Transforming Humanitarian Energy Access
Powering refugee-led clean energy access
Worldwide, 120 million people have been forcibly displaced from their homes. 94% of those living in refugee camps and settlements have no meaningful access to electricity, and 81% rely on firewood or charcoal for cooking – which puts their health at risk.
With access to clean, affordable energy, refugees can raise their incomes and enjoy a better quality of life. But in order to succeed, solutions must be sustainable, tailored to individual communities, and create the full range of possible benefits – such as new jobs and skills for local people. For this reason, it’s vital to increase support for solutions led by displaced people themselves.
We give refugee-led clean energy initiatives unrestricted development grants, technical assistance and strategic communications support, enabling their work to become financially sustainable solutions, which also boost local economic development.
Our reports and insights
In Kenya’s Kakuma Kalobeyei Integrated Settlement, a refugee-led business turns household and agricultural waste into an affordable, sustainable cooking fuel.
The success and growth of Rafiki Wa Mazingira has been accelerated by Ashden, as part of the Transforming Humanitarian Energy Access programme. Our partnership with Rafiki wa Mazingira has important lessons for funders and the humanitarian sector. It shows the impact of empowering refugee-led organisations, and the need to devolve decision-making to those with local expertise.
Ashden supports refugee-led solutions
Ashden is giving direct funding and support to refugee-led organisations and entrepreneurs in Uganda, Kenya and Ethiopia, nurturing access to renewable energy for refugees and displaced people. We are doing this as a partner in the Transforming Humanitarian Energy Access programme, funded with UK aid from the UK government via the Transforming Energy Access platform.
Our funding and support helps refugee-led businesses and not-for-profits strengthen and scale their work in delivering clean energy products and services to households and entrepreneurs in refugee camps and settlements. We are also gathering and sharing insights on this issue, to create wider change across the humanitarian system.
The Refugee-led Energy Enterprise Accelerator
Our Refugee-led Energy Enterprise Accelerator provides grants of £25,000 to social enterprises and co-operatives led by refugees and forcibly displaced people.
The organisations, which are based in Uganda, Kenya and Ethiopia, also receive technical assistance and communications support.
The accelerator shows how, with the right support in place, refugee-led clean energy initiatives can achieve impact and scale.
Bio-energy Umbrella Association of Kyangwali
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Kyangwali, Uganda
The Bio-energy Umbrella Association of Kyangwali (BUAK) promotes the use of household biodigesters and black soldier flies among refugees and host communities. These allow people to produce a nutrient rich bioslurry that boosts agricultural producation, and also biogas, a clean, efficient cooking fuel, reducing local deforestation. BUAK provides non-cash loans which enable those on low incomes to buy fly kits and biodigesters. The loans are repaid using bio-slurry and black fly products, which BUAK sells in the community.
BUAK will use its Ashden grant to build more digesters, market its services to new customers, and meet operational costs. It aims to increase the number of biodigesters in use by the community from 73 to 100 by the end of 2026.
South Sudanese Women Building Association
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Kiryandongo Refugee Settlement, Uganda
The South Sudanese Women Building Association (SSWBA) is dedicated to empowering women and young people, from refugee and host communities, through integrated development programmes. Its work includes tree planting and training communities to produce energy-saving stoves and efficient briquettes. SSWBA’s business model brings access to clean energy, as well as new or raised incomes.
SSWBA will use its grant to establish a solar-powered maize mill, launch a briquette production plant, and roll out community awareness campaigns on clean energy use. This will reduce reliance on firewood, promote conservation, improve food security, and create income-generating opportunities, especially for women and girls. Community groups will manage operations, with revenues shared and reinvested in clean energy projects.
Muruqmaal Energy and Electric Cooperative
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Helaweyn, Ethiopia
Muruqmaal is a cooperative improving energy access for refugee and host communities, through sales and servicing of small-scale solar technologies. These include solar home systems, individual appliances and devices, and battery-charging solar kiosks. The organisation’s pay-as-you-go model offers affordable monthly fees tailored to user groups, which include vulnerable households and entrepreneurs within the refugee settlement.
Revenues support a revolving maintenance fund, and Muruqmaal engages the communities through Photovoltaic Electrification Committees. The organisation will use its grant to switch their own power supply from diesel to solar; boost their sales capacity, and offer better after-sales services. Ashden is also providing tailored business support, including help to develop a sustainable pricing model and financial management systems.
