Making charcoal

production in
Sub Sahara
Africa
sustainable
Making charcoal production in Sub Sahara Africa sustainable | December 10, 2010

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Making charcoal production in Sub Sahara Africa sustainable | December 10, 2010

Making charcoal production in Sub Sahara Africa sustainable

Colofon

Date December 10, 2010

Status Final

This study was carried out in the framework of the Netherlands Programmes
Sustainable Biomass by

Name organisation BTG Biomass Technology Group BV

Contact person John Vos, Martijn Vis

Although this report has been put together with the greatest possible care, NL Agency does not
accept liability for possible errors.

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Contact

Netherlands Programmes Sustainable Biomass

Maartje op den Coul

NL Agency
NL Energy and Climate Change
Croeselaan 15, 3521 BJ Utrecht
P.O. Box 8242, 3503 RE Utrecht
The Netherlands
Email: [email protected]
Phone: +31 - 88 - 60222417
www.agentschapNL.nl/biomass

BTG Biomass Technology Group BV

Ir. John Vos and Ir. Martijn Vis

BTG Biomass Technology Group BV
Josink Esweg 34, 7545 PN Enschede
P.O. Box 835, 7500 AV Enschede
The Netherlands
Email: [email protected]
Phone: +31 53 486 1186
Fax: +31 53 486 11 80
E-mail: [email protected]
www.btgworld.com

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Index

Colofon—3
Contact—5
Executive summery—9

1 Introduction—14
1.1 Background—14
1.2 Purpose and scope—14
1.3 Guidance for the reader—14

2 Characteristics of the charcoal sector—15

2.1 Fuelwood production and harvest—15
2.1.1 Clear felling of forestland for agricultural purposes—15
2.1.2 Selective cutting—15
2.1.3 Harvesting from plantations—16
2.2 Charcoal production—16
2.3 Charcoal marketing—17
2.3.1 Formal versus informal supply chains—17
2.3.2 Income distribution among the charcoal supply chain—18
2.4 Charcoal end uses—19
2.4.1 Trends in charcoal consumption—20
2.5 Economic contribution of the charcoal sector—21

3 Issues associated with the charcoal sector—22

3.1 Fuelwood production and harvest—22
3.1.1 Fuelwood collection for charcoal production versus direct fuelwood use—23
3.1.2 Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification—23
3.2 Charcoal production—24
3.2.1 Charcoal production efficiency—24
3.2.2 Emissions—24
3.3 Charcoal logistics and trade—25
3.3.1 Physical structure of the charcoal supply chain—25
3.3.2 Organizational structure of the charcoal supply chain—26
3.4 Charcoal end users—26
3.5 Socio-economic considerations—27
3.6 Policy issues—27
3.7 Conclusions—28

4 Lessons learnt intervening in the charcoal sector—32

4.1 Production and harvesting of fuelwood—32
4.1.1 Introduction—32
4.1.2 Example: community forest management in Senegal—32
4.1.3 Example: individual reforestation schema Madagascar—33
4.1.4 Example: de-linking charcoal production and deforestation in Rwanda—33
4.1.5 Example: plantation-based charcoal production in South Africa—34
4.1.6 Recommendations—34
4.2 Production of lump charcoal and of direct substitute fuels—35
4.2.1 Lessons learnt improving carbonisation efficiency—35
4.2.2 Lessons learnt developing direct charcoal substitutes—36

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4.2.3 Recommendations—38
4.3 Modernisation and professionalisation across the entire value chain—40
4.3.1 Introduction—40
4.3.2 Moving charcoal production and trade into the formal sector—40
4.3.3 Sustainable charcoal trade—40
4.3.4 Example: professionalisation of the charcoal sector in Sudan—41
4.3.5 Recommendations—42
4.4 Reduction of charcoal end-use—42
4.4.1 Ban on charcoal use—43
4.4.2 Improved charcoal stoves—44
4.4.3 Example: Kenya Ceramic Jiko improved stove—44
4.4.4 Use of carbon credits to promote improved stoves—45
4.4.5 Recommendations—46
4.5 Policy interventions—46
4.5.1 Introduction—46
4.5.2 Example: fiscal incentives for sustainable charcoal production in Niger—47
4.5.3 Recommendations—48
4.6 Conclusions—49

5 Recommendations for NL Agency involvement—51

Literature and other data sources—53

Annex: Increasing woodfuel supply from forests, plantations, woodlots and trees
outside forests—57

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Executive summery

Between the countries in Africa there are many similarities in the way the charcoal
sector is structured. This report analyses how charcoal production in Africa can be
made sustainable, by assessing bottlenecks and possible solutions.

Characteristics of the charcoal sector

The charcoal value chain is complex, comprising a wide range of actors and
operators with varying interests and stakes (illustrated in the Figure below).

Beneficiaries in the charcoal value chain - example from Tanzania

The main technical, socio-economic and environmental issues in each step of the
charcoal value chain have been described: fuelwood production and harvest,
charcoal production, charcoal logistics and trade (comprising transport,
wholesaling and retailing), and charcoal uses (in particular as household fuel for
cooking and heating).

Charcoal is primarily produced in forested areas surrounding urban centres. Wood

is harvested from these areas through clear felling, selective cutting or from
purposely grown plantations. The harvested wood is converted into charcoal in a
batch-type process. Traditionally, earth or mound carbonisation kilns with
relatively low efficiencies are applied. Often some sort of charcoal licensing system
is in place but in practice in many countries the bulk of charcoal production is
undertaken without official licensing, and charcoal is transported and traded
clandestinely.

In general the charcoal producer (which can be either a professional or occasional

producer) brings the charcoal in bags to the roadside from where the charcoal is
transported by truck, other motorized vehicles or by bicycle to urban centres.
Depending on the local situation there will be different degrees of vertical
integration in the charcoal supply chain. The figure below illustrates the supply
chain for Maputo (Mozambique).

For many of the operators across the value chain, charcoal offers a meagre
income, which may not reach the minimum (urban) wage. Even most of the
wholesalers (the category that tends to earn the most in the charcoal business)
don’t always earn very high incomes.

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Charcoal supply chain for Maputo, Mozambique

For many urban households, even those that are not poor, charcoal provides a
reliable, convenient and accessible source of energy for cooking at a stable cost,
and in many African countries the majority of urban households depends (at least
partly) on charcoal for their daily energy needs. Continuous urbanisation and
population translates in ever increasing charcoal demand, and the economic
importance of the charcoal sector is substantial. In the larger African countries,
hundreds of thousands of people earn their livelihoods to charcoal.

(Sustainability) issues in the charcoal sector

Charcoal production has far-reaching impacts extending across a range of social
and environmental issues. These include health problems of charcoal producers
associated with air pollution, environmental change associated with greenhouse
gas emissions and the depletion of local forests and woodlands, and social
problems related to migration, labour and gender. The table at the end of chapter
3 (reprinted below) links the charcoal sector issues with the Cramer Criteria for
sustainable biomass production.

The problems identified in the charcoal sector rarely arise as a result of charcoal
production alone. Rather, they are the result of complex relationships between
charcoal producers and consumers, the environment, and the larger political
economy.

Since charcoal cannot be easily replaced in the short term with alternative energy
sources that are comparably affordable, policy measures are needed that aim at
making charcoal production and use more sustainable while avoiding to push the

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price of the product to a level that is prohibitive for poorer consumers. Since the
environmental and social impacts of charcoal production, trade and consumption
are extensive and intertwined the issues in the charcoal sector need to be
addressed in a holistic manner, looking beyond a single intervention along the
value chain. Isolated interventions (reforestation, sustainable forest management,
improved stoves) will fail to exploit adequately possible synergies that would, if
combined, make them sustainable.

Issues related to the charcoal sector classified along the Cramer

sustainability themes

Step Sustainability theme Issues

GHG balance Unsustainable harvest leads to increased
GHG-emissions.
Biodiversity Over-exploitation of species with good
charcoal properties and of forest resources
especially near urban centres
Step 1: Environment Deforestation; in low-rainfall areas over
Forest resources exploitation can accelerate desertification
production and Food versus fuel In general no competition with land for food.
harvest Possible if plantations are employed on
agricultural land
Local prosperity Low income from wood collection, often
performed by women
Local welfare Hard work for low income; serves as extra
alternative income
GHG balance Low conversion efficiency increases
environmental impact incl. GHG balance of
whole supply chain.
Environment Emissions of smoke: local air pollution and
low greenhouse gas balance; low
Step 2:
conversion efficiency increases
Charcoal
environmental impact of the whole supply
production
chain
Local prosperity Low income, weak negotiation position
toward traders
Local welfare Poor labour conditions: inhalation of toxic
smoke and charcoal dust
GHG balance Increased transport distances, leading to
higher energy use and GHG emissions
Environment Increased transport distances, leading to
Step 3: higher energy use and emissions
Transport and Local prosperity Most benefits in transport and trade (on the
trade costs of other beneficiaries in the supply
chain)
Local welfare Charcoal dust emissions

GHG balance Efficiency charcoal stove sub optimal,

leading to higher demand for charcoal and
Step 4:
subsequent GHG emissions
End use
Environment Ash is not recycled (however, this happens
almost nowhere in the world)

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Local prosperity Changing charcoal price affects the poor

more than the rich.
Local welfare Reliable source of energy for the poor and
less poor users
Note: Biodiversity and food-versus-fuel issues mainly relate to Step 1 and therefore are not covered in
Step 2-4.

Lessons learnt intervening in the charcoal sector

Based on literature analysis and interviews with actors in the field, lessons can
learnt from past interventions of governments, development agencies and civil
society organisations aimed at making charcoal production across Africa more
sustainable. A special effort has been made to focus on the more successful
interventions. The lessons learnt are discussed along the steps of the charcoal
value chain, as follows:

• Production and harvesting of fuelwood

• Production of lump charcoal and of direct substitute fuels
• Modernisation and professionalisation across the entire value chain
• Reduction of charcoal end-use
• Policy interventions

For each step, the lessons learnt are first introduced, followed by several
illustrative examples and case studies, and rounded off with short conclusions and
recommendations.

On the production of fuelwood, the report presents forest management examples

covering Senegal, Madagascar, Rwanda and South Africa respectively. One of the
key lessons is that security of tenure (property rights) is a key factor that
determines whether participatory forest management succeeds or fails.

Regarding the production of lump charcoal, it is concluded that the efficiency of

the traditional earth kiln, if properly tended, is comparable to that of improved
kilns. Critical factors are the operational and supervision skills of the charcoal
producer, the moisture content of the utilized wood, and the woodfuel species
used. The development and promotion of low-cost improvements to the traditional
earth kiln design and the training of charcoal kiln operators aimed at applying
these improvements is called for.

Concerning the production of direct substitute fuels, the main challenge is of an

economic nature. The viability of producing direct substitute fuels for lump
charcoal strongly depends on the prices for charcoal. Business prospects are the
best when woodfuel is in shortage and woodfuel prices are high. Another approach
is the development of non-biomass fuels such as paraffin and LPG. The latter is of
particular interest when countries have their own natural gas sources, as is e.g.
the case in Mozambique and Tanzania.

Modernisation and professionalisation of the charcoal value chain requires

stakeholders to move into the formal sector. Formalisation will provide greater
security for producers and traders, which will in turn encourage longer-term
investments designed to increase efficiency and sustain supply. As experience
from Sudan shows, the charcoal sector can be formalised by the creation of
professional charcoaling groups in the form of self-regulatory associations,

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cooperatives or private firms. To be effective, strong political support -both within

government and the political system – is a must for formalisation.

Reduction of charcoal end-use can be achieved by promoting more efficient

charcoal stoves. Across Africa, the introduction of improved charcoal stoves has
also often failed to achieve the intended result of dramatically reducing charcoal
consumption. For a wide range of varying reasons (including political, social and
economic obstacles), few improved charcoal stove programmes have been
successful. A positive exception to the rule and deserving multiplication is the
improved Kenya Ceramic Jiko (KCH) stove. As recent experience in Tanzania and
Chad has confirmed, the outright banning of charcoal is a counter-productive
practice that should not be replicated. Rather than reducing charcoal demand the
only sustainable effect has been a steep increase in charcoal price.
Over and above the measures discussed above, policy measures are needed that
aim at making charcoal production and use more environmentally sustainable
while avoiding to push the price of the product to a level that is prohibitive for
poorer consumers. Since the environmental and social impacts of charcoal
production, trade and consumption are extensive and intertwined an integrated
view is essential in policy making. Isolated interventions fail to exploit adequately
possible synergies that would, if combined, make them sustainable.

The report concludes with recommendations in which areas NL Agency’s

Netherlands Programs Sustainable Biomass could support making charcoal
production in Africa more sustainable. It presents some ideas for pilot
demonstration projects demonstrating that sustainable charcoal production can be
practiced, for field studies and for information exchanges.

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1 Introduction

1.1 Background
The Global Sustainable Biomass Fund supports developing countries in making
their biomass production for energy uses sustainable. The Sustainable Biomass
Import programme aims to stimulate, support and facilitate the promotion of
sustainability of the production, processing and import of biomass produced
abroad, leading to the application of biomass for energy, transport or chemical
purposes in the Netherlands. NL Agency (formerly SenterNovem) implements both
programmes.

In 2009 and 2010 some 45 pilot biomass sustainability projects have been
awarded grants with a total value of 20 M€. An accompanying programme aims to
feed these pilot projects with information, to learn from the experience gained in
pilot projects, and to fill up possible gaps in the overall programme coverage.

An assessment of the stock of pilot projects contracted to date by NL Agency

learnt that there are indeed a number of such gaps. One gap concerns making
charcoal production in Africa more sustainable. Although the topic was covered in
some of the proposals applying for a programme grant, the proposals were
considered of insufficient quality to warrant their approval. Therefore NL Agency
has commissioned BTG to carry out this study on making charcoal production in
Sub-Sahara Africa sustainable.

