Elección de las características de la mezcla

Cleanable, culturally appropriate water containers for each household are essential for maintaining hygiene, and to reduce pressures on water-collection time and water-supply infrastructure. The practical and cultural use of water containers within transitional shelter should be understood in order to maximise benefits and minimise risks. Water containers need lids and regular cleaning to prevent contamination. The water distributed should, in most cases, retain a residual level of chlorine to reduce such contamination. Generally, large quantities of stackable items are procured, in order to make transport more efficient. It is important to consider distributing durable items, so that water containers can be taken home by the displaced population.

The Sphere Project standards for cooking and eating utensils include the following:

Each disaster-affected household has access to cooking and eating utensils.

key indicators

Each household has access to two 10- to 20-litre water collection vessels with a lid or cap (20-litre jerry can with a screw cap or 10-litre bucket with lid), plus additional water or food storage vessels. guidance notes

All plastic goods (buckets, bowls, jerry cans, water storage vessels, etc.) should be of food-grade plastic.

Sphere Project (2004), chapter 4, pp. 233–4

The UNDP / IAPSO specifications for non-collapsible plastic jerry cans are as follows:

description: white transparent stackable plastic jerry can

use: for storing and carrying water

material: high molecular LDPE

shipping weight: 0.5kg

shipping volume: 0.3m3

size: 10 litres

features: strong built-in carrying handle for adults

hand screw cap – 55 mmØ

impact resistant: resist a drop from minimum of 2.5m

7 distribution

wood Firewood is the most familiar fuel in most rural areas.

Consumption depends in part on the type of stove used, whether the wood has been dried, and also the availability of the wood: if supplies are readily available at minimal cost and risk, consump- tion for cooking alone may exceed 4kg per person per day, com- pared with average use of 1–2kg per person per day.

charcoal Charcoal is lump wood converted to carbon by slow burning at high temperatures, with a very low level of oxygen. Traditional charcoal- production systems employ earth mounds or covered pits, into which wood is piled and burned. Traditional kilns are inefficient, because they retain about 40 per cent of the energy in the wood used. Charcoal making is illegal in a number of countries. However, charcoal has several advantages over firewood.

• The energy content is much higher, per unit of mass.

• It is easily handled, measured, and delivered in bulk.

• It can be burned more efficiently, because more heat is

transferred to the pot by radiation from the fuel bed than by convection.

• Harmful emissions are typically much lower than those of other

biomass fuels.

• Over long distances, it may prove more efficient to transport

charcoal than fire wood, because of its higher energy content. However, it breaks up easily, and 10–20 per cent may be lost in transit, unless powders can be retained.

peat Peat is organic matter produced by incomplete decomposition of

wetland vegetation, under conditions of excess moisture and oxy- gen deficiency. It occurs throughout the world in places where nat- ural drainage is reduced or impeded, but is less common in warm climates where evapotranspiration rates are high. Peat produced from papyrus and other swamp vegetation is suitable as fuel. Air- dried peat has a higher energy content than wood.

Peat can be cut manually in sods from swampy areas and then, in ideal conditions, dried for at least three–five days before use. Wet peat emits more smoke than dry peat. Depending on the water level, there is a limit to the peat stock that can be removed sustainably. Cutting from undrained ground has a minor environmental impact, but natural regeneration will probably compensate for the loss. Wet peat sods can be compressed, using a manual press, to reduce their volume and optimise transportation.

Inappropriate stoves and fuels, combined with inadequate ventilation, are significant risks to health and safety: acute respiratory infections caused by cooking smoke account for up to 1.6 million deaths every year around the world (Warwick and Doig 2004). Consequently, the provision of adequate cooking facilities for displaced populations should be viewed as a major public-health issue. Poverty is the main factor that prevents people (both local and displaced populations) from upgrading their stoves and fuel sources. In the short term, improving ventilation may be the best way to improve respiratory health.

The amount of energy in each fuel is presented in table 7(b).

table 7 (b): energy value of fuels (based on UNHCR 1998c)

fuel type heating value (mj/kg)

wet firewood 8

cow dung 10

tree residues (leaves, twigs, etc.) 13 agricultural residues (straw, stalks, etc.) 13

air-dried firewood 15 charcoal briquettes 16 oven-dried firewood 20 peat 21 lignite 24 bituminous coal 28 charcoal 28 densified carbonaceous briquettes 30

kerosene 44 liquid propane gas 46

It should be acknowledged that fuel-distribution projects require a significant logistics effort, as well as extensive harvesting. For example, it takes up to five person-days to cut, carry, stack, and load one ton of firewood, which then needs to be delivered and distributed under supervision. Such programmes may be a major recurrent cost in operating budgets. They should be initiated only if absolutely necessary.

7 distribution

guidance notes

Sustainable sources of fuel: sources of fuel should be managed, and measures taken to replenish and regenerate resources to ensure sustainability of supply.

Collecting fuel: women should be consulted about the location and means of collecting fuel for cooking and heating to address issues of personal safety. The demands of collecting fuel on particularly vulnerable groups, such as female-headed households and households caring for PLWH/A [people living with HIV/AIDS], should be addressed. Special provisions should be made where possible e.g. the choice of less labour-intensive fuels, the use of fuel-efficient stoves and accessible fuel sources.

Sphere Project (2004), chapter 4, pp. 234–6