Rapid Woodfuel Assessment 2017 Baseline for the Bidibidi Settlement, Uganda
Publisher: Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN and UN High Commissioner for Refugees
Author(s): Arturo Gianvenuti, Antonia Ortmann, Eva Kintu, and Remi D'Annunzio
Date: 2017
Topics: Assessment, Basic Services, Humanitarian Assistance, Renewable Resources
Countries: Uganda
Uganda is host to more than 1 million refugees who have fled famine, conflict and insecurity in the neighbouring countries of Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan. The recent influx of refugees from South Sudan prompted one of Uganda’s most severe humanitarian emergencies and led to the establishment of the Bidibidi settlement in Yumbe District in August 2016. The Bidibidi settlement is now the world’s largest refugee-hosting area, with 272 206 refugees settled on a land area of approximately 250 km2 in a total assigned area of 798 km2 . The Bidibidi refugee settlement constitutes more than half the population of the host district, Yumbe (484 822 people). It has increased pressure on the environment due to tree felling for settlement establishment and to meet ongoing household demand for woodfuel for cooking and heating.
FAO and UNHCR initiated a joint rapid woodfuel assessment in March 2017 to determine the supply and demand of woodfuel resources in the area. The assessment had three components: 1) an assessment of woodfuel demand; 2) an assessment of woodfuel supply; and 3) the identification of interlinkages, gaps, opportunities and alternative scenarios. Data and information were obtained through a desk review of existing documents, field surveys, and remote sensing analysis.