1.2 Purpose and scope

To assess the bottlenecks and the possible solutions with regard to making
charcoal production in Africa sustainable (with a special focus on South Africa,
Mozambique and Tanzania).

1.3 Guidance for the reader

The reports starts with a general introduction (chapter 2) describing the general
characteristics of the various steps in the charcoal value chain, from fuelwood
harvest, via charcoal production and transport & trade to end-use. Attention is
paid to the main technical, socio-economic and environmental aspects. The
chapter also includes a discussion of the economic relevance of the charcoal sector
across Africa. In chapter 3 the main (sustainability) issues related to the charcoal
sector are described. These issues are subsequently linked with the Cramer
Criteria for sustainable biomass production. Chapter 4 is devoted to discussing the
lessons learnt from past interventions of governments, development agencies and
civil society organisations. The emphasis is on presenting a selection of the more
successful interventions, and the lessons that have been drawn from these
interventions. Based on the lessons learnt recommendations for future
involvement of NL Agency are formulated in chapter 5.

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2 Characteristics of the charcoal sector

The structure of the charcoal value chain (see Figure 1) is complex, comprising
many different actors with varying interests and stakes.

Figure 1: Beneficiaries in the charcoal value chain. Example from Tanzania.

Source: WB 2009.

This chapter describes common elements of the charcoal sector that apply in most
Sub Sahara African (SSA) countries, from fuelwood production and harvest up till
final charcoal consumption. Attention is paid to technical, socio-economic and
environmental aspects.

2.1 Fuelwood production and harvest

In Africa almost all charcoal is produced in rural areas, especially in forested areas
surrounding the urban centres. The radius of the area from which the raw
materials are collected is steadily increasing with charcoal makers needing to
travel progressively further to obtain the resources needed. However, travel
distances to these sources vary significantly between regions and locations
(Beukering et al 2007).

Three main types of wood harvesting can be distinguished of which the first two
dominate:
I. Clear felling of forestland for agriculture purposes and subsequent carbonization
of the felled trees
II. Selective cutting done by the charcoal makers who aim at generating income
from charcoal.
III. Harvesting from dedicated plantations, which is not common in most Sub
Saharan countries with the exception of South Africa.

2.1.1 Clear felling of forestland for agricultural purposes

The production of charcoal is often a by-product of other economic activities, such
as the clearance of land for agriculture. A common practice when a farmer wishes
to clear a new area for agriculture is to invite charcoal producers to clear all woody
biomass in a given area in return for the rights to produce and market charcoal
resulting from the clearance process (WB, 2009).

2.1.2 Selective cutting

Selective cutting means that certain trees that provide good quality charcoal are
selected and cut for charcoal production. Preference and suitability of trees used
for charcoal production varies with size, availability and accessibility of the tree
species. Large tree species (>20cm diameter) with high caloric values are the

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most preferred, due to the large quantity of dense and hard charcoal they produce
(Beukering et al, 2007).

2.1.3 Harvesting from plantations

Harvesting biomass from dedicated plantations is the most sustainable option to
acquire the raw materials needed for charcoal production. However this is also the
most expensive option compared to clear felling and selective cutting in which
cases the biomass is available at (close to) zero opportunity costs.

2.2 Charcoal production

Charcoal can be produced from wood and other biomass types in a process called
carbonisation. Carbonisation is the method of burning wood or other biomass in
the absence of air after which it breaks down into liquids, gases and charcoal.

Charcoal is traditionally produced in earth, brick or steel drum kilns in batches

from about 1 to 5 tons. Common kiln types and production methods are detailed
in e.g. (FAO, 1983) and (Foley, 1986) and more recently in (UNDP, 2010).
Fuelwood is gathered and cut to size, and placed in an underground or above
ground kiln. The kiln is fired and the fuelwood heats up and begins to pyrolyse.
The kiln is mostly sealed, although a few air pockets are initially left open for
steam and smoke to escape. As the kiln emissions change colour, the charcoal
producer may seal some air pockets. The production process may take up to a few
weeks. About half of the energy in the fuelwood is typically lost in the process (but
the charcoal produced has higher energy content per unit mass). When the
process has ended, the kilns are opened or dug up and the charcoal is removed.
The resulting charcoal resembles smaller, lighter pieces of blackened wood. These
will have higher energy content by weight than fuelwood (Kammen and Lew,
2005).

Figure 2: Female charcoal producer in Zambia (b) Traditional mound kiln in Liberia
Sources: (a) Climate Interchange (b) BTG Biomass Technology Group BV

In Africa, a limited number of people consider charcoal production to be their main

economic activity, while a majority engage only occasionally as a means to
generate income, particularly in times of financial stress, such as when making
large payments for things such as medical costs, funeral expenses, food supplies

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in the event of poor harvests, marriage ceremonies, or school fees. Cash income
from charcoal may act as a form of insurance against crop failures (FAO, 1983).

2.3 Charcoal marketing

In general the charcoal producer brings the charcoal in bags to the roadside from
where it is transported by truck, other motorised vehicles or by bike to the urban
centres. Charcoal producers are often contracted by wholesalers or transporters,
but they also work and sell their products individually. The majority of charcoal is
sold to large- or small-scale transporters. Some large-scale transporters are also
wholesalers. These wholesalers then pass the charcoal on to smaller-scale retailers
and consumers (WB, 2009). The retailing of charcoal offers trade opportunities for
many people, in particular women.

Figure 3: Charcoal picked up at the roadside (b) Charcoal retailers in Accra, Ghana
Source: Wisdom Ahiataku-Togobo (Ministry of Energy, Ghana)

Depending on the local situation there will be different degrees of vertical

integration in the charcoal supply chain. Figure 4 illustrates the charcoal supply
chain for Maputo.

In general the charcoal supply chain in African countries is very reliable, typically
much more reliable than e.g. electricity supply (TaDEDO, 2010).

2.3.1 Formal versus informal supply chains

Charcoal logistics and trade can be divided into a formal and an informal
commercialisation chain:
• The “formal” commercialization chain begins with the harvesting of wood to
produce charcoal. The product is transported and traded by officially licensed
transporters and traders, who pay the necessary duties and taxes.
• The “informal”, usually much larger, commercialization chain is undertaken
without official licensing. Charcoal produced through the informal chain is
transported and traded clandestinely in an attempt to avoid authorities,
taxation, and penalties. Both in Tanzania and Mozambique the fast majority of
charcoal arriving in the country’s capital is believed to follow this second path
(Malimbwi et al, 2007; Puná, 2008).

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Figure 4: Charcoal supply chain for Maputo, Mozambique.

Source: Puná, 2008.

2.3.2 Income distribution among the charcoal supply chain

Case studies carried out in e.g. Tanzania, Mozambique, and Malawi looked at the
sales prices and profit margins captured by the various operators across the value
chain.
• In Tanzania, on average, producers are able to capture around one-third of the
final end price of charcoal, with transporters-cum-wholesalers capturing around
half. Retailers capture only one-sixth of the retail price (WB, 2009), see Figure
5.
• In Mozambique, the charcoal business proves to be likewise more profitable for
transporters than for producers and retailers. Producers’ net income can be
between 2400 and 3600 Mt/month (~100-150 USD/month), or about two times
the minimum wage in Mozambique. Wholesalers may get incomes between
3650 and 12,200 Mt/month (~ 150-750 USD/month), which is (substantially)
more than producers’ net income. Retailers get an income that varies between
480 and 1350 Mt/month (~ 19-54 USD/month). Thus, the profit margin for
retailers may not exceed or not even reach the minimum urban daily wage
(Puna, 2008).
• In Malawi, the distribution seems somewhat more equal, with values accruing to
producers ranging from 20% to 33% of charcoal retail price, to transporters
from 20% to 25% and to retailers from 25% to 33% of final selling price,
according to (Kambewa et al, 2007).

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Figure 5: Distribution of profits along the charcoal value chain

Source: WB, 2009.

The distribution of income along the charcoal chain can vary considerably between
countries. (Ribot. 2007) investigated the distribution of benefits from charcoal
from its origin to end-use in Senegal. He found that how profits are distributed
over the various stakeholders depends strongly on the degree of market access
control that stakeholders command. At the time of his research, urban merchants
held a tight grip on the market, and their average annual profit was at least a
factor 9 higher than that of other stakeholders in the commodity chain. According
to (Ribot, 2007), factors that contributed to the oligopolistic position of urban
merchants included: control of labour opportunities, control of market access and
leverage over prices.

2.4 Charcoal end uses

For many urban poor, charcoal provides a reliable, convenient and accessible
source of energy for cooking at a stable cost. While electricity and gas may be
considered the most desired cooking fuels in urban areas, even if these are
available most poor households cannot afford both the energy resource and the
devices required to use these forms of energy. Many households, therefore, turn
to using kerosene or charcoal. Since kerosene is not always available or too costly
for many this leaves charcoal as the most readily available fuel (Mugo and Ong,
2006).

Charcoal has also unique cooking properties that make households to go for it
even when other fuels are also available (Seidel, 2008):
• It has double the energy content of fuelwood;
• It is lightweight and thus easy to transport and store;
• It easy to store over long period of time, without risk of insect or fungal attack;
• It produces less fumes and noxious compounds when burned;
• In most cities it is cheaper compared to kerosene, LPG or electricity.

Or in the words of a Mozambique retailer: “it sells well, it doesn’t go rotten and
children don’t steal it” (Pereira, 2001). The case discussed in Box 1 illustrates the
convenience of charcoal.

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Box 1: Why is charcoal a widely accepted fuel in Southern Countries? (Seidel, 2008)
In Malindi (Kenya) a lady wants to cook beans. She needs about 20€ cents to buy
some charcoal to cook her beans. Once the charcoal is burning, she puts the pot
with beans on the stove and she can leave the place and take care for other
things. The charcoal stove does not need regular attention. After 1.5 hours the
beans are readily cooked.

Much different however, if she would use a wood fire. She regularly needs to
attend and feed the fire. If she does not carefully and constantly feed the fire with
wood in a proper stove, she may use and burn more wood- compared with the
wood which is needed to produce the charcoal used.

Even as affluence increases and households shift to using electricity, gas (LPG)
and kerosene, households continue using charcoal in significant amounts, as a
result of its attractiveness and convenience. In addition, even in cases where
petroleum fuels are used, charcoal is often used as a backup fuel or the main fuel
for preparation of certain foods. In Senegal, where LPG penetration is increasing,
households using LPG are still using as much or more charcoal than households
which only use charcoal (Kammen and Lew, 2005). And when gas (LPG) prices fell
to a third of that of charcoal in the early 2000’s many households in Sudan still
went for charcoal (Ibrahim, 2003).

2.4.1 Trends in charcoal consumption

In many African countries the majority of urban households (often 80% or more)
and a considerable number of rural households depend on charcoal for their
energy needs. Unfortunately, reliable information and estimates of charcoal
production, trade and use or its impact on forest and woodland cover are not
available in most African countries, and can only be obtained from detailed field
surveys.

A recent FAO Forestry Paper (FAO, 2010) estimated 2007 global charcoal
consumption at 43.6 million tones. Developing countries accounted for nearly all
this consumption, and Africa alone consumed more than half of total world
production. Charcoal production increased by about 160% between 1992 and
2007 and is expected to continue to grow as populations expand, especially in low-
income countries. See Table 1.

Table 1: Charcoal consumption patterns by region, 2003–2007 (’000 tonnes)

Source: FAO, FAOSTAT (available at faostat.fao.org)

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(Kammen and Lew, 2005) note that FAO estimates domestic charcoal consumption
using constant charcoal consumption per capita factors for each country. Because
these factors are not changed for extensive periods of time, the changes in
charcoal production shown are due entirely to population increases.

It is expected that even in Sub Sahara African (SSA) countries already consuming
large volumes of charcoal demand will increase further for the following reasons:
• Population increase (often 2-3% per year, which leads to a doubling of the
population in about 20 to 25 years).
• Increased urbanisation, as worldwide people continue to flock from the
countryside to urban centres in search of jobs and a better standard of living.
Increasing urbanisation will lead to increasing demand for charcoal.
• Rising prices for alternative fuels such as LPG, natural gas, or electricity also
cause people to continue using charcoal, despite rising incomes.

2.5 Economic contribution of the charcoal sector

Charcoal production and trade contributes to the national economy by providing
rural incomes, tax revenue and employment. Charcoal is particularly important as
a means of generating income for some of the poorest members of society. It also
saves foreign exchange that would otherwise be used to import fuel.

A large number of people are employed in the various phases of the charcoal value
chain, including: collection and sizing of wood; preparation of charcoal kilns;
loading the wood into kilns and unloading charcoal after conversion; unloading,
bundling, packaging and transportation; and marketing. Additional indirect
employment is generated by the activities that use charcoal.

In Tanzania, revenues generated by the charcoal industry for Dar es Salaam alone
amount to 350 billion Tsh (USD 350 million). The charcoal business generates
employment for more than hundred thousand workers (Van Beukering, 2007). In
Malawi, the estimated value of the charcoal industry in the four largest urban
areas is about MK 5.78 billion (roughly USD 41 million). This figure is slightly less
than the value of Malawi’s tea industry. It is estimated that nearly 93,000 people
owe their livelihoods to charcoal (Kambewa et al, 2007). In Kenya, the charcoal
industry employs about 200,000 persons in production alone. In Uganda, charcoal
production provides 20,000 jobs and generates more than Ush 36 billion (USD 20
million) a year for rural people. The pattern is similar in other countries across
Africa (Mugo and Ong, 2006).

