Charcoal

The last  time I went to Kenya was in 2012.  All along the highways I saw young men selling large sacks of charcoal.  I heard that the making and selling of charcoal is illegal in Kenya but this law is obviously not enforced.  

This year I noticed the piles of what appeared to be smoking dirt near the roadways.  I leaned that this is how charcoal is made.  

I don't understand all the details but I do know that making charcoal requires a good sized tree trunk which is covered over with dirt and then slowly burned with little oxygen to produce the charcoal bricks.  Because of the incessant need for fuel for cooking and the widespread use of charcoal, the land has been deforested over the last years.  One of our drivers said that he remembered being in forests in some areas just 5 years ago that are now totally treeless. The young men who make the charcoal must go many miles off the highway to find a suitable tree trunk.

This charcoal is being made on the island of Zanzibar.  In Kenya they don't use the banana leaves for side supports.

 

The huge bags sold on the side of the road can be divided into many smaller sacks of charcoal to be sold in the neighborhoods.  Great way to make a little money, even if it is terrible for the environment.  

I did a bit of research on charcoal production in Africa and found this little graphic which illustrates the problem very well. 

Doesn't it seem odd that cell phone use is widespread but they still must rely on this rather primitive and environmentally devastating fuel to cook their food?  Just one of the many troubling and frustrating aspects of life in Africa!