RRR in Refugee Settlements in Africa Project Brief Series - No. 3 Circular bio-economy innovations for resilient refugee and host communities in East Africa The Resource Recovery and Reuse (RRR) in Refugee on previous research and innovations by project partners in Settlements in Africa project is being implemented in six developing, testing and verifying technologies and livelihood refugee camps and settlements and their surrounding host models for gender-responsive, circular bio-economy solutions communities in Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda. The aim of the to capture energy, water and nutrients, and building resilient project is to increase the resilience of these communities food and energy systems for refugee settlements and their through the implementation of RRR solutions. This work builds host communities. Harvesting amaranth leaves from a greywater-irrigated home garden in Kalobeyei Settlement in Kenya – a bunch of leaves retails at KES 10 (USD 0.1) (photo: IWMI). Project background what are often, contested spaces with rich political ecologies. This has proven to be the case on this project,1 which aims to Refugee-hosting landscapes are complex spaces implement resource, recovery and reuse (RRR),2 also known characterized by dynamic fluctuations, often rapid, in the as circular bio-economy, solutions in six refugee camps flows of people, carbon, nutrients and water. The overlapping and settlements and their surrounding host communities human dimensions include refugees, host communities, and in Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda (Figure 1). For each location, the layers of control and management systems that govern, the management systems in place include national refugee Figure 1. Project sites in Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda. 1 https://rrr-refugee.iwmi.org/ 2 https://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/publications/resource-recovery-reuse/ Resource Recovery and Reuse (RRR) in Refugee Settlements in Africa Project Brief Series - No. 3 • Circular bio-economy IWMI · 2 innovations for resilient refugee and host communities in East Africa bodies, local authorities, United Nations (UN) agencies, Project approach national and international nongovernmental organizations, and community-based organizations from the refugee camps The RRR in Refugee Settlements in Africa project has drawn and settlements and their surrounding host communities. The from a range of participatory approaches. For example, UN cluster system provides a framework for the management selection and development of the practical project activities and structure of refugee camps and settlements, with the have been done in close consultation with both refugees hosting country taking overall responsibility at each site. In and the host communities while considering the impact on this backdrop, the human needs of both the refugees and women’s food and energy burdens. This process was then host communities must be met, preferably with regenerative used to feed into the co-development of a training manual approaches that build the local natural resource base rather and workshop curriculum, which has remained an open than degrading it. Equally important is how this occurs, as it working document that captures the nuances from the field. should also strengthen social cohesion between refugees and The training content has been delivered through a network of the host communities. local community-based facilitators that were trained during a number of ‘training of trainer’ (ToT) workshops (Table 1). Scale is a further consideration. In this project, the Majority of the trainees are female, accounting for 85% of regenerative approaches being practiced include home the total trainees in Kenya and 57% in Uganda. In Ethiopia, gardens, agroforestry and efficient cooking energy no progress has been reported due to challenges (caused by management, none of which are being implemented in security issues) faced in implementing project activities. isolation. All three activities are interconnected to form a nexus through a circular bio-economy approach that Throughout the implementation process, regular monitoring exploits organic waste and greywater at the household has shaped the practical project activities to ensure they were level (Figure 2). Thus, the project aims to build the natural modified to the specific needs of both the refugee camps and resource base at the macro-scale through small-scale host communities. From this process, two clear consequences interventions at the micro-scale. Through the adoption have emerged. First, the formal ToT pathway has gone from of an action research approach, an additional dimension strength to strength, with strong evidence of project activities of this work is the building of an evidence base to impact being taken up through an informal ‘peer-to-peer’ pathway future programs and policy recommendations across that has gone beyond the project’s