World Bank/ESMAP estimates for the generation of employment per TJ Energy

consumed indicate that charcoal creates between 200 and 350 jobs per TJ,
electricity 80-110 jobs, LPG 10-20 jobs and kerosene only 10 jobs. The figures
suggest that promoting charcoal can create more jobs than the other forms of
energy. In addition, planting trees for charcoal can be a profitable enterprise as
shown in the case of Kakuzi (Kenya), where it costs Ksh 159 (60%) to produce a
bag of charcoal that is sold at Ksh 260, earning a net revenue of Ksh 101 or 40%
of the retail price (Kakuzi, 2003).

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3 Issues associated with the charcoal sector

Charcoal production has far-reaching impacts extending across a range of social

and environmental issues. These include health problems associated with air
pollution, environmental change associated with greenhouse gas emissions and
the depletion of local forests and woodlands, and social problems related to
migration, labour and gender. Nevertheless, such problems rarely arise as a result
of charcoal production alone. Rather, they are the result of complex relationships
between charcoal producers and consumers, the environment, and the larger
political economy. Therefore, understanding the problems associated with charcoal
production requires an understanding of the social, political, economic and
environmental contexts in which they arise (FAO, 2010). In this chapter, the main
(sustainability) issues related to the charcoal sector are described. The chapter is
concluded with a table linking the issues in the charcoal sector issues with the
Cramer Criteria for sustainable biomass production.

3.1 Fuelwood production and harvest

The continued use of natural forests for charcoal production represents a threat to
the future of the resource, especially in situations where there is high demand
(such as in the periphery of large urban zones) and a lack of sustainable forest
management (Hosier, 1993). In low-rainfall areas, where regenerative capacity is
relatively low, unplanned and unmanaged charcoal production can accelerate
desertification processes. The impacts of woodfuel production and harvest for
charcoal production also depend on the production and harvest methods
employed.

Clear cutting
Clear cutting, or clear felling, is a forestry/logging practice in which most or all
trees in a harvest area are cut down. It is a destructive form of forest
management. The term “slash-and-burn” is used when the permanent conversion
of forests for agricultural purposes is intended. Slash-and-burn entails the removal
of all stems in a particular area. This is a form of deforestation, because the land
is converted to other uses. Although there is an obvious link with charcoal
production, the need for agricultural land is a main driver.

Selective harvesting
In selective cutting only a portion of the trees are harvested, leaving all others.
The (young) trees that are left as residuals will, if ecological conditions permit,
reseed the space that has been created. However, due to poor forestry
management skills young trees are often also cut and used to cover the charcoal
kilns, adding to forest destruction. The opportunistic harvesting of wood results in
a gradual degradation of forest resources over time, rather than clear-cutting over
a large area, finally leading to real deforestation.

Charcoal producers prefer tree species that yield dense, slow-burning charcoal.
These tree species are slow growing and are therefore particularly vulnerable to
overexploitation. The concentrated exploitation of a few species with a high
density can adversely affect biodiversity. Some dense tree species have a high
economic value e.g. as a source of timber, unrecognised by the charcoal producers
(TaTEDO, 2010); some of the species are protected and cutting them is illegal.

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Plantation wood
In the fuelwood production methods discussed above (clear cutting and selective
harvesting) very little, if anything, is paid for the harvested forest stands. In
economic terminology, the biomass is available at zero opportunity costs. As a
result, despite growing scarcity of wood, charcoal generally remains under-priced
by more than 20 to 50%, relative to its economic cost in most African countries
(WB, 2009). This is mainly due to insecure land-tenure, which leaves many forest
areas open to free and unregulated access and use.

In the third production method wood is harvested from purposely-established

plantations. Charcoal that is produced in this manner will be more expensive as
plantation establishment and management costs will need to be factored into the
charcoal price. Some examples of charcoal production from plantation wood are
discussed in chapter 4.

3.1.1 Fuelwood collection for charcoal production versus direct fuelwood use
The charcoal-making process is resource-intensive as the harvesting of the
feedstock is an intensive process, concentrated in as small an area as possible
over as short a period of time as possible. In some cases, wood is taken illegally
from state land, and producers are under pressure to harvest the wood to make
the charcoal as fast as possible. In contrast, fuelwood users typically collect
relatively small quantities of wood on a regular basis and thus the forest impact is
more dispersed and less intensive. Moreover, fuelwood-users usually collect twigs,
branches and dead wood, which has less impact (at least in the short term) on
forest productivity while wood for charcoal is usually made from stemwood (FAO,
2010).

3.1.2 Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is an international non-governmental
organisation supporting environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial, and
economically viable forest management. Forest certification according to FSC is
based on ten general principles for forest management covering environmental,
economic and social issues elaborated in a set of more detailed criteria (Vis et al,
2007).

FSC certification of charcoal is an elaborate, time- and resource-consuming

process, and goes beyond the certification of the wood from which it is produced.
An example of the documentation involved in FSC charcoal certification (describing
the Namibian charcoal producer Jumbo Charcoal) can be found at the website of
the Soil Association1.

In the United Kingdom, nearly all charcoal purchased is imported, and a high
proportion of it is FSC-certified. This holds for example for charcoal imported from
South Africa. However a significant portion (>20%) of UK supplies comes from -
other- tropical countries, including Ghana, Nigeria, Brazil, Indonesia and Brazil,
and little of this is FSC-certified (FOE, 2004). For other EU member states the
situation is likely to be much the same.

Charcoal that is sold across Africa is rarely FSC-certified (with the possible
exception of South Africa), as few charcoal users demand for it.

1 http://92.52.112.178/web/sa/saweb.nsf/librarytitles/29512.HTMl/$file/RT-FM-001-
12%20Jumbo%20FM%20RA%20report%20FINAL.xls

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3.2 Charcoal production

The critical factors in the production of charcoal appear to be the operational and
supervision skills of the charcoal producer, the moisture content of the utilized
wood, and the woodfuel species used. The production technology used is also
important, but less so than often believed. The efficiency of the traditional kiln, if
properly tended, appears comparable to that of improved kilns (Kammen and Lew,
2005). The more efficient the conversion process, the fewer the associated
emissions to air, soil and water, and the subsequent impacts on the environment
and labour conditions. Generally speaking, higher charcoal yields and lower
emissions go hand in hand.

3.2.1 Charcoal production efficiency

The efficiency of charcoal production determines the amount of charcoal that can
be made per unit of wood biomass, and thus affects the impact of fuelwood
harvest practices. Efficiencies of conventional kilns are normally low, ranging from
10-20 (Wiskerke, 2008). The following factors directly or indirectly affect charcoal
production efficiency:
• Relatively high efficiencies can be reached if an experienced producer follows
best practice, even when traditional kilns are used.
• It is to be expected that occasional charcoal producers will achieve lower
efficiencies than full-time charcoal producers.
• Illegal charcoal production might need to be performed in a quick way, not
allowing optimising the charcoal production process.
• Improved stationary kilns (like beehives) can be applied if the charcoal
production takes place at a fixed location, as is the case when plantations are
used as a source of wood.

3.2.2 Emissions
The by-products of charcoal production are pyroacids, primary acetic acid and
methanol, tars, heavy oils and water, the majority of which is emitted into the
environment with the kiln exhaust. The emissions into air include gaseous
emissions of carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2), methane, ethane and
volatile organic compounds (VOC); emissions of the particulate matter (PM)
coming from the uncombusted tars and charcoal dust, and pyroacids that may
form aerosol emissions. The level of emissions depends highly on the technology
used for the production, the temperature developed during the pyrolysis as well as
on the moisture content of the wood.

(Domac and Trossero 2008) presents a comparison of air pollutant emissions for
different types of charcoal production. For example, emissions from traditional
charcoal production methods in several African countries expressed in g per kg of
charcoal produced are given as 450 to 550 for CO2, 700 for CH4, 450 to 650 for
CO and 10-700 for NMHC (non-methane hydrocarbons). Such emission levels,
especially that of methane, which has a high global warming potential (GWP), can
be perceived as significant environmental impact on both regional and global level.
The main reason for these rather high levels of air emissions is the incomplete
combustion of wood and gaseous by-products of charcoal production, which are
directly emitted into the atmosphere.

In Africa, the emissions are usually released as part of the smoke into the
atmosphere, posing an air-pollution problem. When inhaled the smoke can result
in serious health issues of the charcoal producers. The local impacts of air

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pollution may be reduced by locating charcoal production sites at least 100 metres
from villages (Mugo and Ong, 2006), although few data are available on the
effectiveness of such a measure. The use of cleaner, more efficient technologies in
charcoal production could also have huge health benefits (FAO, 2010).

Air emissions from industrial charcoal production technologies, using batch kilns
and continuous operated multiple hearth retorts, are considerably lower. These
technologies allow the collection of the gaseous and liquid smoke arising from
charcoal production, which can be used as energy source or to increase the
efficiency of charcoal production. These technologies, however, have high initial
investment costs.

Another pollutant produced in charcoal making is charcoal dust, a black powdery

residue that disperses quickly into the air and can cause respiratory illnesses.
Many rural households use the dust for medicinal purposes, as an insect repellent
and as a soil conditioner on farms, thus increasing their exposure to it (FAO,
2010).

Box 2: charcoal production and the greenhouse gas reduction

Measurements of kiln emissions carried out in the early 1990’s suggest that the
global warming impact of charcoal production may be much greater than the
benefits of biomass charcoal use replacing fossil fuels. (Kammen and Lew, 2005)
stress that it is crucial to assess the entire carbon balance of the charcoal cycle for
impact on global warming, and conclude that when charcoal is produced in poorly
operated kilns it is among the worst, if not the worst, cooking energy source in
terms of global warming. The use of cleaner, more efficient technologies in
charcoal production could significantly cut pollutant emissions, and at the same
time bring huge health benefits

3.3 Charcoal logistics and trade

3.3.1 Physical structure of the charcoal supply chain

Like is the case for many other commodities, there are many different ways in
which charcoal is being transported. Basically anything that moves can play a role:
tractors, lorries, trucks, trains, bicycles, pushing carts, donkeys, head loads et
cetera. In Mozambique part of the charcoal shipped to the capital Maputo is
transported by freight train (Puná, 2008). In Tanzania a combination of lorries and
bicycles is used (WB, 2009).

What modes of transport are applied depends not only on the availability of
vehicles and the existence and condition of the (road and rail) network. The cost
associated with the use of a certain type of transport also plays a major role. And
the possibility to forego detection of illegal charcoal also comes into play. At the
Dar es Salaam city border, charcoal transported by lorry is taxed, but charcoal
transported by bicycle is not, as in the latter case it is assumed to be for private
use. The result of this regulation is that a few kilometres beyond the city border
charcoal is trans-loaded from trucks to bicycles on a massive scale, with the sole
purpose to avoid taxation (Van Beukering, 2010).

The average distance between rural charcoal production centres and urban
consumer centres is increasing gradually. This parameter can be affected by many

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factors, the most important one being the existence and condition of the road (or
as is the case in Mozambique: rail) network. Increasing hauling distance results in
higher fuel consumption by trucks and associated emissions.

Like charcoal producers, charcoal haulers are exposed to charcoal dust, a black
powdery residue that disperses quickly into the air and can cause respiratory
illnesses.

Figure 6: (a) a bicycle packed with charcoal (b) charcoal retailing in small quantities
Source: (a) WB, 2010 (b) WB, 2009

3.3.2 Organizational structure of the charcoal supply chain

Charcoal supply takes largely place in the informal sector. Consequently, next to
the reduced tax income from this sector, there is there is lack of official data on
this sector, and it will be difficult to take proper policy measures.

Some authors point out that, when the charcoal industry is informal this often
means that rural communities do not reap the full benefits of the industry.
Corruption is rampant and systemic in many cases, leaving many charcoal
producers vulnerable to unscrupulous trading practices and economic exploitation.

In countries that have made an effort to apply legal restrictions to the charcoal
trade, these restrictions are frequently ignored, and much of the trade is
unlicensed.

3.4 Charcoal end users

In general, end users are satisfied with the use of charcoal. Compared to the use
of fuelwood, indoor levels of toxic air pollutants during use are much reduced.
However, when charcoal is used for heating purposes, special care is needed to
avoid exposure to dangerous carbon-monoxide emissions (FAO, 2010).

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The efficiency of charcoal stoves is often sub-optimal; an increase in efficiency of

charcoal stoves could potentially lower charcoal consumption and thus reduce
charcoal production and its impacts.

3.5 Socio-economic considerations

Various observations can be made regarding the socio-economic aspects of
charcoal production, trade and consumption:

• Fuelwood production and harvest: a community whose forest areas are being
harvested may receive no benefits whatsoever, as wood is generally harvested
illegally or without direct payment. Fuelwood collection typically generates low
income and is often performed by women.
• Charcoal production is a poor man’s business. Landless, uneducated or
otherwise disadvantaged people provide a cheap source of labour. For lack of
other options, they can be easily exploited. Poverty forces them to sacrifice
long-term considerations (health, livelihood security etc.) for meagre short-term
income. The poor are also powerless in the sense that they cannot defend their
vital interests vis-à-vis more powerful stakeholders of the charcoal supply chain.
They are not organised in most cases, and thus avail of little - if any -
bargaining power, and virtually no access to investment capital.
• Charcoal traders are often seen as the ones benefiting most in the charcoal
supply chain. A common observation is that there is no equitable revenue
sharing along the entire value chain. (WB, 2009) observes that “… Despite the
involvement of a great number of people in the charcoal business, profits are
usually concentrated in the hands of a few intermediaries, mainly engaged as
transport agents or wholesalers, that exercise tight control over the charcoal
trade and often have close linkages with political elites, who use their power as
a means to efficiently circumvent legal fees and levies. The decidedly
oligopolistic structure is heavily biased against women, who often bear the
heaviest workloads (wood harvesting/collection, kiln operation, small-scale
retailers)”. Such oligopolistic structure is for example visible in Senegal (Ribot
2007). However, other authors point out that it is very common in any value
chain that traders have high profit margins. Transporters/traders may have
their own truck for charcoal transport, but most are not particularly rich.
• Charcoal retailers have often a low of income from charcoal sales. The profit
margin for retailers may not exceed or not even reach the minimum urban daily
wage (Puná, 2008).
• Although consumption levels do not always differ much between poorer and
richer end users, in terms of disposable income poorer households spent a
much higher proportion than richer households. Furthermore, richer households
are able to buy charcoal in bulk, where unit prices are significantly lower than
for smaller quantities. As a result of their limited cash flow and low purchasing
power, poorer households buy charcoal more frequently and in much smaller
quantities, but at a much higher unit price (WB, 2009).