Okapi Green Energy Limited
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Kakuma, Kenya
Okapi Green Energy Limited delivers affordable clean energy solutions through a 20kW solar mini-grid, serving 200 homes and businesses, and individual solar home systems powering lights and appliances. This reduces reliance on kerosene and diesel, improving the health of people in one of the world’s largest refugee settlements.
The organisation’s business model blends direct sales with longer-term payment plans to enhance affordability. It also trains young people and women in solar installation and maintenance, strengthening local skills and creating jobs. Okapi Green Energy Limited will use its grant to expand its inventory of solar home systems, and strengthen its community sales and technician networks, as well as its distribution channels. And it will develop flexible payment plans for low-income households.
Rafiki Wa Mazingira
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Kakuma, Kenya
Rafiki Wa Mazingira focuses on clean energy and waste-to-energy innovation. The organisation produces biochar briquettes – an efficient cooking fuel – from agricultural waste and invasive species like prosopis, addressing both energy poverty and environmental degradation. Their solution tackles local waste problems while providing a healthier, more affordable alternative to charcoal, combating deforestation and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Rafiki Wa Mazingira will use its grant to buy advanced briquette-making machinery, enhancing production capacity and efficiency. Funding will also upgrade the organisation’s facilities, and provide comprehensive training programs. The organisation’s growth will create employment opportunities within the refugee community, particularly for women, and allow more people to benefit from an effective, affordable and sustainable clean energy solution.
Live in Green
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Kyaka II Refugee Settlement, Uganda
Live in Green empowers refugees and host communities with solutions that spark access to clean energy, reduce waste and promote climate-smart agriculture. Support from Ashden is scaling up Live in Green’s work on clean cooking. In a place where most households rely on firewood and charcoal, the organisation makes and distributes affordable, efficient eco-stoves and environmentally-friendly compressed briquettes. These protect families from deadly air pollution – while lowering fuel bills and reducing deforestation.
Live in Green will use its grant to upgrade its briquette-making infrastructure, boosting efficiency and output, and to improve its eco-stove technology, with enhanced aeration for safer and more efficient cooking. The organisation will also recruit and train four new team members to support expanded operations, and develop improved packaging and visibility campaigns to increase brand recognition. And it will distribute its products more widely, and deliver targeted community engagement campaigns.
THEA Inclusive Investment Pilots
Our Inclusive Investment Pilots support the development of clean, affordable and sustainable energy delivery models in refugee settlements in Uganda, Kenya and Ethiopia.
We have given twelve grants of £10,000 (local currency equivalent), as well as technical assistance and communications support, to 12 refugee-led clean energy projects. Six of these are in Uganda, three are in Ethiopia and three in Kenya.
Our open call for applications went out to enterprises and not-for profits founded and led by refugees and forcibly displaced people, as well as individual entrepreneurs from these communities. Our chosen grantees test different business models and clean energy solutions, working to address issues which they have identified as priorities in the communities where they operate.
Women Concern & Ideas, Uganda
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Women Concern & Ideas helps refugees and host communities in the Bidi Bidi settlement, offering women training and access to technology and raw materials. They supports people to form Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs), through which they can save money and also take out small, affordable loans.
With support from the Transforming Humanitarian Energy Access programme, Women Concern & Ideas is expanding its work to help VSLAs access larger loans and purchase equipment to make cookstoves and briquettes (cooking fuel made from household and agricultural waste). Not only will these products save users money, reduce deforestation and cut indoor air pollution, by working through VSLAs, members can earn a living from green technologies, and the funds will be revolved to support more groups in future. Ashden have connected Women Concern & Ideas with another refugee-led organisation, Live In Green, to support the technical set up of the briquette production site.
Hodari Foundation, Uganda
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The Hodari Foundation was established by refugees who arrived in Kyaka II refugee settlement as unaccompanied minors. The organisation runs a food, education, and psycho-social support programme for children like them, and works with refugees and host community members on farming as a means to boost food production and support the programme.
