact Thanks to SAFE, women have reported reducing firewood collection trips (86 percent reported less or no harassment as they replaced firewood with briquettes). They report saving time to invest in child care and productive activities, and saving money from using briquettes instead of purchasing cooking fuel (an average of US$1 saved per day).

Targeting both internally displaced person (IDP) and host communities in Darfur, WFP has established, through community-based organizations, 34 fuel-efficient stoves and briquette training centres. As a result, more than 200,000 women have been trained on environmental conservation, fuel-efficient stove principles, and production of fuelefficient stoves and briquettes.

Women say they feel more self-reliant and empowered. They are able to better feed their families and stay safe.

Through SAFE, WFP has built the capacity of 73 Women’s Interest Groups and 16 Farmers’ Interest Groups to manage training centres, monitor SAFE activities, and continue developing the community centres.

Innovations

Providing better livelihoods SAFE aims to reduce the reliance of women on firewood collection for income. It does so by promoting other livelihoods options:  Women have reported selling fuel-efficient stoves and briquettes in the market, generating an additional income of US$30 per month.  The SAFE centres offer an integrated training package including adult literacy and vocational training to help women access new livelihoods.

With 678 hectares of land covered by newly transplanted seedlings, SAFE is reducing the impact of deforestation and desertification, as well as providing a source of income through the sale of forest products.

SAFE has deployed 106 innovative fuelefficient stoves using briquettes for the first time in schools.

WFP is piloting the use of biogas units in schools and at the household level, to produce fuel from human waste.

Sustainability Working through community-based organizations, WFP has built the capacity of 89 entities ensuring a long-lasting impact, local ownership, and knowledge transfer to the communities.

To ensure the financial sustainability of the project in Darfur, WFP is in the process of linking SAFE activities and community-based organizations with carbon finance schemes.

Achievement

Fuel-efficient stoves and fire-fuel briquettes training centres 238,478 fuel-efficient stoves made

34 tree nurseries established

552,800 briquettes produced/used

790,000 seedlings transferred

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Impact

Tree nurseries

Average saving US$0.90/day/ household

Income generated through sale of seedlings and reinvested in the centres

Community forestry

Agri-business centres

34 community forests established and managed by women’s groups

5 centres established and run by farmers’ interest groups

678 hectares covered

Increased agri production

World Food Programme Via C.G. Viola, 68/70, 00148 Rome, Italy wfpinfo@wfp.org wfp.org/stories/darfur-women-graduate-safe-stoves-project

School feeding

Institutional stoves in 106 schools 375 cooks trained 110,473 children receiving school lunches cooked on FES

Printed: March 2013 Photo: front cover and inside picture WFP/Pia Skjelstad; Back cover: WFP/Mariangela Bizzarri

SAFE in Darfur through 2012