3.6 Policy issues

In many countries, charcoal is largely a “hidden” sector, getting little policy
attention. Its role in the national economy is almost always overlooked, and as a
result its actual and potential contribution to economic development is
systematically underestimated. When considered in energy policies by
Governments at all, woodfuel (including charcoal) is often deemed a “backward”
and ecologically risky energy source, which use should be discouraged - despite

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the fact that in many cases it may provide energy for more than 80% of a
country’s population.

With regard to the coverage of the charcoal sector in forest policies the situation is
not much better. National forest policies tend to emphasise forest use for timber
production, not for charcoal production. With woodfuels escaping official statistics,
the forest sector’s contribution to the national economy is often marginal (2-4%)
and as a result forest governance receives little attention and meagre budgetary
allocations. In consequence, local branches of the forest service display low
human, technical, and enforcement capacities. This problem is often exacerbated
by half-hearted or arbitrary decentralization of forest governance, which leaves
local administrators ill prepared for the challenge of promoting community
involvement or investment by the private sector. Such institutional weaknesses
lower the morale of local staff, and invite corruption. Corruption coupled with
unclear policy and legal frameworks is seen as a major cause of unregulated or
even illegal charcoal businesses.

Finally, in many countries, land tenure is a key issue that must be addressed
because only when land-use rights are clear can resource management be
undertaken effectively (FAO, 2010).

3.7 Conclusions
For each step in the charcoal value chain the main sustainability aspects as
discussed in this chapter are summarised in Table 2.

The Cramer Criteria constitute a framework for sustainable biomass production

(Cramer 2007). The criteria provide an overview for the assessment of
sustainability issues for biomass production, addressing the following six themes.
• Greenhouse gases: Calculated across the entire chain, the use of biomass for
biofuels must emit 35 percent net fewer greenhouse gases than the fossil fuel
average. For electricity production, 50 percent.
• Biodiversity: Biomass production shall not harm any protected or vulnerable
biodiversity, but shall reinforce biodiversity where possible.
• Environment: The use of pesticides or artificial fertilisers, or the effects of
biomass culture on the soil, air and water, may not disturb the environment.
• Food versus fuel: The production of biomass for energy must not endanger the
food supply or other local applications (such as medicine or construction
materials).
• Contribution to the local prosperity: The production of biomass must contribute
to the local prosperity.
• Contribution to the local welfare: The production of biomass must contribute to
the welfare of the employees and local population.

Although the framework is originally focussed on biomass production, most of the

themes can be applied in all steps of the charcoal supply chain2. The table below
links the main charcoal issues discussed in this chapter with the Cramer Criteria
for sustainable biomass production. Note that policy issues are not part of the
Cramer sustainability themes.

2 Except for the themes biodiversity and food versus fuel, which only relate to biomass production and harvest.

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Table 1 Summary of issues related to the charcoal sector

Step Sustainability Aspect Issues

Environmental High demand for charcoal leading to over
exploitation of forest areas especially near
urban centres;
In low-rainfall areas over exploitation can
accelerate desertification
Over exploitation of species with good
Step 1 Forest
charcoal properties
resources
Social Low income from wood collection, often
production
performed by women
and harvest
Economic Wood for charcoal economically not taken
into account; making sustainable
alternatives like plantations impossible.
Policy/Other Lack of clear land ownership structure leads
to unplanned and unmanaged harvesting.
Illegal cuttings.
Environmental Emissions of smoke: local air pollution and
low greenhouse gas balance;
Low conversion efficiency increases
environmental impact whole supply chain.
Social Poor labour conditions: inhalation of toxic
smoke and charcoal dust
Low income, weak negotiation position
toward traders
Step 2: Charcoal Economic Low conversion efficiency leads to lower
production yields
Policy/Other Charcoal production informal sector, partly
illegal
Often no fixed location for charcoal
production: difficult to employ high efficiency
production technologies
Part time charcoal producers and illegal
setting complicate efficient charcoal
production practises.
Environmental Increased transport distances, leading to
higher energy use and emissions
Social Exposure to charcoal dust
Step 3: Transport Economic Most benefits in transport and trade (on the
and trade costs of other beneficiaries in the supply
chain)
Policy/Other Majority of transport in informal sector; lack
of control
Environmental Efficiency charcoal stove sub optimal,
leading to higher demand for charcoal and
Step 4: End use subsequent emissions
Social Reliable source of energy; poor and less poor
use charcoal

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Economic Changing charcoal price affect the poor more

than the rich.

Policy/Other Informal sector.

Table 3 Summary of issues related to the charcoal sector following the sustainability themes of
Cramer

Step Sustainability theme Issues

GHG balance Unsustainable harvest leads to increased
GHG-emissions.
Biodiversity Over-exploitation of species with good
charcoal properties and of forest resources
especially near urban centres
Step 1: Environment Deforestation; in low-rainfall areas over
Forest resources exploitation can accelerate desertification
production and Food versus fuel In general no competition with land for food.
harvest Possible if plantations are employed on
agricultural land
Local prosperity Low income from wood collection, often
performed by women
Local welfare Hard work for low income; serves as extra
alternative income
GHG balance Low conversion efficiency increases
environmental impact incl. GHG balance of
whole supply chain.
Environment Emissions of smoke: local air pollution and
low greenhouse gas balance; low
Step 2: conversion efficiency increases
Charcoal production environmental impact of the whole supply
chain
Local prosperity Low income, weak negotiation position
toward traders
Local welfare Poor labour conditions: inhalation of toxic
smoke and charcoal dust
GHG balance Increased transport distances, leading to
higher energy use and GHG emissions
Environment Increased transport distances, leading to
higher energy use and emissions
Step 3:
Local prosperity Most benefits in transport and trade (on the
Transport and trade
costs of other beneficiaries in the supply
chain)
Local welfare Charcoal dust emissions

GHG balance Efficiency charcoal stove sub optimal,

leading to higher demand for charcoal and
Step 4:
subsequent GHG emissions
End use
Environment Ash is not recycled (however, this happens
almost nowhere in the world)

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Local prosperity Changing charcoal price affects the poor

more than the rich.
Local welfare Reliable source of energy for the poor and
less poor users

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4 Lessons learnt intervening in the charcoal sector

This chapter looks at the lessons learnt from past interventions of Governments,
development agencies and civil society organisations aimed at making charcoal
production across Africa more sustainable. Although some failures are also
discussed, a special effort has been made to focus on the more successful
interventions. It should be noted, however, that generally speaking the overall
success of interventions in the charcoal sector across Africa has been mixed, at
best, and few interventions would seem to have achieved a long-lasting impact
(WB, 2009).

Like in the previous chapters, interventions are discussed along the steps of the
charcoal value chain. For each step, the lessons learnt are first introduced,
followed by several illustrative examples (when available), and rounded off with
conclusions and recommendations.

4.1 Production and harvesting of fuelwood

4.1.1 Introduction
Across Sub Saharan Africa, the past two decades have witnessed a growing
movement to empower rural communities with the rights and responsibilities to
manage local forest resources. Participatory or community forestry has taken root,
using a range of different models. One of the key lessons learnt is that security of
tenure (property rights) is a key factor that determines whether participatory
forest management succeeds or fails - both from a forest management
perspective, and from the perspective of securing and maintaining participation
over the long term. Below four examples are given illustrating the lessons learnt
regarding fuelwood production and harvest:
• Community forest management in Senegal
• Individual reforestation schema Madagascar
• De-linking charcoal production and deforestation in Rwanda
• Plantation-based charcoal production in South Africa.

4.1.2 Example: community forest management in Senegal

In Senegal, the forest law creates opportunities for rural communes to formally
claim possession of hitherto state controlled forests adjacent to their community,
and to manage them in accordance with a publicly approved forest management
plan. Additionally, state forests may be allocated to communes for co-
management. Communes, in turn, enter into contracts for the purpose of granting
use rights on the village level. Detailed, inventory based management plans are
prepared, which also reflect and harmonise locally perceived needs and
expectations. Each village establishes a management committee, and households
interested in utilization of certain forest products form respective user groups
(WB, 2009). Key elements of this community forest management system include
(GTZ, 2010):
• Directives for sustainable management of state and community forests
• A regional plan for the sustainable management of forests
• Production of management plans
• Capacity building, enabling local communities to enter partnership agreements
with the forest services.

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4.1.3 Example: individual reforestation schema Madagascar

The case of Madagascar may be cited as a promising example where tenure rights
in respect of marginal public lands have been granted to individuals of local
communities for the purpose of creating energy plantations. The village-based
approach places local people at the centre of planning and implementation of
plantation management for sustainable charcoal production. It is based on
voluntary participation of communities eager to rehabilitate degraded lands by
means of voluntary reforestation. As a first step, an afforestation area is identified
by the community and legally registered as a “Réserves Foncières pour le
Reboisement”. A village-based participatory approval process allocates individual
woodlots to interested households, along with defined use rights and obligations.
Each plot is demarcated, mapped, and documented with the community’s
approval. Technical assistance is provided by specially trained NGOs. Aside from
institutional and technical support, the only substantial external input is
mechanized soil preparation. Tractors must be used to break up compact layers in
degraded soil, to increase percolation of rainwater and ensure higher survival
rates of seedlings. Nursery operation, planting, and maintenance are the
plantation owners’ responsibilities. An overall GIS-based monitoring system
provides data for every plantation plot, including productivity figures, income
generated, etc. More than 4500 ha have been planted, providing an annual
increase in income of more than 20% for more than 1500 rural households. The
monitoring system further revealed that 34% of the poorest and landless people
became involved, and 22% of women enrolled as woodlot holders. In addition, the
uncontrolled exploitation of natural forests in the vicinity of the villages
substantially decreased, as did the incidence of fires (Sepp 2008a) (GTZ-ECO
2006). Key elements of the individual reforestation scheme in Madagascar include
(GTZ, 2010):
• Limiting afforestation to marginal land (with zero opportunity costs)
• Voluntary decision of community members to participate
• Allocation of responsibilities to all community actors
• Individual ownership of plots and products (secured land/tenure rights)
• Capacity building, creation of rural energy markets
• Monitoring of plantation growth and quality.

4.1.4 Example: de-linking charcoal production and deforestation in Rwanda

Rwanda is one of the few examples of an African country with increasing forest
cover, growing about 7% from 2000 to 2005 primarily due to large numbers of
forest plantations. This success comes at the expense of Rwanda having
previously lost two-thirds of its natural forest cover and, along with it, much of its
biodiversity. Today, practically all charcoal in Rwanda is derived from trees that
have been planted on government, private or community land. There are
indications that private woodlots, using planted fast growing eucalyptus, are
providing an increasing part of the firewood and charcoal market in Rwanda.
Charcoal production from natural forests is almost non-existent. Additionally,
remnant rainforests are conserved by way of expanding the network of federally-
protected areas. Farmers have become aware that with secure land tenure and
rising wood fuel prices, it is profitable to invest in tree planting, and to produce
poles for construction, fuelwood and wood for charcoal making. Furthermore, due
to rising income, the position and social standing of farmers in rural society has
improved. Farmers are able to engage traders –who formerly held most of the

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power within the woodfuel value chain– on an equal footing, and to negotiate
prices as is common in a free market economy (De Miranda et al, 2010). In
conclusion, Rwanda may well be the only country in Africa where the relation
between charcoal and deforestation no longer exists3.

A factor that has contributed to the success is that Rwanda as one of the few
countries in Africa applies private land ownership on a large-scale. As a result of
allowing private land ownership, trees can be seen everywhere. People have an
incentive to plant trees when they know that the tree will still be their property
when it matures, which is not the case on common lands. Trees form a sort of
security for farmers, which they can cash in case of need (MARGE, 2009).

Main elements of the charcoal production system in Rwanda include:

• High timber and woodfuel prices due to massive prior deforestation
• Targeted efforts to conserve remnant rainforests
• Establishment of private plantations
• Secure land tenure
• Improved market control and negotiation power of farmers/ charcoal producers
• Due to rising income, improved social standing of farmers in rural society

4.1.5 Example: plantation-based charcoal production in South Africa

In South Africa, charcoal is primarily made from tree plantations; established in
the first place to provide pulp, wattle extract, and construction timber. Commercial
plantations (mainly of pine trees, gum trees and Black wattle) cover almost 1.2
million ha. Charcoal production is concentrated in the general area of Dalton,
Ahrens and Greytown in the Natal Midlands, in the Northern Kwazulu-Natal
forestry areas between Paulpietersburg and the Mpumalanga border, and in the
south-eastern parts of Mpumalanga. These areas have good railway connections
with the port of Durban. Much of the local charcoal production is exported, e.g. to
Europe. Therefore South Africa needs to import charcoal from neighbouring
countries to meet the domestic demand. For example, part of the charcoal
marketed in South Africa is produced in Namibia4. Domestic demand is confined to
wealthier middle-income households who use charcoal for cooking as part of social
events (the Sunday “braai”). Charcoal use is not common in South African low-
income households in South Africa (Stassen, 2010).