With a network of over 100 smallholders growing oyster mushrooms, Hodari Foundation have used the Transforming Humanitarian Energy Access grant to buy a solar-powered drier to help farmers preserve food and grow their incomes. With access to this technology, their produce lasts longer and can be transported to markets outside the settlement to sell for a better price. Farmers can choose to sell their dried mushrooms direct to consumers, and pay Hodari Foundation a small fee to use the drier, or Hodari Foundation can purchase from farmers for onward sale, and for their feeding programme.
Shabaka General Services, Uganda
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Shabaka General Services was founded by Sudanese refugee as a means to supplement his rations and care for his family when he arrived at the Kiryandongo refugee settlement. The business started as a phone-charging kiosk, powered by a small diesel generator, but high fuel costs were a serious problem – the enterprise could only operate for a few hours a day, and profits were meagre.
With a grant through the Transforming Humanitarian Energy Access programme, the company purchased a solar power system. Since making the switch from diesel, fuel costs have fallen to nearly zero – and the business has grown to offer new services, like refrigeration for food and drinks. It also offers printing and laminating. This is a vital service for refugees trying to access support from the nearby offices of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees.
Briquette Producers Association, Ethiopia
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In Aysaita Refugee Camp, most displaced people and host communities depend on firewood and charcoal for everyday cooking. These fuels are expensive, or for those who can’t afford to purchase fuel, take a long time to gather from the surrounding brush. Cooking with firewood and charcoal exposes families – particularly women and children – to harmful indoor smoke.
The Briquette Producers Association manufactures a cleaner, more efficient alternative – briquettes from Neltuma juliflora – an invasive plant spreading rapidly across the region, damaging grazing land and livelihoods. So every briquette made protects the local economy too. The Transforming Humanitarian Energy Access grant has supported repairs and maintenance at the association’s production site, and access to water and storage space for the enterprise, so they can recommence briquette production after more than a year out of operation.
Youth Empowerment Foundation, Uganda
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In Pagirinya refugee settlement, Youth Empowerment Foundation is supporting young farmers to harvest the benefits of solar energy.
With funding from the Transforming Humanitarian Energy Access programme, the organisation has introduced solar-powered irrigation systems – ensuring a reliable water supply during dry seasons – and grinding and milling equipment to process grain and animal feed. It is also offering farmers solar-powered cold storage for fruit, vegetable and dairy produce, and electric equipment to make juice and yoghurt.
Local producer groups pay a small fee to access the new equipment and services, and products can be sold to the community from the organisation’s agri-solar services hub. Access to reliable, affordable solar services and technologies mean farmers have a more reliable food supply for themselves and their families, and opportunities to raise their income through refrigeration, value addition and sales of extra produce in local markets.
Nakivale Solar Stoves & Energy Solutions, Uganda
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Nakivale is Uganda’s oldest refugee settlement. And it is where Nakivale Solar Stoves & Energy Solutions is tackling poverty, air pollution and deforestation. The company’s cooking stoves are made more efficient by a solar-powered fan. These stoves reduce fuel consumption, and produce less smoke than the simple stoves and open fires used by most refugee households in Nakivale. And the fan-assisted stoves are fuelled by briquettes made of organic waste – which the company also manufactures.
The Transforming Humanitarian Energy Access programme is supporting the company to meet growing demand. They have purchased a new solar power supply, bringing the enterprise affordable, reliable electricity for the first time, and they have upgraded their briquette production equipment. The grant has also helped the business bulk-buy raw materials, passing savings onto their customers who can purchase stoves at a lower price.
The company’s income has tripled in a matter of months – and now it is seeking more space for its expanded operations.
LIFT CBO, Kenya
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Lift is youth-led organisation empowering refugees and host communities in Kakuma refugee settlement through education, skills development, and sustainability projects. These include market gardens for local people. However, access to the settlement’s piped water system is normally restricted to household use, so farming is seasonal and climate change is making rains less predictable.
With support from the Transforming Humanitarian Energy Access programme, LIFT established a new market garden with a well, solar-powered water pump and irrigation system. The community now has a new site to grow vegetables, which they can sell in the local market, reducing reliance of expensive produce coming from further afield. People pay a small share of what they make from these crops to maintain the solar water pump and irrigation system, and Lift can reinvest any extra income to support their other community work.
