Environment at risk as Pader takes to charcoal trade

Oct 11, 2010

Residents of Pader district have turned to charcoal business to broaden their income base and fight household poverty. Margaret Adong of Atanga sub-county told New Vision that many women were involved in the business, increasing the risk of environmental degradation in the district.



Residents of Pader district have turned to charcoal business to broaden their income base and fight household poverty. Margaret Adong of Atanga sub-county told New Vision that many women were involved in the business, increasing the risk of environmental degradation in the district.

Adong said their only source of income, previously, was selling part of their agricultural produce such as millet, beans, groundnuts, maize and rice.

“We sell each bag of charcoal at between sh11,000 and sh12,000, depending on the demand,” she explained. Most of the residents said they use the proceeds from the charcoal trade to buy essential items such as salt, soap, paraffin and clothing, plus books for their school-going children.

Francis Kikoyo, the Atanga sub-county LC3 chaiman, said although the business had given the residents an alternative source of income, it was depleting trees in the district’s forests.

“People are just cutting down trees and not planting any to replace those they cut down to burn charcoal.”

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