Firewood costs strain northern Uganda schools
Trees cut for firewood are seen in Ogwete Sub-county, Otuke District. PHOTO/FILE/BILL OKETCH
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Schools across northern Uganda's Lango Sub-region are facing a mounting financial and environmental crisis as they continue to rely on firewood for cooking, with education leaders calling for a shift to clean energy alternatives.
Police Primary School in Lira City, which serves more than 1,500 pupils, has seen firewood costs spiral due to deforestation and long transport distances.
“For the last two years, we’ve experienced a shortage of firewood from nearby Otuke and Alebtong,” said Mr Tom Richard Okello, the school’s director of studies.
He added: “We now source it from Masindi, and each trip costs Shs1.5 million.”
The school uses three truckloads of firewood per term—totalling about Shs13.5 million annually. “This creates financial pressure on our already limited government funding,” Mr Okello added on Sunday.
Private institutions face similar challenges. Mr Thomas Otema, who runs St Thomas Primary School in Lira, says the inefficiency of traditional cooking methods is an added burden. “We waste so much time cooking. Sometimes the food isn’t even clean, and transporting firewood is expensive.”
Environmental and health concerns are also growing. Ms Maria Kizza, finance and marketing officer at the National Renewable Energy Platform (NREP), warned that wood fuel contributes significantly to deforestation and indoor air pollution. “If electricity is unreliable, we must explore other technologies. The question is: are schools willing to invest in these alternatives?” she asked.
A new push to promote clean cooking is underway. The Ministry of Energy, NREP, and the UK government recently launched the Behavioural Change Communication for e-Cooking (BCCeC) programme in Lira City.
A six-day campaign from June 17 to 22 aimed to raise awareness and encourage institutions to adopt electric cooking.
“Electric cooking offers economic and health benefits,” said Ms Kizza.
She added: “There is a cost to traditional cooking—in money, in health, and in environmental damage.”
To support this transition, Uganda Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (UEDCL) introduced a special cooking tariff. “Once a consumer uses more than 81 units and below 150 units monthly, the rate shifts to Shs412 per unit, down from the standard Shs756.2,” explained Mr Johnson Kiiza, a UEDCL metering engineer in Lira.
Despite these interventions, the challenge remains significant, with many schools still tied to outdated and unsustainable fuel sources.