target beneficiaries. the broad project objectives of food security, efficient and Second, the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic have resulted in sustainable cooking energy access, environmental sanitation an increase in remote mechanisms in both project management and social cohesion. All this being carried out within a and technical support. Ironically, this in return has ensured gender-sensitive framework that aims to lighten the load wider participation of all project staff in all stages of the of women and schoolgirls from both refugee camps and project life cycle while strengthening the localization aspects host communities. of the project as local decisions were prioritized and taken. Figure 2. The home garden-agroforestry-cooking energy nexus. Resource Recovery and Reuse (RRR) in Refugee Settlements in Africa Project Brief Series - No. 3 • Circular bio-economy innovations for resilient refugee and host communities in East Africa IWMI · 3 Table 1. Summary of the number of refugee and host community households trained in each project country. Number of Number of households trained Country facilitators Refugee community Host community Total trained Female Male Female Male Ethiopia 4 - - - - - Kenya 7 556 99 96 12 763 Uganda 16 448 312 75 79 914 Total 27 1,004 411 171 91 1,677 Project activities • Producing energy briquettes and charcoal Following the delivery of the training workshops, • Producing biochar for the home garden community-based facilitators set about training both refugees and host community members in a range of • Producing compost for the home garden regenerative activities through demonstration, mentoring and peer-to-peer support. Although each of the regenerative The circular bio-economy approach has provided the activities can be implemented as standalone projects, the link between all the regenerative activities listed above. innovative approach of the project is to maximize the synergies In the project, no single regenerative activity has been between each of the regenerative activities at the household implemented in isolation. Maximizing the synergies and level, thereby mainstreaming a circular bio-economy the resource flows between the regenerative activities at approach. Adopting a circular bio-economy approach has the household level is the innovative aspect to this work. linked the following regenerative activities: Furthermore, households were provided with basic farm inputs and tools to establish their own home garden • Establishing home gardens units, which they have all done successfully. The synergies and resource flows between regenerative activities are • Planting fruit and multi-purpose trees illustrated in Figure 3. Figure 3. Synergies of carbon, nutrient and water flows between the regenerative activities at the household level. Resource Recovery and Reuse (RRR) in Refugee Settlements in Africa Project Brief Series - No. 3 • Circular bio-economy IWMI · 4 innovations for resilient refugee and host communities in East Africa Communal garden with individually managed plots irrigated using greywater from a watering point at Kalobeyei Settlement in Kenya (photo: Edwin Okoth/World Agroforestry [ICRAF]). Resource Recovery and Reuse (RRR) in Refugee Settlements in Africa Project Brief Series - No. 3 • Circular bio-economy innovations for resilient refugee and host communities in East Africa IWMI · 5 Reflective Learning and Establishing also allowed the team to identify innovative research an Evidence Base opportunities that cut across the project objectives while also building the gender-sensitive aspects to the work. Applying an action research approach and establishing For example, the mineral content of okra grown in the four a strong evidence base around all the project activities refugee camps and settlements in Ethiopia and Uganda has that are being implemented have been strongly endorsed been analyzed (Woldetsadik et al. 2022). Consequently, by representatives from the Food and Agriculture the contribution towards the adequate intake (AI) or Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and UN-Habitat recommended dietary allowances (RDAs) of different in Kenya, and the Office of the Prime Minster (OPM) and the minerals for young children and pregnant and lactating United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in women (PLW) has been identified and quantified. While Uganda. For example, following the analysis of the baseline the benefits of home gardens are well established, this survey, a number of journal papers are in preparation and innovative research study clearly highlights the additional will be submitted for peer review; already, several other benefits of nutrition-sensitive home gardens as spaces that papers have been submitted and are now being peer allow household members, often women, to complement the reviewed for possible publication. In addition to the baseline cereal-based relief food offered to refugees in East Africa. In survey and the mid-project monitoring that is underway, a fact, the CGIAR Research Initiatives Resilient Cities Through number of field visits were conducted by the transdisciplinary Sustainable Urban and Peri-Urban Agrifood Systems3 technical support team. Not only have these visits provided and Fruit and Vegetables for Sustainable Healthy Diets4 opportunities for further capacity building with local encourage safe and sustainable production to strengthen partners and reflective learning for all, but they have local food systems. Representatives from OPM and UNHCR participating in a stakeholder engagement workshop held in Rhino and Imvepi Settlements in Uganda (photo: ICRAF). 