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Tight rules for Tanzania charcoal trade to boost use of gas

Wednesday May 24 2017
charcoal

Packed charcoal ready for the market. FILE PHOTO | NMG

Tanzania plans to tighten the licensing of the charcoal trade from July to shift households towards the use of cleaner energy and conserve forests.

Tanzania Forest Services Agency (TFS) chief executive officer Dos Santos Silayo said the government would limit the volume of charcoal each trader can deal in to gradually make it unavailable on the market, and force households to use cooking gas. It hopes the move will also encourage investment in biomass briquettes.

“When we issue permits we will keep the quantity of charcoal one is entitled to trade in to the minimum. At the same time, we will intensify efforts to arrest those who, carry out charcoal business without licences,” said Prof Silayo.

The trade restriction is being seen as a market solution to phase out charcoal use, especially in urban centres, after the government balked at a complete ban.

Conditions

Charcoal licences usually state the volume of charcoal in total a trader should deal in. The supply can also be limited through transport licences, to specify the route, truck and volume that can be carried at any one time.

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Violators will face stiff penalties that may include revocation of licences, according to officials. At least 90 per cent of Tanzania’s energy needs are met through the use of wood fuel, with charcoal being the single largest source of household energy in urban areas, according to a report by the World Bank titled Environmental crisis or sustainable development opportunity? Transforming the charcoal sector in Tanzania.

It is estimated that half of the country’s annual consumption of charcoal takes place in Dar es Salaam city, where proportion of households using charcoal is more than 70 per cent.  

Recent trends have shown that a good number of Dar es Salaam households and small restaurants are increasingly shifting to liquefied petroleum gas for cooking, with some consumers considering it cheaper than charcoal.

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