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The environment matters
In most of Ghana, trees are cut down to make charcoal. That’s because charcoal is such a great cooking material. It’s cheaper than gasoline and more accessible in remote areas. They felled the forest, charred it in oxygen starved pits and marketed charcoal in villages and towns. It’s not fancy gadgetry, it’s dead easy. Which is why it just continues to spread.
The problem is that trees are not being replanted fast enough to make up for what’s being cut down. When the trees are removed from the land the soil is exposed. It causes erosion, less fertility and the leaching away of nutrients crops need. It messes with rain too, eventually, because trees help capture moisture. Without enough trees, the soil becomes desiccated and poor.
Charcoal production emits carbon too. Trashing forests removes a carbon sink. Burning the wood to make charcoal adds even more carbon to the air. This feeds climate change. Each little charcoal pit might not be such a big emissions source, they add up when there are so many small ones across the country.
Or alternatives to cooking, such as gas, or more efficient cookstoves that burn less wood. These alternatives aren’t always available or cheap to all. Some villages rely on charcoal sales as a source of revenue, so to stop without alternatives would cause economic hardship. That puts a kibosh on quick repair.
Charcoal making is controlled, but enforcement is spotty. In some areas, trees are cut down unlawfully. In others, people shell out nickles or use hacks for their viability. Without stronger mechanisms for regulating how trees are used that trend is certain to continue.
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By Forex MantisIn most of Ghana, trees are cut down to make charcoal. That’s because charcoal is such a great cooking material. It’s cheaper than gasoline and more accessible in remote areas. They felled the forest, charred it in oxygen starved pits and marketed charcoal in villages and towns. It’s not fancy gadgetry, it’s dead easy. Which is why it just continues to spread.
The problem is that trees are not being replanted fast enough to make up for what’s being cut down. When the trees are removed from the land the soil is exposed. It causes erosion, less fertility and the leaching away of nutrients crops need. It messes with rain too, eventually, because trees help capture moisture. Without enough trees, the soil becomes desiccated and poor.
Charcoal production emits carbon too. Trashing forests removes a carbon sink. Burning the wood to make charcoal adds even more carbon to the air. This feeds climate change. Each little charcoal pit might not be such a big emissions source, they add up when there are so many small ones across the country.
Or alternatives to cooking, such as gas, or more efficient cookstoves that burn less wood. These alternatives aren’t always available or cheap to all. Some villages rely on charcoal sales as a source of revenue, so to stop without alternatives would cause economic hardship. That puts a kibosh on quick repair.
Charcoal making is controlled, but enforcement is spotty. In some areas, trees are cut down unlawfully. In others, people shell out nickles or use hacks for their viability. Without stronger mechanisms for regulating how trees are used that trend is certain to continue.