Main elements of the charcoal production system in South Africa include

• Long history of establishing tree plantations
• Few alternative value-added applications for plantation wood and processing
waste
• High level of organisation in the charcoal supply chain
• Good transport links with export markets
• Relatively well-off middle-income charcoal users can afford paying “Western”
prices.

4.1.6 Recommendations
Based on the lessons learnt from the presented examples the following
recommendations can be formulated:

3 Except the charcoal supply for Antananarivo, Madagascar, which also mainly comes from farmers’ eucalyptus
plantations; in much of the rest of the country, charcoal still comes from natural forests.
4 The website http://namibiaafricawwf.blogspot.com/2009/10/charcoal-burning.html gives some insight in
charcoal production making in Namibia.

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• Increase supplies of wood for charcoal through plantations and woodlots.

Address the unchecked harvesting of trees without replacement. Develop and
implement short- and long-term plans for massive tree plantings.
• Develop woodfuel management and harvesting plans for forest areas
administered by national and district governments. The aim of national and
district level woodfuel plans is to increase progressively the market share of
commercial woodfuels that are sustainably produced, and to generate
significant and long-term tax revenue for local and national forestry
management funds. The plans can address rehabilitation, better management
and exploitation of state and district plantations, as well as tree planting and
increasing the productivity of private small-holder tree farms. If managed
properly, plantations, woodlots, and trees outside forests (such as in
agroforestry systems, along roads, and around fields) can play a substantial
role in supplying raw material for charcoal production, and reduce the pressure
on natural forests. Annex A discusses the role these forest resources can play.
• Secure forest tenure (“property rights”) for rural producers by scaling up
community-based forest management in urban catchment areas. For example,
a community may be granted exclusive control over natural woodlands growing
on their territory, and the exclusive right to sell wood-based fuels
harvested/produced thereon. In return, the community would be bound to enter
into a formal agreement with the forest service to manage the woodland
sustainably and to use improved kiln technologies (e.g. Village VERT approach
in Chad). Without a more effective forest and land tenure policy in place, it is
difficult to expect major changes towards forest management practices.
• In countries with significant areas of marginal and/or degraded public land,
privatisation of land for the purpose of tree-farming may be an option. Such
schemes have the potential to preserve/ameliorate land and to augment wood-
fuel supplies at the same time.
• Stop illegal cutting and completely ban the production of charcoal from public
forests and plantations, set up management plans for restoring public national
and district plantations, develop and promote adapted tree management and
rational cutting methods, train local bodies and professionals.
• Develop and promote silvicultural practices among private plantation owners, in
order to preserve and improve their standing stock, increase forestry
productivity and favour rational and sustainable tree-cutting.

4.2 Production of lump charcoal and of direct substitute fuels

4.2.1 Lessons learnt improving carbonisation efficiency

The conversion of wood into lump charcoal plays a small but crucial role in the
charcoal value chain. In most instances, charcoal production takes place using
traditional earth or pit kilns, where wood is cut and stacked before being covered
in earth and carbonized.

Due to the assumed low conversion rates of traditional kilns, many projects have
been carried out aimed at introducing more efficient carbonization technologies.
Improved technologies can be broadly classified into five categories, namely (i)
earth kilns, (ii) metal kilns, (iii) brick kilns, (iv) cement or masonry kilns and (v)
retort kilns. Earth and metal kilns are transportable; the other kiln types are
stationary.

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Earth and brick kilns are simpler, lower-cost designs deemed particular suitable for
developing countries. A well-known example is the Casamance kiln, developed in
Senegal. It is equipped with a chimney that can be made of oil drums. The
chimney allows a better control of airflow. In addition, the hot flue gases do not
escape completely but are partly redirected into the kiln, which enhances
pyrolysis. Due to this reverse draft carbonisation is faster and more uniform giving
in theory a higher quality charcoal and efficiency up to 30% (Seidel, 2008).

Although the use of improved kilns can be considered as a crucial step in achieving
sustainable charcoal production, efforts to introduce improved mobile charcoal
production techniques often have had limited success5. (Feinstein and Van der Plas
1991) observe that improved charcoal production techniques are often adopted for
brief periods only and then discarded: evidence of this is found by the remains of
metal kilns and metal pit covers scattered in the Senegalese forest. (Kammen and
Lew, 2005) may provide an important explanation why charcoal producers
abandoned the metal kiln and components. Their field measurements show a large
amount of scatter in yields, indicating that the yield is highly dependent upon the
skill of the producer. They claim that very good traditional kilns can compete with
very good Casamance kilns.

Other countries where efforts to introduce improved kilns were made in the past
show similar low adoption rates. Improved kilns were introduced in Uganda in the
1960s but they are virtually still unknown in the country today. In Kenya more
than 90% of charcoal producers use inefficient traditional kilns (Mutimba, 2005).
(Seidel, 2008) and (WB, 2009) present several reasons for the low adoption rate
of improved carbonisation kilns, including:
• Brick and concrete kilns are stationary, whereas charcoal is frequently produced
in a manner which requires mobile kilns or kilns constructed on site for the
duration of production.
• Investment costs for many improved kilns (especially for metal kilns which are
transportable) may be prohibitive for small scale producers
• Special skills are required to construct and to operate improved kilns.
• It has appeared hard to achieve improved carbonization efficiencies (25-30%)
under field conditions.
• Due to the informal (and often illegal) nature of charcoal production, producers
have no secure and long-term access to wood resources, limiting their
willingness to investment in more efficient conversion methods.
• The efficiency of the traditional earth kiln, if properly tended, appears
comparable to that of improved kilns, critical factors being the operational and
supervision skills of the charcoal producer, the moisture content of the utilized
wood, and the woodfuel species used.

4.2.2 Lessons learnt developing direct charcoal substitutes

In addition to producing charcoal form hardwood species, it can be made from a
wide range of alternative feedstocks, including (i) newly introduced and/or
previously unused tree species, (ii) agro-residues, (iii) invasive aquatic weeds, or
(iv) charcoal fines6. Some examples of experience gained with the production of
substitute fuels include:

5 Semi-industrial and industrial kilns have met with some success, but only under intensive production systems
(such as in a plantation setting or with significant external investments by a private sector enterprise
dedicated exclusively to charcoal production.
6 The use of substitute fuels like bio-ethanol, gelfuel, biogas, LPG, kerosene (paraffin) and electricity has no direct
impact on the sustainability of the charcoal value chain, and are not further discussed here.

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• Newly introduced an/or previously unused tree species: Ethiopia has

more than one million hectares of fast growing bamboo trees. In 2009 a project
started in Ethiopia and Ghana to develop bamboo as an alternative to timber
charcoal for poor households. The EC funded project will develop at least 1,000
enterprises producing bamboo charcoal and train over 6,000 people in bamboo
cultivation, best bamboo firewood practices and bamboo charcoal production,
set up 3 bamboo charcoal technology centres and develop marketing strategies
for bamboo charcoal (Y. Seboka, personal communication 2010). In Kenya,
MakaaZingira Enterprise produces eco-charcoal briquettes from fast growing
indigenous shrubs, which are sustainably harvested, carbonised, mixed with
waste cassava and coconut fibre and then compressed. The charcoal briquettes
are eco-friendly and ethically produced, and the first in East Africa to be FSC-
certified. In 2009 the company was awarded the SEED Award for
entrepreneurship in sustainable development (SEED Initiative, 2009).
• Agro-residues such as cotton stalks, risk husks, coconut shells, peanut shells,
sawdust, and the residues of the coffee, tea and floriculture industries.
Carbonised cotton stalks can be used to produce agglo-briquettes, spherical
balls consisting of charcoal powder glued together with a binder, e.g. molasses,
a technology developed by BTG Biomass Technology Group B.V. Already in the
late 1980s the Rahad Energy Products Corporation Ltd in Sudan gained
commercial experience with this technology. More recently, Biomasse-Mali
applied the technology in Mali. Bioterre Senegal has gained experience
producing substitute charcoal from rice husk (PISCES, 2009). Diligent
(Eindhoven) is demonstrating the production of charcoal from Jatropha press
cake (Peters, 2010). And Carbo (Almelo) supplied industrial ‘twin retort’
carbonization technology to produce charcoal on a commercial scale in Ghana
and Senegal from coconut shells and peanut shells respectively7.
• Invasive aquatic weeds, such as typha, papyrus and water hyacinth. Typha is
a type of reed that covers large parts of four shared water bodies of West
Africa, including the Senegal river causing irrigation canals to be blocked and
rendering access to the river difficult. After a successful pilot, ALCD/Biomasse-
Mali aims to produce synthetic fuel logs and green charcoal from blending Typha
weed and rice husks (CASCADe Africa, 2010). In Senegal, typha is used neat to
produce charcoal briquettes (PISCES, 2009).
• Charcoal dust and fines: The production of charcoal briquettes from fines is
well established in Kenya. Nairobi-based Chardust Ltd. pioneered the
development of innovative techniques to convert biomass wastes into low-cost
charcoal briquettes. It has been involved in this business for nearly a decade,
and now sells more than 200 tonnes of briquettes per month8. Recently, Mr.
Patrick Mwangi has started making briquettes using charcoal dust and water in
Nyeri9, and women from the districts of Nakuru, Kisumu and Kibera produce
charcoal balls in a similar way (PISCES, 2010). Other countries where charcoal
briquettes are made using charcoal fines and a binder include Mali (Visser,
2010), Tanzania (Peters, 2010) and Senegal. (PISCES, 2009).

7 www.p-plus.nl/artikel.php?IK=592
8 www.chardust.com
9 kenya-chat.com/tag/using-charcoal-dust-and-water/

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Figure 7: Charcoal substitute production (a) from bamboo (b) at MakaaZingira

Sources: (a) Ethiopian Rural Energy Development and Promotion Center (b) SEED Initiative

Figure 8 (a) Agglomerator for briquette production (b) Chardust briquettes for sale
Sources: (a) BTG Biomass Technology Group BV (b) Chardust Ltd./ HEDON.

4.2.3 Recommendations
Regarding lump charcoal production, several decades of efforts to improve the
performance of charcoal production by adopting improved kilns have shown little
pertinent and positive results (with the possible exception of (semi-) industrial
kilns under intensive production systems). Because the results of using capital-
intensive improved kilns under African field conditions has been so disappointing,
in recent years the focus has shifted towards the promotion of low-cost
improvements to the traditional earth kiln design.

Charcoal producers should however be encouraged, and capacitated, to achieve

higher conversion efficiencies using cheap and better charcoal-making
technologies. They should be provided with a range of technical solutions from
which to choose, rather than a “single best” technical solution. Market pressures

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alone are unlikely to lead to efficiency opportunities being exploited (UNDP, 2010).
Research that would lead to the development of efficient and affordable kilns
should be facilitated (World Agroforestry Centre). Targeted training support to
charcoal producers groups on improvement of traditional practices is warranted.
Those working with larger tree plantations should be assisted to identify and
invest in improved kilns (WB, 2009).

The Tanzania Traditional Energy Development and Environmental Organization

(TaTEDO) has pioneered this approach with a range of simple adaptations to
traditional designs that can achieve significant savings at a low cost. These include
the introduction of a chimney, as well as ensuring that wood used in the kiln is
adequately dried and cut into approximately similar sizes (WB, 2009) (Sawe,
2010). It is recommended to evaluate the success of the TaTEDO effort with a
view of establishing replication potential.

Figure 1: (a) Charcoal training at Kisangara (b) Improved basic earth mound kiln
Source: E.N Sawe (TaTEDO, Tanzania)

Another approach to boosting charcoal production from the current biomass

resource base is the use of alternative feedstocks. As has been illustrated above,
these initiatives are usually small-scale and can generate a modest income for
those involved. Their economic viability strongly depends on the prices for
woodfuels. The best chances of success are found in areas with severe woodfuel
shortage and higher charcoal prices.

A third approach is the promotion and development of on-biomass substitute fuels

such as paraffin and LPG. The latter category is of particular interest when
countries have their own natural gas resources, as is e.g. the case in both
Mozambique (Falcon, 2010) and Tanzania (Van Beukering, 2010).

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4.3 Modernisation and professionalisation across the entire value chain

4.3.1 Introduction
As explained before, in most African countries a large share of charcoal production
and trade is informal and unregulated. In many cases corruption is rampant and
systemic. Wholesalers may hold a tight grip on the market and wield leverage over
charcoal prices. Regulation and professionalisation of the charcoal sector is
adamant to reduce the tight grip of specific stakeholders. Poor governance and
ineffective regulation of the charcoal sector also means that government misses
out on tax income and that charcoal continues to be sold at a price well below its
true (economic) value, as the cost of the resource itself (wood) is rarely factored
into the final price.

4.3.2 Moving charcoal production and trade into the formal sector
Introducing fiscal measures that encourage illegal charcoal producers to move into
the formal sector will have a range of positive and negative spin-off effects. On the
positive side, formalization will provide greater security for producers and traders,
which will in turn encourage longer-term investments designed to increase
efficiency and sustain supply. On the negative side, however, encouraging
producers and traders to engage in legal and regulated business will necessarily
result in price increases for the end user, as the final market prices reflect the true
value of not only processing and transport costs, but raw materials and licensing
as well. However, experience would suggest that these price increases will in turn
encourage efficiency savings across the whole production-trade-consumption
chain.

Given the tight control exercised over the charcoal trade by a limited number of
influential businessmen in many countries (e.g. Senegal), efforts to reform the
sector are often strongly resisted. Linkages between large-scale charcoal traders
and political leaders are often close. If the strong and vested interests operating in
the charcoal sector are to be overcome, it will require strong political support -
both within government and the political system - but also among the users and
consumers of charcoal within urban centres. Otherwise, failure to address the
challenges of formalization will ultimately undermine efforts to address the
problems of charcoal trade elsewhere along the production marketing chain (WB,
2009).

