| ICE Case Studies
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I.
Case Background |
Charcoal plays an important role in most African countries. However, the inefficiencies inherent to the production and use of charcoal, rapid urbanization, and the preference of urban dwellers for charcoal place a heavy strain on local wood resources. This has severe environmental consequences. Referred to as "makala" in the former Zaire, charcoal is available in Kinshasa's markets or can be purchased by roadside vendors along roads linking the city and the forest. Makala's importance to Kinshasa can be deduced by the fact that a large district of the capital bears the same name. Traditional fuelwood gathering, while being a social institution, is a serious source of tree removal around Kinshasa. The forest has already receded by hundreds of kilometers from Kinshasa, hence the problem of deforestation in the DRC.
How Charcoal Trade is linked to the Environment and Culture:
Charcoal is traded in Congo between the charcoal producers who get their product from the diminishing forests in Congo, and sell it to the buyers in the cities. Charcoal production harms the environment in two ways: deforestation and CO2 gases. In order to produce charcoal, trees must be removed from the forest, hence the deforestation effect. In order to make charcoal, the wood must be burned in kilns, slowly, for long periods of time. During this process, CO2 is released into the air. The release of CO2 into the atmosphere attributes to the destruction of the ozone layer. Charcoal trade is linked to culture in that it is a part of life in the Congo, and in most other African countries and most developing countries. Please see the culture section for more information.
Fuelwood in the DRC
Fuelwood and charcoal are by far the most heavily consumed energy sources in the former Zaire, used primarily for household cooking. There is no organized supply of fuelwood in urban areas, and population growth in urban areas, such as Kinshasa, has contributed to deforestation. The price of charcoal has risen because it has to be trucked in to urban centers from ever-greater distances. The steady price increases have constrained growth in small-scale industries that use wood, such as fish smoking, and have put pressure on household budgets. Moreover, the use of wood exceeds regrowth of forests, and reforestation efforts have been slow.(2)
The value of the charcoal market for 26 Sub-Saharan African countries, for which there is known data, exceeds $1.8 billion per year. In energy terms, charcoal consumption in many African countries is higher than gross electricity consumption. Charcoal making provides a considerable amount of employment in rural areas; it allows for a quick return on investments and is often practiced in conjunction with agricultural activities.
Since the burning characteristics of charcoal and mineral coal are very similar, charcoal use results in high volumes of CO2 emissions. However, if charcoal were produced on a sustainable basis (without causing deforestation), it would be neutral to the carbon cycle; the burning of charcoal would simply release timescale CO2 back into the air. Environmentalists feel that charcoal production should be stopped altogether because of its destructive nature as presently practiced. However, urban dwellers in some developing countries have a strong appetite for charcoal, and attempts to ban the production or the use of charcoal have been mostly unsuccessful mainly due to the interplay of commercial interests. Since producers can use free raw materials (wood from natural forests) and turn them into a marketable commodity in high demand, they do not have much respect for the sustainability of the resource.(3)
The DRC's Natural Resources and the Environment(4)
Congo is the third largest country in Africa extending 2,344,885 square km. Arable land only represents three percent of the nation's area, and permanent pasture seven percent. No less than 74.5 percent of the DRC's total land is forested. Then annual rate of deforestation, estimated by the World Bank, was 0.6 percent in 1980. Congo's forests are quickly shrinking; only 4.4 percent of its national territory is officially protected. Sustained deforestation could eventually threaten Congo's biodiversity.
FYI: How Charcoal is Produced(5)
The carbonization of wood is brought about by heating it to temperatures high enough for it to undergo substantial thermal decomposition. Temperatures reached in the process are usually in the range 400-500C and a mixture of gases, vapors and a solid residue (charcoal) results. The temperature reached in the production process has a marked influence on the composition and yield of the charcoal produced.
The making of charcoal, literally the distillation of wood to its carbon content, was an important process during the first half of the nineteenth century. Because it burned hotter and cleaner, charcoal was considered superior to wood. It provided fuel for both the furnaces which produced the iron and the forges of the blacksmiths who shaped it. The first person to discover the seemingly magical properties of charcoal has long since been lost to human memory. What is known is that it may have been used in Europe as early as 5,500 years ago and was the "smelting fuel of the bronze and iron ages."
For a more lengthy explanation, Click Here
Some additional information about the Democratic Republic of Congo
FYI: A Brief History of the Democratic Republic of Congo(6)
Pre700s A.D. | The earliest inhabitants of the modern DRC were probably Pygmies who settled in the area. |
By the700s A.D. | Sophisticated civilizations developed into what is now southeastern DRC. |
Early1500s | The Portuguese began the forced emigration of black Africans for slavery. Other Europeans came to the area as the slave trade grew, but the interior remained relatively unexplored until the 1870s. |
1877 | Henry Stanley explores the region for Belgian King Leopold II. |
1908 |
The country becomes the Belgian Congo, with Leopoldeville as the capital (known as Kinshasa today). |
1959 | The Congolese National Movement (MNC), an independence movement/party, is formed with Patrice Lumumba as its leader. Rioting breaks out due to growing nationalist sentiment. |
June 30,1960 | Independence for the Republic of Congo is obtained with Lumumba as Prime Minister. |
September1960 | Mobutu, a US sponsored army officer, seizes power. |
1964 | The country becomes the People's Republic of the Congo. |
1966 |
After continued political upset and civil war between the US-backed Mobutu and the MNC, Mobutu declares himself the country's sole leader, and the country becomes the Democratic Republic of the Congo. |
October27, 1971 | The country becomes the Republic of Zaire. |
1996 | Mobutu is in Europe for treatment of prostate cancer, so rebels, led by General Laurent Kabila, attack the Zairian army. |
March1997 | Mobutu returns from Europe. |
May 17,1996 | Kabila and his troops take the capital, Kinshasa and Mobutu goes into exile. Zaire becomes the Democratic Republic of the Congo. There is worldwide confusion about the politcal change. |
September7, 1997 |
Mobutu dies in Morocco. |
Continent: Africa
Region: Central Africa
Country: Congo
IV. Environment and Conflict Overlap
V. Related Information and Sources