3 https://www.cgiar.org/initiative/16-resilient-cities-through-sustainable-urban-and-peri-urban-agrifood-systems/ 4 https://www.cgiar.org/initiative/fruit-and-vegetables-for-sustainable-healthy-diets-fresh/ Resource Recovery and Reuse (RRR) in Refugee Settlements in Africa Project Brief Series - No. 3 • Circular bio-economy IWMI · 6 innovations for resilient refugee and host communities in East Africa In May 2022, the transdisciplinary technical support team addressing the scaling up and sustainability of the innovations. visited the Kalobeyei Settlement and Kakuma Refugee Camp From these field visits and workshops, a process of reflective in Kenya and Rhino and Imvepi Settlements in Uganda. The learning has taken place and this is now shaping future team was unable to return to the project sites in Ethiopia research and development of the project. due to access restrictions. However, in both Kenya and Uganda, the visiting team worked with the local implementing Water: A major challenge for the project partner, Danish Refugee Council (DRC),5 and with local community-based facilitators from both the refugee and host Across all four sites in Kenya and Uganda, the biggest communities. The combined team visited over 100 households challenge reported from household members and participants from the communities that are engaging in the circular of FGDs has been accessing water. Even accessing potable bio-economy activities and held focus group discussions water for domestic use has been challenging at times, for (FGDs) with community members. In Kenya, the team visited example, in Kalobeyei Settlement in Kenya. Such limitations homes to check the status of the interventions and held have a clear knock-on effect when planning for home FGDs involving a total of 43 households from the refugee gardens and agroforestry plots as both activities involve and host communities in Kakuma Refugee Camp and frequent irrigation. Kalobeyei Settlement. In Uganda, the team conducted similar activities with 63 households from Rhino and Imvepi In late 2021, the dry period in Rhino and Imvepi Settlements Settlements. in Uganda resulted in a very low survival rate for the fruit trees that had been planted in October that year. As access to In each project country, the final activity included a water was restricted due to the very dry conditions, household stakeholder engagement workshop where discussions members stopped irrigating the fruit trees. This pattern was were held on ways of mainstreaming the circular bio- found across both refugee camps and host communities. economy in food, cooking energy and resilient environment Unfortunately, the tree planting had taken place earlier initiatives across all four sites in Kenya and Uganda. During to maximize the seasonal benefits, but community-based the stakeholder engagement workshop in Kenya, Francis facilitators were trained in all aspects of the circular bio- Ekiru, Head of FAO, based in Kakuma in Kenya, stated that economy later in December. Consequently, as the dry season “sustained implementation of innovations targeting the same was approaching, household members were reluctant to communities should not stop at the end of a project. Other use domestic greywater to irrigate the fruit trees and many stakeholders should be able to carry it on.” This is one way of perished as a result. Despite water shortages at all locations, there are still opportunities to irrigate using the runoff at water points and domestic greywater in Kakuma Refugee Camp and the host community in Kenya (photos: left: IWMI, right: ICRAF). 