4.3.3 Sustainable charcoal trade

To encourage charcoal producers to invest in sustainable charcoal trade, they will
need to be sure that they can operate competitively against other producers (often
operating illegally). This can be achieved in a variety of ways, such as:
• Reducing the scale of illegal trade to a level where it does not impact
significantly on the formal charcoal trade. This can typically take place through
a targeted investment in regulation and control to ensure that the costs of
trading in illegally produced charcoal are higher than the costs of trading in
charcoal that is licensed and regulated;
• Providing subsidies or fiscal incentives for sustainably produced charcoal that
compensate for price differences when compared to illegally produced charcoal
• “Eco-labeling” charcoal so that despite higher prices, consumers buy it based on
the knowledge that they are contributing to sustainable development and
improved producer prices. This process of product differentiation, however, does
not address the widespread and dominant trade in unregulated charcoal.

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All three of these measures have been attempted, with varying degrees of
success. Perhaps the best-known example of fiscal incentives comes from Niger,
which introduced a variable tax regime to incentivise sustainable production and
penalise unsustainably produced charcoal (discussed in more details in Section
4.5.2 below).

4.3.4 Example: professionalisation of the charcoal sector in Sudan

Unlike most other SSA countries, Sudan has such well-articulated charcoal policy
and legislation. This has not only ensured professional and profitable management
of the country’s forests, but has also enabled sustainable production from
plantations.

The Sudanese government has recognized charcoal as an important source of

energy and vested the power to regulate it in the Forest National Corporation. The
agency is responsible for planning and organizing production from natural and
planted forests (covering 68% and 32% of the forested area respectively). The
corporation has a management plan for natural forests. Forestland is first leased
to farmers for five years. At the beginning, charcoal producers are contracted to
clear the land for crop production and use the wood to make charcoal. The land is
then farmed for five years after which it is left to regenerate for 14-20 years.

For planted forests, the department sets aside land and funds to plant and
manage over 100,000 ha of trees annually. The trees take about 14-17 years to
mature for harvesting. The government has recognized charcoal producers to
whom it sells the trees by tender at officially set prices.

While most of the charcoal is produced by large-scale contractors that are

members of the Sudan Charcoal Producers Association, individuals also produce
limited amounts. The charcoal is sold to merchants who transport it to wholesalers
in urban centres for distribution to retailers and users.

The Sudan Charcoal Producers Association was started to negotiate with the
government on behalf of traders. Grouping producers, transporters and traders,
the association has set up its own rules in addition to those laid down by the
government. For example, the association expels members who fail to pay taxes
or engage in corruption. The expulsion means one cannot trade in charcoal. The
organization has paid off, with some members producing between 2,000-5,000
bags of charcoal and earning up to US$50,000 a season. The association is not
problem-free, however. Members complain of high taxes, unclear boundaries and
conflicts due to animal routes through contracted land. They are pressing for the
government to allocate them forest land to manage (Mugo and Ong, 2006).

Considering what is happening elsewhere in East Africa and the way the charcoal
industry is run in Sudan, the following lessons can be drawn. In Sudan:
• Charcoal is recognized as a key source of energy.
• There is a specific institution, a parastatal, to implement wood energy policies.
• Production of charcoal from plantations and natural woodlands is well planned.
• Resources are allocated yearly for establishment of plantations.
• There is strong public and private sector participation.
• Charcoal is a formal and lucrative industry.
• There are clear marketing arrangements and rules.
• Traders are organized into a formal association recognized by the government.

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• The government is paid royalties and taxes, which are reinvested in establishing
plantations.

Other countries in eastern and southern Africa could use some of these ingredients
to establish dynamic charcoal industries of their own (Mugo and Ong, 2006).

4.3.5 Recommendations
To achieve modernisation across the entire charcoal value chain, the following is
recommended:
• Official recognition of charcoal production and trade
• Creation of professional charcoaling groups
• Promote market integration
• Improvement of charcoal transport
• Packaging and labelling of sustainable charcoal

Presently, the charcoal industry is organised informally, but it is an integral part of

the national economy and it makes a substantial contribution to the livelihoods of
the poor. Those involved in the industry want charcoal to be recognized as a legal
economic activity (Mutimba, 2005). The notion of professional charcoal producers
should be developed and a move should be made away from individual and
occasional charcoal producers (UNDP, 2010). The charcoal sector can be
formalised by the creation of professional charcoaling groups in the form of self-
regulatory associations, cooperatives or private firms. Such producer groups can
be more commercially-oriented, eventually gaining access to more up to date
information about sources of wood available for carbonisation and obtaining access
to credit (MARGE, 2009a). Vertical and horizontal integration of fuelwood and
charcoal markets to overcome current problems associated with isolated markets
for these commodities should be promoted (UNDP, 2010).

In order to make the supply chain more sustainable, illegal trade should be
discouraged. Licensing of charcoal production and trade is required to encourage
its commercial production in a sustainable manner (UNDP, 2010). Incentives could
be provided to compensate for the price difference between illegal charcoal.

The transport of charcoal should be allowed in just the same way as any other
commodity may be transported without problem. A simple permit system should
be set up to guide transporters to zones with sustainable charcoal production. To
assist professional charcoal producers to obtain better prices, charcoal depots
could be instrumental. The depots would be staffed by people from the charcoal
producer associations (or an alternative institutional solution). If organised in this
fashion, the transportation system would operate in a more efficient way according
to prevailing market dynamics (MARGE Malawi, 2009).

Packaging and labelling of sustainable charcoal shall allow differentiating it from

illegal charcoal production (Mutimba, 2007). In addition eco-labelling could be
promoted in order to improve the recognisability of sustainable charcoal for
consumers that can afford a price premium.

4.4 Reduction of charcoal end-use

In this section two different kinds of interventions aimed at reducing the demand
for charcoal are discussed. The first type of intervention, banning charcoal, has
been tried by several African countries but in all cases proved to be counter-

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productive. By lack of alternative fuel, low urban income households will continue
using huge amounts of charcoal, whether its production, trade or consumption has
been declared illegal by the government or not. The only relevant impact of
banning charcoal is an abrupt price hike.

The second type of intervention, the introduction of improved stoves, has also
often failed to achieve the intended result of dramatically reducing household
charcoal consumption. For a wide range of varying reasons (including political,
social and economic obstacles), few of the improved stove programmes initially
implemented across Africa achieved their objectives. Improved stove programs
have failed in areas were fuel is not purchased or fuel is easy to collect. The high
purchase price of an improved stove can also be a formidable barrier to its
adoption. Although in the long run improved fuel stoves save money, the initial
cash outlay required may prevent poorer people from affording the stove. After a
difficult start-up period, the improved Kenya Ceramic Jiko stove -which has been
around since 1982- is now considered an exception to the rule that deserves
multiplication.

4.4.1 Ban on charcoal use

Sudden interventions are certainly not working. This can be illustrated by several
examples where governments decided to ban charcoal. Banning charcoal is
counter-productive, as it leads to price hikes:
• Although energy policy in e.g. Ethiopia and Kenya favour the development and
promotion of improved charcoal cookstoves and sustainable farm forestry for
fuelwood, charcoal-making actually remains illegal in these countries. The ban
does not stop charcoal production or trade, but, instead, has served to drive the
industry further into the informal sector, escaping public regulation and revenue
collection, fuelling illegal payouts to officials along transit routes, damaging the
wholesale and retail business of those unable to secure charcoal supplies, and
most importantly, causing an inflationary spike in the price of charcoal
nationwide (UNDP, 2010).
• Tanzania introduced a ban on charcoal in 2006. The ban had little impact on
charcoal production. Producers continued to manufacture their product. The
ban’s only impact was to deprive the government of revenue for licensing
production while brisk trade carried on illegally. Prices for charcoal went up –
and stayed up – as did corruption of officials. The ban lasted only 2 weeks (WB,
2009)
• In Chad, the Government banned charcoal in the capital N’djamena in January
2009. It created “explosive” conditions as families desperately sought the
means to cook. With the government blocking all entry of charcoal into the city,
and reportedly confiscating any found in the city, charcoal became nearly
impossible to come by. And when found, a bag that used to cost about 6,000
CFA francs (US$ 12) was sold, clandestinely, at about four times that (Nelson,
2009).

Although energy policy in e.g. Ethiopia and Kenya favour the development and
promotion of improved charcoal cookstoves and sustainable farm forestry for
fuelwood, producing charcoal actually remains illegal in these countries. The ban
does not stop charcoal production or trade, but, instead, has served to drive the
industry further into the informal sector, escaping public regulation and revenue
collection, fuelling illegal payouts to officials along transit routes, damaging the
wholesale and retail business of those unable to secure charcoal supplies, and

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most importantly, causing an inflationary spike in the price of charcoal nationwide

(UNDP 2010).

4.4.2 Improved charcoal stoves

Although the benefits of improved charcoal stoves are obvious, their adoption
rates vary a lot across Africa and to date they have not been as successful as one
would expect. One reason is that the price of an improved stove is about 2-10
times the price of a traditional one. Since charcoal is usually rather cheap, the
payback rate due to charcoal savings is at least 1-3 months (for a stove with a
lifetime of approx. 1 year). The influence of the charcoal price may be illustrated
by the case of Rwanda. Like in other African cities households in Kigali rely on
charcoal. The charcoal price is higher compared to other countries, which is an
incentive for the use of charcoal saving stoves. In 1990 ESMAP has trained
artisans to produce an improved charcoal stove and in 1991 it was estimated that
between 20.000 and 30.000 stoves had been sold. A recent survey showed that
about 40 % of the households in Kigali are using an improved charcoal stove,
which uses 33% less charcoal than traditional stoves. It was calculated the
payback period is only two weeks and thus much shorter than in other countries.
Charcoal savings amounted to about 113 US$ per year for an average family.
(Seidel, April 2008)

The experience of promoting improved charcoal stoves in Tanzania is a case in

point of the cumbersome process to induce innovations through a top-down
project approach. In Tanzania, the improved stoves were introduced almost two
decades ago but still diffusion has reached a mere 4%. The route chosen was to
train artisans operating in the informal sector. The bottlenecks identified for
further market uptake are related to volumes and quality of production. The
artisans were incapable and uninterested to invest in modern production methods
allowing for quality control and upscaling. Hence from a job creation perspective
the project was fairly successful but from the consumer’s point of view to access
fairly cheap stoves of high quality, the experience tells us that the model for
diffusion is critical to reach a sustainable market (WB 2009).

One of the most successful stove projects in Africa is the development of the
improved Kenya Ceramic Jiko (KCJ; also known as Jambar) charcoal stove. See
section 4.4.3 for more information. The KJC is not the only improved charcoal
stove on the market. In the late 1980s/early 1990s the all-metal Rondereza was
field-tested in Rwanda. The Rondereza was introduced with some success but due
to the civil war the stove dissemination initiative collapsed. However, in 2007 a
similar stove appeared available in Kigali (Visser, 2010). The GTZ ProBEC project
recently tested an all-metal charcoal stove from Lusaka that looks like a promising
option as it is cheap to produce and achieves 15-20% energy savings over the KCJ
through a design that pre-heats incoming air (MARGE Malawi, 2009) and (Van
Beukering, 2010) observe that the highest need is not for new stove designs but
for successful business models.

4.4.3 Example: Kenya Ceramic Jiko improved stove

One of the most successful stove projects in Africa is the development of the
improved Kenya Ceramic Jiko (KCJ; also known as Jambar) charcoal stove. It is
made of metal cladding with a wide base and a ceramic liner (safer to use - cooler
on the outside) and can reduce charcoal consumption by some 30%. It is used in
almost all urban households in Kenya (as well as in 16% of rural homes). In Kenya

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alone, some 2.6 million stoves are in use (cumulative production now over 15
million), where KCJ production is now a fully self-sustaining business using locally
produced materials and skills, generating jobs and new enterprises (Source:
AFREPREN/FWD, undated).

Figure 10: (a) Toyola (KCJ-type stove) in Ghana (b) KCJ stoves at the market

The KCJ has been disseminated across Africa, initially supported by CARE and later
by many other (local) organisations. The stove is quite popular and users think it
looks nice (Visser, 2010). KCJ-type improved stoves are widely used in Uganda,
Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Sudan, Ethiopia, Malawi, Zambia, Burkina Faso,
Ghana, Mali, Niger and Madagascar. The improved stove is known under different
local names (e.g. Sewa in Mali).

The success story of the KCJ in Kenya can be attributed to the long-term
commitment by both the private and public sector in its development, and
specialised focus on the KCJ and sustained support from local champions. In
addition, through the piggy back principle, the KCJ developed around the existing
artisanal industry which reduced the costs of setting up a whole new network. This
initiative has led to increased income generation to all the parties involved in its
production (GTZ, 2007).

4.4.4 Use of carbon credits to promote improved stoves

A recent development to make improved stoves with a relatively high purchase
price more affordable to low-income African households is the use of carbon
credits. In the Basa Magogo project in South Africa, the Fair Climate Fund applies
income from voluntary emission reductions to help finance the purchase of
energy-efficient household coal stoves10. In Lusaka, Zambia, the German power
utility RWE has launched a Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project to
promote climate protection by way of highly efficient biomass stoves. The RWE
project aims at the full replacement of the charcoal consumption of 30,000

10 http://www.fairclimatefund.nl/

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households by introducing highly efficient “Save80 cooking systems”. In the first

stage of the project, 1500 urban households will be using the stove (RWE, 2009).

No examples of improved charcoal stove projects financed from carbon credits

could be identified.

