Energy plays a central role in order to guarantee a safe and secure food utilization.
In fact, the lack of access to energy is one of the causes for water shortages and for the use of untreated water.
Without adequate energy provision, water pumping and water purification become hard issues, and could not be guaranteed.
Insufficient access to energy, together with water scarcity, directly affects all the food supply chain,
from crops and livestock production, to food processing and distribution,
up to food cooking and food preservation.
A complete assessment is a fundamental phase for selecting the best strategy for an intervention.
On the one hand, it is necessary to detect the main needs and constraints regarding the nexus among energy, food and water.
On the other hand, all the possible energy sources should be identified.
In this lesson, we will focus on needs and constraints, and in particular we will analyse:
The main constraints specific to the area of intervention
The characteristics of the site
The specific needs regarding food, water, and other elements.
Which are then the main constraints regarding energy for food preparation?
First of all, in large areas of the world, the main source of energy is traditional biomass, and in particular wood or charcoal.
However, the availability of these kind of fuels is often limited.
Alternative fuels such as LPG or kerosene could be available in the market,
but for poor people, and in particular refugees or Internally Displaced Persons, they can be unaffordable.
The lack of appropriate technologies, such as Improved Cook Stoves, causes an excessive consumption oftraditional biomass.
This lack is often difficult to be overcome, due to a lack of devices in the market and a lack of artisans able to locally construct this kind of devices.
When looking then at food preservation, the main issue is related to adverse environment conditions:
high daily temperatures or high levels of humidity are some of the causes of a fast food degradation.
For this reason, preservatives such as salt or chemical products would be required.
But unfortunately, this kind of products are often unavailable or unaffordable in the case of refugees and Internally Displaced Persons.
Moreover, we assist to a lack of technologies for food preservation, such as freezers or dryers,
or to a lack of energy supply, that is essential to guarantee the correct functioning of this kind of devices.
Lastly, the lack of expertise of local people is a further issue also in this case.
: last but not least, we focus now on some constraints to access to water.
Unsafe sources of water, and in particular surface water, are one of the main causes of many diseases in refugee camps and informal settlements.
In situations when water is not controlled nor treated, physical, chemical, or biological contamination often occur.
In particular, pathogenic bacteria are commonly present in untreated water, causing diarrhoea and other health problems.
Another issue is related to a scarce or insecure access to water:
the lack of adequate energy supply reduces the possibilities to pump and purify sufficient quantities of water,
and to guarantee the safe transportation and distribution of water to the people.
The lack of knowledge on water and sanitation is again another important constraint,
which acts as a huge barrier to basic hygiene practices and to water treatment.
in order to understand local needs and constraints for the specific area of intervention, an assessment is fundamental.
A first visit on the field, and the collection of general information, such as the number of people present in the camps,
the status and origin of displaced people, and so on, permits to understand the main characteristics of the area.
Also information on the needs, the size of the intervention to be planned, and important social issues,
such as the nature of the relationships among the persons which live in the camps, should be collected.
A more specific need assessment focuses on food-related issues:
some of the most important things to detect are:
Which are the typology and the quantities of food consumed by each family
the modalities commonly adopted for purchasing food:
for example is food purchased in a market internal or external to the camp?
Which are the most common cooking systems
if there are particular weaknesses related to food cooking...
...or a particular need for food preservation
as per water, to understand the quality of the supplied water is the fundamental step:
which kind of contaminants are present? and in which concentration?
Also the source of contamination should be analysed in detail, to understand for example if the contamination occurs directly at the source,
or during transportation or storage.
As a consequence, the main weaknesses characterizing the water supply chain can be detected.
To complete the assessment, other important elements must be considered.
In particular, the issue of electric power is very relevant: is electricity available in the area?
Is it produced by diesel generators or supplied through the grid?
Are there people with sufficient skills in order to construct devices?
And finally, which construction materials and which technologies are available in the local market?
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