5 https://drc.ngo/our-work/where-we-work/east-africa-great-lakes/ Resource Recovery and Reuse (RRR) in Refugee Settlements in Africa Project Brief Series - No. 3 • Circular bio-economy innovations for resilient refugee and host communities in East Africa IWMI · 7 Greywater: A major opportunity for food system. This pattern was very evident in both Kakuma nutrition security and improvement in Refugee Camp and in the Kalobeyei Settlement, despite the latter being renowned for its water shortages. In fact, this women’s well-being new recognition of the benefits of greywater irrigation has even resulted in additional small plots of vegetables being Switching to a circular bio-economy approach places an cultivated adjacent to water supply points. Nearby residents emphasis on recovering organic waste rather than allowing this have redirected the runoff from around the water points onto to be disposed of through a linear waste model. In the context vegetable plots. For example, host community households of this project, the recoverable organic waste that has been established individual and communal gardens adjacent to used up to now include the following: water points in Kakuma. Spillage from water points is being harvested and used to irrigate home gardens. This process • Domestic organic kitchen waste (vegetable and fruit has highlighted that small gardens with simply constructed peelings/remains). vegetable beds can be maintained throughout all the seasons, thereby increasing diet diversification and, in many cases, even • Garden waste (biowaste). leading to income generation. • Cooking fuel waste (charcoal remains from cooking with In one case, a female grower sold her vegetables and used the firewood, carbonized crop residues such as cassava stems, profits to buy wheat flour to make Ndazi, a small fried snack, charcoal dust from household or trading places). which she then sold. Many of the female growers reported profits from selling their small bundles of surplus green • Greywater (water or soapy water from washing cooking or vegetables such as jute mallow, amaranth and cowpea. In eating utensils, preparing food, washing clothes and bathing). some cases, these simple transactions have enabled mothers to purchase schoolbooks for their children, building their In the dry and semi-arid region of northwest Kenya, the confidence as growers and entrepreneurs in the process. recovery of greywater has been a game changer. In a circular From a monitoring perspective, the ongoing surveys, for bio-economy home garden, the availability of greywater example, in the mid-project activities have been designed becomes the critical design factor as this determines the to capture and quantify such transactions, along with home surface area that can be planted andirrigated during the dry garden productivity levels. This will enable the building of an season. This extends the growing period into dry spells, and evidence base for using a circular bio-economy approach in in the case of the refugee camps and settlements, enables refugee camps and settlements and their surrounding host refugee women to grow crops and thereby strengthen the local communities. Greywater-irrigated home garden in Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya (photo: ICRAF). Resource Recovery and Reuse (RRR) in Refugee Settlements in Africa Project Brief Series - No. 3 • Circular bio-economy IWMI · 8 innovations for resilient refugee and host communities in East Africa In Kenya, the host communities consist primarily of former Composted material is applied to the home garden and pastoralists whose herds have been lost to drought. For these carbonized material is used to produce fuel briquettes for individuals, home gardening represents a major shift from cooking. The remaining ash from cooking is applied to the previous modes of life and diet. When asked about this issue, home garden and trees. Trees provide shade for the home the response was pragmatic - “the herds are gone, one must garden, fruit for consumption, biomass for carbonizing, and eat.” In the case of host community members from the Kakuma pruned branches for firewood. This is the biocycle in action area, herding had already been replaced by selling firewood and it then continues, maximizing the synergies between the to refugees. Firewood provisioning was never very successful three nexus components of home gardens, agroforestry and but it did generate some income. In one FGD with the host cooking energy (Figure 2). community, there was a discussion about the fact that home gardening did not combine well with firewood collection, Of all the project components, maximizing the efficiency which takes women away from their homes for up to a full day. of cooking processes, from improving fuel energy to the Given that selling firewood is frustrating for host community cooking stove, has the capacity to bring about change at members, it is not entirely clear which option they preferred: the landscape level through reductions in deforestation firewood selling or home gardening. This point should be and land degradation. It also brings a level of protection for investigated further. It must also be noted that home gardening women and children as less time and energy are being used to appeared to be a primarily female activity. In cases where men search for and collect firewood for cooking. Cooking energy were involved, the home gardens tended to be much larger and projects are not new in both Kenya and Uganda. However, the resembled small farms which required more water than a home synergies with carbonizing biowaste and small tree pruning could produce in the form of greywater. There appeared to be for the purpose of briquette