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Is burning wood to make charcoal and using firewood to cook the leading contributing factors to deforestation in Uganda?

Some experts suggest otherwise.

Michael Ahimbisibwe is an energy officer from the renewable energy department at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development.

He weighed in on a policy dialogue Wednesday on the dangers of biomass use and adoption to renewable clean energy in Uganda.

He said many of the trees being cut down are by people on their private land, which he said is where the bigger portion of Uganda’s forests exist as compared to government land.

He said the people cutting trees decide to change their land use by turning them into farmlands, buildings or for rearing animals, and often invite mobile charcoal makers to burn them for charcoal.

This dialogue was organised by EfD-Mak centre as part of the Inclusive Green Economy (IGE) capacity building program for senior civil servants 2023 activities. It is funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) through EfD global hub at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

The dialogue was  held under the theme: ‘Biomass dependence and transition to cleaner energies’. During the dialogue six IGE fellows were introduced. They are drawn from the ministries of energy and mineral development, finance, planning and economic development and the National Planning Authority.

The theme of the IGE 2023 cohort is: ‘Biomass dependence’.  The cohorts will gain knowledge and application of environment and economic instruments, organizational change and promoting systems for IGE.  The reliance on biomass energy is a global challenge toward environmental protection and reversing climate change effects.

Ahimbisibwe said that even if charcoal and firewood use was to be stopped, the problem of deforestation would still go on without a holistic solution.

He feels that charcoal and firewood users are wrongly targeted, saying that many people using firewood use offcuts and rotten wood.

“There is a need to support or incentivize land owners to plant more trees and not cut them."

Maxwell Kabi, the coordinator of forestry resources utilization at the National Forestry Authority, said that 70% of forests are on private land, while 30% are on central forest reserves owned by the government.

He said that forestry is a big employer but the charcoal industry is highly informal and needs to be formalized.

Participants say there is need for research on the charcoal industry to better ways to grow certain trees for feedstock, investing more in tree planting, and using alternative sources of feedstock for charcoal making such as animal byproducts.

'Realities'

Eria Hissali, principal of the College of Business and Management Sciences at Makerere University, noted that many people were at different levels of understanding about the problem of biomass use.

“The starting point is to harmonise our understanding of the problem we are faced with. Then we can begin discussing issues of adoption," he said.

"What is mediating the behaviour leading to decisions on biomass use? Is it poverty driving the decision making? We need to get to the realities,” said Hissali.

A group photo of participants who attended the dialogue on the dangers of biomass use and adoption to renewable clean energy in Uganda at Makerere University on July 26, 2023. (Credit: John Odyek)

Prof. Ibrahim Mike Okumu, the Dean of the School of Economics, said excessive biomass use is a threat to livelihoods.

He said the decline of forests such Mabira and Bugoma is creating a threat to the ecosystem and livelihoods.

Peter Babyenda policy is the engagement coordinator at Makerere University's Environment for Development Initiative (EfD-Mak) Centre.

He said using biomass leads to air pollution due to emission of carbon emission and particles, thus causing ill-health.

Babyenda made a presentation on the dangers of biomass use and adoption to renewable clean energy in Uganda. He said that in Uganda, air pollution affects the health of 20 million people — nearly half of the country's population — and causes the deaths of 13,000 people, mainly children annually.

In relation to this, the opportunity cost of biomass use is high. Many people in rural areas walk long distances to collect firewood, which leads to loss of time for productive activities such as farming and leading to poverty.

Renewable energy

The Government's National Development Plan III (2021-2025) seeks to increase access to clean energy.

There is currently limited access to electricity, fear of using gas and electricity for cooking and low sensitisation on how to use gas.

Babyenda recommended that there should be development programmes that fit the need for renewable energy sources, enhance economic empowerment of local communities to access clean energy and strengthen enforcement and regulations against deforestation and tree cutting.

'Public investment'

Ronald Kaggwa, the manager of production, trade and tourism planning at the National Planning Authority, emphasized that the use of biomass was not a problem but that the sustainable use of it should be developed.

As an example, many industrialised countries are exporting and importing charcoal.

The world’s top exporters of charcoal are Indonesia that earns $310m yearly, China ($132m), Poland ($106m). While the top importers of charcoal are Japan ($104m), Germany ($95m), Saudi Arabia ($98m) and South Korea ($78.2m).

Kaggwa argued that the biomass industry can be turned into renewable energy and can be used for social transformation.

“We need public investment in the biomass industry beyond policies. Industries like sugar processing, brick making, and bakeries need biomass. They create jobs and contribute to household incomes."