Francine's briquettes burn cleaner — and 300 women in Nakivale now make their own fuel

Kamayano Francine, 49, arrived at Uganda's Nakivale Refugee Settlement from Burundi in 2001, and for years every meal began the same way: hunting for firewood she could barely afford, breathing smoke over a traditional fire. 'Every time I would see a tree, I would want to cut it down for firewood,' she recalls. Through a UN Women programme backed by the Government of Japan and run with Peace Winds Japan, Francine joined 300 women trained to press fuel briquettes from dry grass and anthill soil — five pieces cook a whole meal — and to build Lorena Eco-Stoves that use far less fuel. The change is practical and protective at once: less time searching for wood, less smoke in the lungs, fewer trees felled, and new skills women in both the refugee and host communities can earn from and teach on.

SDG 7 · Affordable and clean energy — Mechanism: institutional program