production is an innovative more flexibility around gender roles among refugees, although spin in this context. The use of briquettes is already having a larger sample would need to be assessed. a substantial impact, with women reporting a reduction in the fuel and time needed to cook the same amount of beans, Cooking energy which is usually an energy intensive process. It was also reported that cooking with briquettes substantially reduces In both Kenya and Uganda, there are now clear examples of the amount of smoke emitted, and there is also a reduction the circular bio-economy in progress. Greywater is used to in the indoor air pollution when the stove is built and used irrigate home gardens and trees. Home gardens provide food indoors. The dual-purpose stove allows women to use both for consumption and biomass for carbonizing and composting. briquettes and firewood. Beans being cooked with briquettes on a fuel-efficient cooking stove in a host community household in Imvepi Settlement in Uganda. Note the lack of smoke emitted from the stove (photo: IWMI). Resource Recovery and Reuse (RRR) in Refugee Settlements in Africa Project Brief Series - No. 3 • Circular bio-economy innovations for resilient refugee and host communities in East Africa IWMI · 9 A woman watering vegetables using greywater from soaking utensils at Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya (photo: Edwin Okoth/ICRAF). Resource Recovery and Reuse (RRR) in Refugee Settlements in Africa Project Brief Series - No. 3 • Circular bio-economy IWMI · 10 innovations for resilient refugee and host communities in East Africa Similarly, the introduction of mud-brick stoves has made the It must be noted that knowledge sharing tended to be use of firewood more efficient, with women reporting that only along gendered lines (women informing women, men three sticks of firewood are required for cooking beans for sharing with men). While this was not unexpected, it about 2 hours compared to the open-fire three-stone stoves demonstrated the importance of training both genders that use much more firewood and take much longer to cook. and this was a target of the project to ensure that peer The mud-brick stoves also produce less soot. There has been information sharing would be inclusive. a tendency to import expensive and not very well designed cook stoves into a number of humanitarian settings in sub- • At all project sites, the feedback included requests for more Saharan Africa. However, in this case, the stoves constructed tools, gum boots, fencing and seeds to allow more planting by the project use local materials, are often built by their and an increased number of participants. final users, and cost almost nothing to manufacture, yet the impact they are having is very evident. As purchasing and/or • Substantial innovation and entrepreneurship were collecting firewood has a constant financial, physical and time evident among the participants. It was also evident constraint for refugees, particularly for women, any intentions that there was a clear desire to have a means to enhance that reverse this trend can have a significant impact on the their livelihoods. This was true among refugees and well-being of women, particularly female-headed households. host community members even when the preexisting As household members become more proficient in carbonizing social and cultural context had not included techniques and briquette production, the benefits of the agriculture. In Kenya, in particular, communities of circular bio-economy approach will be maximized. Measuring pastoralists were cultivating extensive home gardens and quantifying these processes form a part of the mid-project of vegetables. activities and later impact surveys, again building an evidence base for future intentions. • There is an urgent need for high-quality seeds. Seed saving can help and there was some evidence of such activity. Lessons learned Nonetheless, a next step would be to develop a local seed enhancement and replication effort to reduce the need to • The regenerative activities of the project – home gardens, import seeds from outside the region. agroforestry and cooking energy (improved fuel use) – were met with great interest, particularly for women • The provision of continuous extension services from the with extensive childcare responsibilities. Despite tough community-based facilitators in both the refugee camps and agronomic conditions, successful home gardens were host communities could bring greater impact. evident on plots allocated for living space. • Extensive uptake of the project training indicates the • There was evidence of peer-to-peer knowledge sharing success of this project’s definition of scale as a function particularly in the case of home gardens and vegetable of many participants rather than measuring success production for sale. Consequently, the adoption of via the area cultivated or kilograms of vegetables innovative home gardening by non-beneficiaries is high. produced. Mango seedlings ready for distribution at Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya (photo: IWMI). Resource Recovery and Reuse (RRR) in Refugee Settlements in Africa Project Brief Series - No. 3 • Circular bio-economy innovations for resilient refugee and host communities in East Africa IWMI · 11 Reference Woldetsadik, D.; Llorent-Martínez, E.J.; Gebrezgabher, S.; Njenga, M.; Mendum, R.; Castillo-Lopez, R.; Fernández-de Córdova, M.L.; Hailu, H.; Evans, C.T.; Madani, N.; Mafika, T.P.; Fleming, D.E.B. 2022. Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) in a refugee context in East Africa: Kitchen gardening helps with mineral provision. SN Applied Sciences 4: 32. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42452-021-04898-6 Source This brief was prepared by Andrew Adam-Bradford (Centre for Development and Emergency Practice [CENDEP], Oxford Brookes University, UK), Ruth Mendum (Pennsylvania State University [PSU], USA), Mary Njenga (Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry [CIFOR-ICRAF], Nairobi, Kenya), Desta Woldetsadik (Wollo University, Ethiopia), Eric F. Acanakwo (CIFOR-ICRAF, Nairobi, Kenya), and Solomie Gebrezgabher (International Water Management Institute [IWMI], Accra, Ghana). Project The Resource Recovery and Reuse (RRR) in Refugee Settlements in Africa project is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) commissioned by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) through the Fund International Agricultural Research (FIA). The project will pilot and scale locally viable and gender-responsive circular economy solutions to enhance the food and energy security in refugee settlements and their host communities in Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda. Support for gender integration in project activities by Ag Sciences Global, College of Agricultural Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, USA, is provided by the United States Department of Agriculture - National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA-NIFA), and Hatch Appropriations of the United States government under Project #PEN04724 and Accession #1020895. At CIFOR-ICRAF, this work is conducted under the Refugee-hosting Engagement Landscapes initiative. http://rrr-refugee.iwmi.org/ https://worldagroforestry.org/project/gender-responsive-innovations-soil-rehabilitation-alternative-fuel-and-agriculture Acknowledgements The support provided by Pay Drechsel (Senior Fellow/Advisor - Research Quality Assurance, IWMI, Colombo, Sri Lanka) in reviewing the content of this brief, and Mahen Chandrasoma (Senior Production Editor, IWMI, Colombo, Sri Lanka) for editing and proofreading is greatly appreciated. Patrick Philips, Susan Mulievi Sikolia, Eliaf Mwehia, Janet Muema, Monday Hakim and Rehema Nantume, all from Danish Refugee Council (DRC), are thanked for organizing the fieldwork. The advice provided to the Resource Recovery and Reuse (RRR) in Refugee Settlements in Africa project by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and UN-Habitat is highly appreciated. This research was carried out as part of the CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE) and supported by Funders contributing to the CGIAR Trust Fund (https://www.cgiar.org/funders/). More information Podcast on ‘Why the energy and food nexus is critical in refugee context: Gender-inclusive approach is critical to solving the puzzle’: https://forestsnews.cifor. org/66077/why-the-energy-and-food-nexus-is-critical-in-refugee-context?fnl=en Contacts Solomie Gebrezgabher, Senior Researcher - Economics, International Water Management Institute (IWMI), Accra, Ghana (s.gebrezgabher@cgiar.org) Mary Njenga, Research Scientist, Bioenergy, Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF), Nairobi, Kenya (m.njenga@cgiar.org) Disclaimer: The boundaries and names shown and the designations used on maps do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by IWMI. The International Water Management Institute (IWMI) is an international, International Water research-for-development organization that works with governments, Management Institute (IWMI) civil society and the private sector to solve water problems in developing Headquarters countries and scale up solutions. Through partnership, IWMI combines 127 Sunil Mawatha, Pelawatta Battaramulla, Sri Lanka research on the sustainable use of water and land resources, knowledge services and products with capacity strengthening, dialogue and policy Mailing address: analysis to support implementation of water management solutions for P. O. Box 2075 agriculture, ecosystems, climate change and inclusive economic growth. Colombo, Sri Lanka Headquartered in Colombo, Sri Lanka, IWMI is a CGIAR Research Center Tel: +94 11 2880000 with offices in 13 countries and a global network of scientists operating in Fax: +94 11 2786854 more than 30 countries. Email: iwmi@cgiar.org IWMI is a CGIAR Research Center www.iwmi.org Published: October 2022