By Martin Mbewe
Every day, we rely on energy to do different essential activities, such as cycling, powering cars and boats, cooking our meals, lighting our homes, and manufacturing goods.
This undeniable fact underscores the crucial role of energy as a fundamental human necessity connected to our daily lives.
In Malawi, people use various energy sources for cooking, including firewood, charcoal, dung, agricultural residues, and hydroelectricity.
According to a report by the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), for the poor populations of developing nations like Malawi, whether in urban or rural areas, wood remains the predominant source of energy for cooking and providing warmth.
Shockingly, an estimated 10 million hectares of forest are cut down per year, globally. The statistics from the National Statistical Office (NSO) reveal that only 75,267 households in Malawi, translating to 1.2 percent, use electricity for cooking, leaving about 3,924,771 households reliant on wood or charcoal for their cooking needs.
In an era of change and population growth, this dependence has led to an increase in demand for wood resources.
Globally, this has resulted in the destruction of forests and worsening the situation for the hundreds of millions of people whose lives are conditioned by the products of the forest.
In Malawi, the demand for charcoal and firewood is the driving force behind deforestation and forest degradation. This dangerous trend is undermining agricultural productivity, food security, water security, and hydroelectric generating capacity, rendering the nation more vulnerable to the effects of climate-related shocks.
The most recent rainy season witnessed the devastating impact of Cyclone Freddy, which, as reported by Action Aid Malawi in March this year, displaced over 500,000 people, claimed the lives of more than 500 individuals, and left 500 others reported missing.
The cyclone also extended to other parts of the continent, affecting countries like Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Madagascar. Such calamities cause havoc on a nation’s development, causing infrastructural damage to roads, bridges, buildings, and power lines.
Furthermore, these calamities also result in the loss of human life and skilled labor, while also destroying crops and livestock, leading to food insecurity and substantial economic losses.
It is paramount that we transition from wood and charcoal for household cooking in favor of cleaner alternatives such as electricity, Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), charcoal briquettes, and biogas. This shift is important for the reduction of deforestation and also for safeguarding our environment. In the long run, we will reduce disasters that occur due to the effects of climate change.
Enforcing laws and regulations to control illegal charcoal production in the country is a very important step. In 2017, the government, through the Ministry of Natural Resources, Energy, and Mining, introduced the National Charcoal Strategy (NCS) aimed at reducing deforestation, forest degradation, and dependence on solid biomass fuels by 2027.
In 2020, this initiative was reinforced by implementing more robust penalties for forest-related crimes and introducing regulations governing legal charcoal production, transportation, and sales. While these efforts are commendable, a more praiseworthy job would be to enhance our energy sector, making clean alternative energy sources accessible to the masses.
Currently, according to the Centre for Environmental Policy and Advocacy (CEPA), wood and charcoal remain the only affordable energy options for many Malawians. Sustainable Development Goal Number 7 calls for “affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all by 2030.”
However, with the current landscape, achieving this goal is challenging without collective action at the community and national levels.
To address this issue, there is an urgent need to reduce electricity prices, with the government collaborating closely with organizations and companies that produce affordable and eco-friendly charcoal briquettes.
Additionally, awareness campaigns and communication efforts targeting those engaged in charcoal production are vital to promote behavior change and the adoption of alternative energy sources.
It is also imperative that we engage in meaningful dialogue on how to address the challenges arising from climate change.
One of the platforms where such dialogue took place is at the just concluded maiden Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi, Kenya, where African countries met to chart out continental goals for tackling climate change, present their individual contributions to these goals, and put forward a framework to report on their progress thus enhancing accountability across the continent.
The writer is the Development Communication specialist, based in Lilongwe, Malawi
