Challenges

Universal access to clean and modern cooking fuels and technology is an integral element of ensuring that the broader aims of SDG 7.1 (affordable and clean energy) are achieved by 2030.

Eighty percent of the population of the United Republic of Tanzania depend on wood for cooking due to its affordability, accessibility and versatility. While wood fuel is a low-cost option for cooking, it has negative health affects (lungs, skin and eyes) and environmental impacts, such as air pollution, deforestation and land degradation. Tanzania has lost about a quarter of its vegetation due to deforestation due to cooking activities and developmental deforestation.

Toward a Solution

To address this challenge, the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (T?KA) implemented the Production of Eco Charcoal Briquettes initiative to support the United Republic of Tanzania in transitioning to energy-efficient practices. The initiative’s main purpose is to create an alternative to burning wood for cooking by introducing eco charcoal briquettes made of trash and agricultural waste as an affordable, sustainable and clean energy option. This will help prevent deforestation and air pollution, thus contributing to climate action. Moreover, the initiative tackles unemployment, especially of the most vulnerable, such as youth, single mothers, widows and differently-abled persons, who now work as garbage collectors and eco charcoal briquette sellers.

To initiate the work, T?KA worked closely with local authorities to conduct an effective public awareness campaign explaining the benefits of eco charcoal briquettes over wood burning through public demonstrations, workshops, seminars, community meetings and door to door campaigns.

T?KA set up two eco charcoal briquettes workshops in partnership with Jitegemee Maarifa Group Mbuyuni, a local non-governmental organization, under the Ilala Municipal Council. Over 100 of the organization’s members were trained as trainers by the council on the importance of using eco charcoal briquettes, how to use the equipment and make eco charcoal briquettes, create a brand name, implement a marketing strategy and manage a workshop. After the training programme, these trainers went door to door to train other community members in Ilala and Temeke Districts to expand the outreach and ensure the project’s sustainability. As the project areas have limited resources, project participants were provided with eco charcoal briquette cookers to make the briquettes and eco charcoal briquettes were made available to households to try out the new technology.

Since the implementation of the project in 2021, 1,000 people have been trained by the trainers and 500 households have already switched to eco charcoal briquettes due to their affordability and durability. It is anticipated that another 2,500 people will be trained and switch to eco charcoal briquettes in the next three years.

Turning household waste into eco charcoal briquettes was a challenge, as it is a major task to change people’s mindset from a traditional method that they have been using for so many years to a new method. However, through this project, the target communities learned the importance of preserving the environment and how to collect and separate garbage and convert it into eco charcoal briquettes. Beneficiaries have started to see garbage from a different perspective, as not just something to dispose of but to treat it as a valuable asset and resource for energy production and income generation.

Currently, there is a high demand for eco charcoal briquettes in Tanzania due to its affordability and durability as urban and rural communities are necessarily transitioning from traditional charcoal use to alternative sources of fuel for cooking. It is projected that the impacts of the project are likely to grow over the years since the government is putting restrictions on cutting trees to make charcoal, giving incentives to government institutions, businesses and households to use alternative sources, such as eco charcoal briquettes.

As the project progressed, the major challenge was to change people’s mindset from a traditional method that they have been doing for so many years to a new method. The best way to overcome this challenge was not only to train people, but also providing them with free necessary tools i.e., special eco charcoal briquettes cooker and eco charcoal briquettes for them to try in their households.

Because of the positive results and impacts that this pilot project generated in the field, the project’s lessons learned and knowledge will be shared with other T?KA programme coordination offices in neighbouring countries so that they can adapt and scale up this good practice. This practice is easily adaptable as it requires only simple equipment, short-term on-the-job training and the project’s raw materials are household and agricultural waste, which can be collected daily at little cost.