4.4.5 Recommendations
Outright banning of charcoal production or trade is not recommended. The ban
does not stop charcoal production or trade, but, instead, has served to drive the
industry further into the informal sector, escaping public regulation and revenue
collection, fuelling illegal payouts to officials along transit routes, damaging the
wholesale and retail business of those unable to secure charcoal supplies, and
most importantly, causing an inflationary spike in the price of charcoal nationwide
(UNDP 2010).

Regarding improved charcoal stoves, depending on their current uptake, one or

more of the following support activities may be considered:
• In less saturated markets, active and aggressive promotion of fuel-efficient
charcoal stoves11
• Introducing entirely new charcoal stoves if they have the potential to result in
further efficiency improvements (MARGE Malawi, 2009).
• Creating an enabling environment for stove producers (GTZ, 2007)
• Capacity building among informal artisans and importers (a) to make available
quality improved stoves and (b) to develop commercially attractive business
models (including carbon financing) (Van Beukering, 2010)
• Energy conservation among large non-domestic charcoal users (MARGE,
Rwanda, 2009)
• Develop a mechanism based on energy efficiency labelling to promote the use
of improved charcoal stoves (MARGE, Rwanda, 2009)
• Launch a long-term awareness and popularisation campaign to convince
households, institutions and firms to adopt improved stoves.

Ideally, the focus of the activities should not be a particular model of stove -as is
often the case now- but on all equipment able to carry out the desired task and
meeting defined energy efficiency standards. Stove manufacturers need to be
convinced to produce more energy-efficient models for which, as result of
associated promotional activities, market growth can be expected. What is needed
is not another improved stoves programme, but a mechanism to promote the use
of higher efficiency equipment similar to that used in the USA and Europe for
consumer appliances and cars (MARGE, 2009a) (Van Beukering, 2010). Carbon
credits could be part of the solution.

4.5 Policy interventions

4.5.1 Introduction
Over and above the measures discussed above, policy measures are needed that
aim at making charcoal production and use more environmentally sustainable
while avoiding to push the price of the product to a level that is prohibitive for
poorer consumers. Since the environmental and social impacts of charcoal
production, trade and consumption are extensive and intertwined an integrated
view is essential in policy making, looking beyond a single intervention along the

11 e.g. the ubiquitous improved ceramic-lined metal stove, known as the Kenya Ceramic Jiko

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value chain (Sepp, 2008). Isolated interventions (reforestation, sustainable forest

management, dissemination of improved stoves) fail to exploit adequately possible
synergies that would, if combined, make them sustainable (GTZ, 2010).

Governments need to improve the framework in which the charcoal sector

operates. To operate efficiently and effectively, at the national level a single
department or ministry shall be assigned responsibility for the entire charcoal
value chain (production, distribution and marketing) and held accountable for all
the issues affecting the industry. Institutional capacity needs to be developed at
different levels within Government organisations (State, district, community) to
effectively regulate the sector, to enforce regulations, and to monitor and control
charcoal flows.

In many countries (e.g. Angola, Senegal, Madagascar) the supply and demand
side of energy is handled by different ministries. While the Ministries in charge of
forestry set framework conditions for a sustainable management of a country’s
forests (and among other things license charcoal manufacture and trade), they do
not deal with aspects of demand and end-use. However, as sustainable harvesting
is inseparably linked with demand for biomass as fuel, a combined view covering
both “upstream” and “downstream” in an integrated way is essential.

In short, charcoal production is denied the comprehensive treatment it deserves in

both the forestry and energy sectors (let alone other policy areas including
environment, health, rural development, poverty alleviation etc.). Clear,
integrated policies are needed to enable the development of urgently required,
coordinated approaches to sustainable charcoal production. National energy, forest
and environment policies should be harmonised to foster inter-institutional
collaboration, the transfer of technology and capacity building. In addition, a
coherent wood energy policy coordinated by a central institution could be
developed. In Ghana´s “Strategic National Energy Plan (2006-2020)” the decade-
long disregard for wood-based fuels is openly recognised, and recommendations
are made to institutionalise the wood energy sector as a sub-sector in its own
right. It is proposed to establish a National Woodfuel Office as a coordinating
body, so as to improve management efficiency, promote charcoal-industries, and
ensure a sustainable wood supply (Energy Commission Ghana, 2006).

4.5.2 Example: fiscal incentives for sustainable charcoal production in Niger

The first African country to attempt to use fiscal incentives as a tool to regulate
charcoal production was Niger12, where in 1989 the government created “rural
markets,” or well-marked locations where firewood had been sold by villages from
locally managed wood resources. Harvesting regimes were based on long-term
sustainable harvesting plans. The two key elements for success were:
• Villages operating a rural market were allowed to levy a tax, which remained
largely in the village. This was additional, fixed revenue for the village and
belonging to the whole population, rather than just those involved in the wood
fuel business; and
• The tax level depended on a number of variables: (a) how far the market is
from the capital Niamey, with higher tax levels the closer the market is; (b)
whether it is sustainably produced wood near the rural market (lower taxes);
(c) if it is from a zone with excess wood where wood harvesting is allowed; or
(d) if the wood illegally cut (highest tax level).

12 Similar systems were introduced somewhat later in Chad and Mali

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In this way, transporters had an incentive to visit rural wood markets rather than
open access areas. At the same time, villages had an incentive to obtain approval
for operating a rural wood market, for which several conditions existed: (i)
delineation of village borders; (ii) drawing a map of wood resources, including
dead wood; (iii) developing simple wood fuel harvesting management plans; and
(iv) establishment of a management committee. Once all conditions were fully
satisfied, villages were allowed to sell wood and levy the tax. Coupons were used
as a mechanism to indicate the origin of the wood and the quantity transported.
Around Niamey, a control system was set up verifying whether wood transporters
had already paid their taxes. If not, they were assumed to have obtained wood
from a non-managed zone and paid tax accordingly. Even though the tax payment
compliance mechanism no longer exists in Niger, the rural markets still function,
and a tax is still levied, but now directly by the village. (Van der Plas, 2008)
(Chomitz and Griffiths, 1997).

4.5.3 Recommendations

Policy and regulatory framework

The following recommendations are made regarding the policy and regulatory
framework:
• Ensure that national energy policies include charcoal as part of the future
energy mix
• Develop wood energy strategies analysing the different options on how to reach
national energy goals. Biomass energy strategies propose the appropriate
intervention lines and set out concrete actions by which the goals will be
achieved
• Create the right climate ands a more enabling framework for profitable and
sustainable charcoal production and use through enacting sound policies and
legislation.
• Put in place a suitable regulatory framework and practical standards: (i) outline
standards and guidelines for the production of sustainable charcoal, (ii) develop
simple licensing procedures and (c) recognise charcoal associations
• Create incentives for sustainable charcoal sector management by allowing
districts to retain a portion of licenses and fines collected from licensing charcoal
• Support districts to retain and reinvest charcoal revenues in revenue collection
and sustainable forest management

Fiscal and pricing framework

The following recommendations are made regarding the fiscal and pricing
framework:
• Introduce a simple charcoal taxation system based on the principle that
sustainably produced charcoal is taxed at a lower rate and all other (i.e. non-
sustainably produced) charcoal is taxed at a higher rate. Such a tax replaces all
individual and semi-legal tax systems and provide funds to all involved,
including the charcoal depots, district and village administrations. The taxation
system would have the following characteristics: (a) decentralized but under
national guidelines; (b) unique control and tax collection systems at transport
level; (c) with a level around 10% of the product retail prices.
• Build fixed trading sites (charcoal depots) for the transport and trade of
charcoal. Identify suitable sites for trading around the large cities and support
the construction of charcoal depots

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• Establish a comprehensive efficient system to collect taxes and verify

compliance.
• Set up a tough charcoal monitoring and control body that oversees charcoal
flows and collects data at the regional level. Increase the number and
effectiveness of fixed checkpoints. Train and supervise the staff of the
monitoring body and the checkpoints.
• Set-up a sustainable charcoal or forest fund or levy. This fund would be
generated from taxation of charcoal and fines on illegal producers. Such a fund
could operate like the Road Levy Fund or the Rural Electrification Fund (both
examples from Kenya). Any money collected should be re-invested into the
creation of a more sustainable charcoal industry. Such investments include
setting up tree nurseries and efficient community kilns at the community and
district level

4.6 Conclusions
Interventions from governments, development agencies and civil society
organisations need not only address individual elements of the value chain
(production and harvesting of fuelwood, production of lump charcoal and direct
fuel substitutes, modernisation and professionalisation of the charcoal trade, and
charcoal end-use). Modernisation of the charcoal sector is needed across the
entire value-chain. Isolated interventions (reforestation, sustainable forest
management, dissemination of improved stoves, etc.) fail to exploit adequately
possible synergies that would, if combined, make them sustainable. Many of the
least successful interventions have been those that addressed a single issue or
constraint, without considering wider structural challenges.

In addition to supply-side and demand-side measures, such as the establishment

of wood plantations, the promotion and development of energy-efficient
conversion and end-use technologies, and the introduction of substitute (biomass
and fossil) fuels, a charcoal sector policy13 would need to include:

• The regulatory, fiscal and pricing framework

• Initiatives aimed at the professionalisation of the entire charcoal value chain
• Institutional capacity of Government organisations to regulate charcoal
production, to enforce regulations, and to monitor and control charcoal flows

The broader regulatory and tax framework around which the charcoal sector
operates shall be a central element of charcoal policy. Unless the market cost of
charcoal reflects its true value - which includes raw materials, labour, transport,
and all taxes and licenses - any efforts to develop sustainably produced charcoal
will always be undercut by illegal charcoal, which bypasses many of these key
costs. Achieving greater compliance of the informal illegal sector will necessarily
result in an increase in prices to consumers, but this will in turn stimulate
investments by both consumers and producers that are designed to achieve
greater efficiency savings.

Formalising and regulating an important sector like charcoal requires strong levels
of political support and willingness to challenge powerful and vested interests,
often with strong links to the political establishment. It is perhaps for this reason
that the overall success of interventions in the charcoal sector have met with

13 Typically as part of a larger woodfuel sector, or bio-energy, strategy

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mixed success. But those countries that have taken these bold steps appear to
have made the greatest progress.

(GTZ, 2010) summarizes activities in each step of the value chain (Figure 11) that
for improved leverage need to be implemented and synthesised.

Figure 11 Interventions are needed across the entire value-chain (GTZ, 2010)

Step 1: Wood-fuel production

• Devolution of secure, long-term tenure to rural communities (e.g. Niger, Mali,
Chad, Senegal, Madagascar)
• Promotion of private plantations on marginal sites (e.g. Madagascar, Rwanda)
• Energy contracting by small and medium-sized commercial consumers to
private farmers (Brazil, Nicaragua)

Step 2: Harvesting
• User-group organisation
• Optimisation of logging technology
• Streamlining of logging and transport
• Harmonising harvesting with consumption patterns

Step 3: Conversion
• Dissemination of improved technologies (e.g. kilns)
• Further research and development (efficiency, environmentally-sound
processes)
• Introduction of alternative wood energy products (e.g. wood-chips, briquettes,
or pellets)

Step 4: Marketing
• Establishment of formalized local energy markets
• Introduction & enforcement of a proof of origin for sustainably produced
charcoal
• Standardisation and improved product quality
• More equitable benefit sharing

Step 5: Consumption
• Dissemination of improved stoves
• Research & development for cleaner and safer combustion
• Streamlining wood-fuel products with consumption technologies
• Kitchen management

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5 Recommendations for NL Agency involvement

NL Agency’s ‘Netherlands Programs Sustainable Biomass’ are exploring in which

areas it could support making charcoal production in Sub Sahara Africa more
sustainable. It has indicated that it considers setting-up one or more pilot projects
in the focus countries Mozambique, Mali and/or Tanzania. If relevant, more in-
depth studies into specific charcoal issues could be an integral part of such pilot
projects.

In principle, the pilot projects could cover any part of the charcoal value chain
including the regulatory framework. Examples include:

1 Setting up of sustainable woodfuel plantations

2 Training in the use of energy efficient carbonisation kilns
3 Promotion of energy efficient charcoal stoves
4 Development of direct substitute fuels
5 Regulation, modernisation, taxation and professionalisation of the charcoal
sector

NL Agency has indicated that it considers the development of direct substitute

fuels (option 4) of particular relevance. This concerns the production of charcoal
form alternative feedstocks, including (i) newly introduced and/or previously
unused tree species, like bamboo or indigenous shrubs, (ii) agro-residues such as
cotton stalks, risk husks, coconut shells, peanut shells, sawdust, and the residues
of the coffee, tea and floriculture industries, (iii) invasive aquatic weeds, such as
typha, papyrus and water hyacinth, or (iv) charcoal dust and fines.

Pilot projects in this area are typically small-scale and can generate a modest
income for those involved. Their economic viability strongly depends on the prices
for woodfuels. The best chances of success are found in areas with severe
woodfuel shortage and higher charcoal prices.

The pilot projects supported by NL Agency can be implemented by, or in

cooperation with, local civil society organizations. To get an understanding of what
can be achieved in this area a good reference is (Practical Action Consulting,
2009) which contains brief description and preliminary lessons learnt on livelihood
impacts from 2 charcoal pilot projects, both implemented in Senegal. The first pilot
concerns a project targeted at charcoal dust collection and household fuel
production in Saint Louis city. The second pilot concerns the transformation of pest
invasive species (Typha Australis) into marketable charcoal in Saint Louis region.

It is recommended that when developing these pilot projects the relevant lessons
learnt as summarised in chapter 4 of this report are taken into consideration.
Furthermore, it is recommended that NL Agency actively promote information
exchange between pilot projects. This information exchange should not be limited
to the pilot projects that NL Agency intends supporting, but should also cover pilot
projects and commercial initiatives with similar scope initiated by entrepreneurs
and sponsored by other donor organisations in the three focus countries or
elsewhere in Africa.

