Combating Poaching and Illegal Logging in Tanzania: Voices of the Rangers-Hands-on Experiences from the Field

WHAT IS THE FUTURE ROLE OF CHARCOAL IN TANZANIA? Ninety per cent of Tanzania’s energy comes from fuelwood, with charcoal the single largest source of household energy in urban areas. 29 Indeed fuelwood and charcoal also represent 90 per cent of Africa’s wood consumption. Charcoal, popularly known as ‘makala’ in Swahili, is used overwhelmingly as household energy, particularly for cooking. Charcoal has many advantages: it is relatively inexpensive and readily available; being convenient and light, it is inexpensive to transport; it burns much hotter than firewood but requires less safety attention inside the house; and it contains double the energy of firewood but produces less smoke. This is not to say that it is healthy to burn charcoal inside a kitchen without good ventilation, but it is preferable to firewood. Charcoal can be stored for a long time without the problems associated with storing firewood, such as moisture and fungi.

Typical transport of charcoal from the bush/reserves to the villages/markets

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