Kakuma Bee, Kenya
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Kakuma Bee supports displaced people to grow their incomes through bee keeping and fish farming. The organisation has more than 100 hives and three tilapia fish ponds on it’s site, and supports a network of bee keepers with more hives located around the settlement. But the site is completely off-grid – until now, the company has relied on hand-operated equipment, and a lack of cold storage had limited the impact they can have.
Kakuma Bee have used the Transforming Humanitarian Energy Access grant to install a 12kWp solar power supply – allowing it to use electric equipment for honey processing, and run fridges and freezers to keep fish fresh. Access to solar electricity is opening up new possibilities for Kakuma Bee, who are stepping up their honey processing capacity to meet demand from their bee keeper network, and adding new products to their range, like candles and lip balm made from beeswax.
Green at Mind, Kenya
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Green at Mind is a refugee-led social enterprise. Their ‘Relief Double’ cookstove is an efficient alternative to open fires and rudimentary cookstoves which create large amounts of toxic smoke, and demand a lot of fuel (driving poverty and deforestation). The Relief Double jiko’s features include an insulated lining that can reduces fuel use by up to 40%.
Green at Mind has used it’s Transforming Humanitarian Energy Access grant to scale up production – by bulk-buying raw materials, investing in new welding equipment, and adopting a new digital payment system.
The new system will allow the company to offer daily, rather than monthly, payments – a better option for customers on very low incomes. Green at Mind is also collaborating with an insurance provider to offer income insurance to customers if they fall ill – Green at Mind’s customers largely work in the informal sector and so do not benefit from regular salaries, so a “stove+insurance” bundle is an innovative way to reduce fuel costs and save money each day while building up a safety net for future.
Tayo Solar, Ethiopia
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Tayo Solar offers affordable charging for phones and other battery powered devices, as well as scanning, printing and laminating. These are important services for the Aw Barre refugee settlement – where households and businesses rely on expensive and polluting diesel generators. Tayo Solar’s power supply is also used by a local tailor, but with only two solar panels, the cooperative had to manage demand carefully.
The cooperative has used the grant from the Transforming Humanitarian Energy Access programme to invest in new solar equipment, allowing it serve more customers. This has had an instant impact – with the number of phone charges doubling in the months after the new equipment was installed. The co-operative have also started to sell solar lanterns and other small-scale solar solutions to the local community, who’s only other power sources are expensive and polluting generators.
Agro Capital Fund, Uganda
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Agro Capital Fund brings affordable loans to refugee communities in Pagirinya refugee settlement. It helps local Village Savings and Loan associations (VSLAs) and co-operatives access finance for farming inputs – such as seeds – and other needs, like medicine and school fees.
Supported by the Transforming Humanitarian Energy Access programme, it is now offering loans for solar-powered farming equipment. Bringing the community technologies such as water pumps, grain millers and peanut grinding machines. This equipment has the power to boost productivity and profits for refugee and host community co-operatives. Agro Capital Fund is working closely with local people to help them understand which equipment will best meet their needs.
Mansha Allah, Ethiopia
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Mansha Alah is a family-owned refugee-led business operating in Kebribeyah, refugee settlement. The enterprise sells groceries and provides energy services such as phone and laptop charging, mobile money, solar lantern sales, ice production, entertainment screenings, and provides electricity connections for lighting in the neighbourhood.
Powering operations from a combination of 600Wp solar system with lead-acid batteries, and two diesel generators for higher loads and nighttime power, rising fuel and maintenance costs limited how many households they could serve and how many hours they could operate.
With support through the Transforming Humanitarian Energy Access programmme, Mansha Allah has expanded its solar panel array and purchased new, lithium-ion batteries. This will help the business meet growing demand, cutting fuel and maintenance costs associated with the diesel generators, and introduce new energy-related services for their community.
An inclusive process, tailored to refugee-led organisations
Our Inclusive Investment Pilots were designed to meet the needs of refugee-led enterprises and organisations. We offered financial support of the size and type needed by these innovators, and created application materials in nine languages.
Find out more
To find out more about the programme and our portfolio of innovators, contact Isona Shibata, Head of International Programmes
The THEA programme is delivered in partnership with
The programme is supported by
The THEA programme is funded by UK aid from the UK government via the Transforming Energy Access platform; however, the views expressed do not necessarily reflect the UK government’s official policies