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A study into the market potential for substitute charcoal fuels and the experience
gained (in project and market initiatives) producing substitute charcoal fuel could
also be part of the pilot project. Thus, to summarise, the pilot project could cover
substitute charcoal production and promotion in the host country, combined with
international market potential assessment and information exchange covering
various relevant African countries.

Additionally, NL Agency could also support a pilot project aimed at developing and
implementing new business models for the promotion, production and adoption of
energy-efficient charcoal stoves (option 3). Such pilot could be of particular
interest if carbon financing (the Kyoto-type Clean Development Mechanism or
voluntary emission schemes) would be used to bring down the costs per charcoal
stove.

Some further ideas for studies that can be carried out standalone or as part of a
larger pilot project include:
• Assess existing involvement of development organisations and civil society
organisations. This study aims to identify what activities are already being
carried out by development organisations and CVO’s to help making the
charcoal sector more sustainable. It makes sense to limit the geographical
scope of this assessment to NL Agency’s focus countries (Mali, Mozambique,
and Tanzania).
• What factors help determining the charcoal yield? This report has shown that in
terms of charcoal yield improved kilns not always outperform traditional kilns
(see also Kammen and Lew, 2005). There are various other factors than the
technology used that help determine the charcoal yield achieved by a charcoal
producer. This study will investigate what these factors are and how these can
be “controlled”, so that “high” yields can be achieved consistently with
traditional kilns.
• Environmental assessment of carbonisation kilns: Make an assessment of
available traditional and improved charcoal production kilns in terms of their
environmental impacts (emissions to air, soil and water), with the aim to
identify the cheapest carbonization technologies that limit the emissions of
gaseous and liquid smoke.

Finally, NL Agency could bring together different stakeholders in the charcoal

value chain. This can include stakeholders of different background from the same
country, or stakeholders form “similar” background from different countries.
Examples include:
• An Expert Meeting could be held in the Netherlands, to validate and/or help set
priorities in NL Agency’s programming priorities in the field of sustainable
charcoal.
• A sustainable charcoal conference could be organized in Africa (building on the
IMBAR conference held in Maputo, Mozambique in June 2008). Ideally this
would be done in close collaboration with other development agencies or
existing charcoal support projects.

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Literature and other data sources

Personal communication (telephone interview or email correspondence) in the

frame of this assignment in the period October- November 2010:

• Mario Falcon, 2010

• Mário Batsana, 2010
• Nilza Hassane Puná, 2010
• Estomih Sawe, 2010
• Koen Peters, 2010
• Peter van Beukering, 2010
• Patrick S. Kambewa, 2010
• Kwabena Nketiah, 2010
• Seboka, Ethiopia, 2010
• Hubert Stassen, 2010
• Piet Visser, 2010
• Ahmed Shehata, 2010
• Rainer Janssen, 2010

CASCADe Africa (Carbon Finance for Agriculture, Silvicultural Conservation and

Action against Desertification) website, www.cascade-africa.org, accessed
November 2010

FAO (2010), Criteria and indicators for sustainable woodfuels. FAO Forestry Paper
160. Rome, Italy

GTZ (2010), Wood Energy: Renewable, Profitable and Modern. A collection of

talking points for lobbyists. Eschbron, Germany.

PISCES (2010), Bioenergy and Poverty in Kenya: Attitude, Actors and Activities.
Working Paper Prepared for PISCES by Practical Action Consulting in Eastern
Africa, May 2010

Rogério C. de Miranda, Steve Sepp, Eliane Ceccon, Stefan Mann, and Bipulendu
Singh (2010), Sustainable Production of Commercial Woodfuel: Lessons and
Guidance from Two Strategies, ESMAP/WB, Washington DC, USA

RWE (2010), CDM Sustainable Energy Project – Lusaka, Zambia, Fact sheet.

Seboka Y (2010), Charcoal production: opportunities and barriers for improving

efficiency and sustainability, in: UNDP (2010), Harnessing Carbon Finance to
Promote Sustainable Forestry, Agro-Forestry and Bio-Energy CDM Capacity
Development in Eastern and Southern Africa.

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Political Economy of Tanzania’s Charcoal Sector and the Poverty and Social
Impacts of Proposed Reforms. Washington, DC.

MARGE (2009), Biomass Energy Strategy (BEST) Rwanda. Volume 4 – Proposed

Strategy

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MARGE (2009a) Malawi Biomass Energy Strategy

Nelson T. (2009), Chad: Panic, outcry at government charcoal ban

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lessons on livelihood impacts from case studies in Asia, Latin America and Africa.
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development. MakaaZingia Kenya. East Africa’s first truly sustainable FSC certified
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Opportunity? Transforming the Charcoal Sector in Tanzania. Environmental and
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DomacJ. and Trossero M. (2008), Environmental Aspects of Charcoal Production in

Croatia. Report for the FAO project TCP/CRO/3101 (A) Development of a
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Gazull L. (2008), Energy conversion in Bamako (Mali): the request of flexibility.

CIRAD, Montpellier, France.

Plas, R.J. van der (2008), Charcoal and Taxation in Africa. Draft Discussion Paper

Puná N.H. (2008), Charcoal supply chain study in Mozambique, in: Kwaschik R,
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16-18 June 2008, Maputo, Mozambique

Seidel, A. (2008). Charcoal in Africa, importance, problems and possible solutions.

Eschborn, GTZ, Household Energy Programme.

Sepp S (2008), Shaping charcoal policies: context, process and instruments as

exemplified by country cases. Eco Consulting Group for GTZ

Sepp, S. (2008a). Promotion of Sustainable Charcoal Production through

Community Level Approaches – Experiences and Lessons Learned from Selected
Sub-Saharan African
Countries. Discussion paper, Eco Consulting Group, Oberaula, Germany

Sepp, S. (2008b). The Way Ahead—Creating a Formal and Sustainable Charcoal

Sector. Discussion paper. ECO-Consult, Eco Consulting Group, Oberaula, Germany

Trifellner K / Climate Interchange AG (2008), PowerPoint presentation on the CDM

Lusaka Sustainable Energy Project and CDM Cook Stove Project Kupang. Cologne,
Germany, 9 May 2008

M Vis, D van den Berg and J Vos (2008), Sustainability Criteria & Certification
Systems for Biomass Production. Final report for DG-TREN. BTG, Enschede

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Wiskerke, W. (2008). Towards a sustainable biomass energy supply for rural

livelihoods in semi-arid areas. Shinyaya, Utrecht, University of Utrecht.

Beukering, P. v., G. Kahyarara, et al. (2007). Optimization of the charcoal chain in

Tanzania. Amsterdam, Institute for Environmental Studies

Government of Malawi (2007?). National Biomass Energy Strategy of Malawi.

Charcoal: the options. Recommendations Based on a Study of Consumption, Trade
and Production in Malawi. Internal Document. Department of Forestry,

GTZ (2007), Successful energy policy interventions in Africa

Malimbwi, R. E., E. Zahabu, and B. Mchome (2007). Situation Analysis of Dar es

Salaam
Charcoal Sector. Consultancy report submitted to the World Wildlife Federation.
Tanzania Program Office, Dar es Salaam.

Mutimba S.N. (2007), Sustainable charcoal and wood energy production in Africa:
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international workshop, held on 22 June 2007 in Mauritius

Kambewa, P. S., Mataya, B. F., Sichinga, W. K. & Johnson, T. R. (2007). Charcoal:

The Reality, A study of charcoal consumption, trade and production Malawi. IIED
Small and Medium Forest Enterprise Series No. 21, London, UK

Ribot J.C. (2007?), World Resources Institute, PowerPoint presentation on Policy &
Profit along Senegal’s Charcoal Commodity Chain. Authority over Access: Breaking
the New Link in Senegal’s Charcoal Commodity Chain.

Mugo F. and Ong C. (2006). Lessons from eastern Africa’s unsustainable charcoal
trade. I

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Accra

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Antananarivo, Madagascar: Projet GreenMad., GTZ-Madagascar

Kammen D.M. and Lew D.J. (2005), Review of Technologies for the Production and
Use of Charcoal. Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory Report. University
of California, Berkeley, USA,

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sustainable charcoal industry in East Africa

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UK

Kakuzi (2003). Economics of charcoal production using the Kakuzi charcoal kilns.
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Ibrahim, A.M. (2003), A brief history of forest service of the Sudan. National
Forest Corporation, Khartoum, Sudan

CHAPOSA (2002). Charcoal Potential in Southern Africa, Final Report. Stockholm

Environment Institute (SEI), Energy and Development Group. Stockholm, Sweden

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Mozambique. Final Report

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Management in the Sahel – The Case of Chad. Policy Research Working Paper
1788, World Bank, Washington, DC

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Annex: Increasing woodfuel supply from forests, plantations,

woodlots and trees outside forests

Across Sub Saharan Africa, the vast majority of charcoal comes from natural
forests. To date, plantations, woodlots, or trees outside forests (such as in agro-
forestry systems, along roads, and around fields) play only a negligible role in
supplying raw material for charcoal production. Increasing supply from these
forest sources can reduce pressure on natural forests.

Management of Natural Forests and Woodlands: Across Sub Saharan Africa,

the past two decades have witnessed a growing movement to empower rural
communities with rights and responsibilities with which to manage forest
resources. Participatory or community forestry has taken root across many
countries on the continent and uses a range of different models, including
community-based forest management (CFM) and joint forest management (JFM).
One of the key lessons learnt is that security of tenure is a key factor that
determines whether participatory forest management (PFM) succeeds or fails -
both from a forest management perspective, and from the perspective of securing
and maintaining participation over the long term.

Tree Plantations and Woodlots: Considering natural forests will not be able to
meet growing demands for charcoal in a sustainable manner, PFM approaches in
natural forests need to be reinforced through developing complementary tree
plantations. Planted forests can play a very positive role in: (a) provision of
renewable and environmentally friendly energy resource, (b) provision of
ecosystem services (e.g. erosion control, carbon storage, etc.); (c) reduction of
pressure on natural forests; (d) restoration of marginal or degraded land; and (e)
provision of rural employment and development.

Two main principles must be followed to fully capture the potential of plantations
for sustainable charcoal production: (i) No natural forest area should be converted
into plantations, and (ii) Plantations have to provide direct pecuniary benefits to
rural households in order to divert pressures from natural forests. Preferably,
plantations should be established on degraded lands. Furthermore, rural people
should not be forced to engage in plantation establishment.

Development of plantations and woodlots at the community level can also be

promoted through outgrower schemes. A possible business model would see a
private entity investing in modern, industry type carbonization technology, but
sourcing its raw material through contractual relationships with smallholders. Such
a setup would provide adequate benefit-sharing incentives to rural households that
are necessary to motivate households to engage in tree planting instead of
alternative land uses.

(ESMAP, 2010) presents a set of guiding principles for sustainable community-

based production of commercial woodfuel, drawing on and reflecting lessons learnt
in various Sub Saharan African countries. These guiding principles conceptualize
the priority measures necessary for creating the minimal framework that will
support sustainable production of wood-based fuels (Box A.1).

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Box A.1: Guiding principles for sustainable production of commercial woodfuel (ESMAP, 2010)
1. High-level, cross-sectoral recognition of woodfuel as a renewable,
environmentally friendly and socio-economically sound source of energy,
playing a part in integrated energy supply policy frameworks.
2. Decentralization of forest governance and devolution of management authority,
so as to allow for local, evidence-based forest management planning, and
exercise of resource property rights by forest-dependent communities.
3. Formalisation of woodfuel value chains, including provisions for transparent and
closely monitored marketing and transport.
4. Establishment and harmonization of supportive regulatory frameworks,
including (i) simplified management regulation; (ii) transparent revenue
collection; (iii) differentiated taxation in favour of sustainably-sourced
woodfuel; and (iv) equitable revenue sharing for the benefit of rural
communities engaged in sustainable forest management.
5. Targeted strengthening of decentralized forest authorities, with a view to
building capacity for effective law enforcement and provision of public support
to stakeholders engaged in CBWP.
6. Harnessing the potential of civil society organisations for post-project follow-up
and replication of best practices.
7. Establishment of provisions for PES (Payment for Environmental Services), with
a view toward valorising intangible ecological and social benefits of sustainable
forest management.
8. Targeted measures to ease social hardships for end-users when woodfuel prices
increase (e.g. by promoting efficient conversion and combustion technologies).

Trees outside Forests: In the African context, the contribution of trees outside
forests (TOFs) to the energy supply still remains largely underestimated. Statistics
on woodfuel supply do not adequately capture this resource, and existing policies
concerning rural development still neglect TOFs as one of the most important
wood fuel supply resources. Trees outside forests include all trees found on non-
forest and non-wooded lands, i.e. trees on agricultural lands, in urban and
settlement areas, along roads, in home gardens, in hedgerows, scattered in the
landscape, and on pasture and rangelands. Although TOFs fulfil a multipurpose
function and are part of an integrated land-use system, wood fuel can be a main
product. According to the FAO, over two-thirds of the energy demand in the Asia-
Pacific region is supplied by woodfuels from non-forest sources.

TOFs for charcoal can occur in various places and ways: in home gardens or as
replacement or enhancement of natural fallow vegetation. To control soil and
water erosion, trees and shrubs can be planted along the contour lines on slopes
or on terraces. Living fences planted as tree lines on farm boundaries or on
pasture plots, animal enclosures, or around agricultural fields, can also contribute
to the energy supply of local households.

The major constraint to wider dissemination of agro-forestry approaches often

arises from complex land tenure systems in Africa.

Source: (WB, 2009).

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