Governments and local or host communities are a key partner in the development of any effective fuel strategy in humanitarian settings.

Often, local and host populations face the same difficulties accessing cooking fuel as do displaced populations. Particularly in resource-poor environments, large concentrations of displaced people (such as in refugee camps) can place additional strain on an already over-stretched environment and lead to long-term deforestation and destruction of habitat, often resulting in tensions between displaced and host communities over access to scarce natural resources such as fuelwood. In addition, some fuel strategies employed by the humanitarian community (such as direct provision of locally-sourced fuels) may have a profound effect on the local economy, and it is critical that local authorities are engaged throughout the process of developing such strategies.

It is therefore imperative that the humanitarian community work side-by-side with governments and local communities to ensure that their household energy needs are at the very least not negatively affected by the humanitarian response. Moreover, governments and local communities can and should be a key resource in developing safe and appropriate household energy technologies that meet the needs of all users, displaced or not.

This section of the website will discuss strategies for approaching and working with governments and local communities to ensure the development of appropriate and sustainable fuel strategies. We welcome contributions by Network members on this and other topics – please submit your suggestions to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it