Maravi

Deforestation

Deforestation
By The Post
Wed 03 Oct. 2012, 13:00 CAT

The warning by mines, energy and water development minister Yamfwa Mukanga that an energy crisis is imminent in Zambia unless innovative measures are undertaken is frightening. Mukanga's warning is frightening because he is the Minister of Energy, who should know better and who should come up with innovative measures to arrest the situation. Mukanga reveals that only 20 per cent of Zambian households have direct connectivity to electricity while the remaining 80 per cent are dependent on wood fuel.

And Mukanga also reveals that in rural areas, this ratio is more skewed as only three per cent of the rural households have access to electricity. This leaves the majority of the population dependent on firewood and charcoal. This means trees have to be cut down for charcoal burning and firewood.

We see more and more the products and effects of trees that have been cut. But we don't see anything about replanting. If there is any replanting of trees taking place in the country, then it is not visible; one has to search for it.

But we know that natural trees take many years to grow and reach maturity. Some of them even take 50 years, half a century, to grow to maturity. But at the rate we are cutting them down, and at the rate we are replanting or not replanting, we are indeed headed for a crisis.

And what is more frightening is that Mukanga is not telling us what the government is doing to improve the situation. Of course, the ultimate solution to this problem lies in reducing the number of households dependent on firewood and charcoal. This means increasing direct connectivity to electricity to as far as possible near 100 per cent.

[Or going solar. And of course the lack of cash for infrastructure like this is a direct result of the non-taxation of the mining industry. - MrK]

What is also frightening is the fact that there are more quantities of charcoal being used in the urban areas. And it would appear that the number of trees being cut down to satisfy urban charcoal demand is much higher than that which is being used for firewood in rural areas.

With urban forests having disappeared, charcoal for urban areas is now increasingly coming from rural areas, especially those near good road networks. Today, there is charcoal burning in almost every province of our country.

Even regions like Western Province that for a very long time did not know charcoal burning are now deep in it. The forests are disappearing everywhere.

Whereas rural households that use firewood look for dead and dry trees, charcoal burners cut down fresh trees.

The rate at which charcoal burning has spread to the rural areas is frightening. And rural centres are also increasingly switching to charcoal and are moving away from firewood at a very fast rate.

Northern and Muchinga provinces are producing charcoal for Tanzania. Of course, the export of charcoal to Tanzania is being done illegally. The border is too long to police effectively. Isoka and Chinsali are losing trees at a very fast rate from charcoal burners.

The forests one used to see on a drive to Livingstone have almost disappeared. Southern Province is also hit very hard. We also have charcoal coming from North Western Province to the Copperbelt. And the growth of Solwezi as an urban settlement has also seen an increase in the use of charcoal.

Lusaka is being fed from all directions. Charcoal is coming from Eastern, Southern, Western and Central provinces into Lusaka.

Lusaka is probably the country's biggest consumer of charcoal. If direct connectivity to electricity was reasonably increased in Lusaka, to even say 60 or 70 per cent, many trees would be saved.

And with the roads Michael Sata is starting to build across the width and breadth of our country, more areas will soon join the charcoal business. It will become much easier to get charcoal to the centres where it is needed.

This may push down the prices of charcoal and consequently increase consumption or use of charcoal. This means that more and more trees will have to be cut down and burnt for charcoal.

The only way to stop or reduce this is to electrify more and more households at a very fast rate. But how is this going to be done with the current shortage of electricity?

We have no choice but to accelerate, and without pause, the building of more electricity generation facilities. And fortunately for us, we have the rivers in most of our provinces that can give us some reasonable amount of hydroelectricity.

We also need to urgently increase capacity, as far as possible, at every existing facility. This requires money, and lots of it.
This calls for a continuous process of improving the operations of Zesco.

There is no private sector investment in the generation of power that will enable us to reach and connect the great majority of our people who are not directly connected to electricity. However, this is not to say private capital should have no role to play.

As far as possible, private investment in electricity generation should be sought and encouraged. The burden is too big to leave to the state alone. Every willing and able investor should be encouraged to invest.
Other clean sources of power should also be explored. But our main source will remain hydro-power because it is cheaper and cleaner.

We are today paying the price of having stopped investing in new power generating facilities and improving old ones. A small growth in the economy, especially in mining, has exposed our vulnerability where power is concerned.

This is a country that could be exporting electricity to the countries of the region. Having abundant water resources that could be harnessed for hydropower generation is as good as having oil; probably even better. But we have not exploited this potential to our benefit.

No matter how much we cry about deforestation, if our people are not given reasonable access to electricity, they will keep on cutting down trees for charcoal and firewood.

The deforestation that is being caused by agriculture expansion can also be reduced by crop diversification. Maize cultivation requires cutting trees in very large numbers. But rice is grown in dambos where there are literally no trees. Increased investment in rice production can go some way in reducing deforestation.

We need an approach, to this problem, that takes into account all the factors. And time is not on our side. We need to do everything at a fast rate.

Labels: FORESTRY, YAMFWA MUKANGA

posted by MrK @ 4:37 PM