Commission for Higher Education Urban Charcoal Consumption and Its Implications on the Rate of Deforestation: The Case For Puntland Abdiqani Farah (PhD) Commission for Higher Education Puntland, Somalia

On the tarmac are made up of Five main town municipalities: Somalia is defined as arid/semi-arid with a fragile ecosystems and periodic drought There are no reliable data in relation to the exact amount of forests and woodlands on mainland On the tarmac are made up of Five main town municipalities: GAROWE BURTINLE GALKAYO BOSSASO

The main purpose of this work The fine dividing line between wood for energy and forest resources availability raised questions on whether there was sufficient forest to meet the demand of the time and that of future generations To understand the effects of consumption of charcoal on Somali’s forest and woodlands To quantify the rate of deforestation Disappearance of Acacia species, gauged on urban charcoal consumption (Mwampamba, 2007).

The main purpose cont…. First, a consumption rate (Cc) for the Puntland State had to be established, derived from estimation of per capita/household charcoal consumption. based on the following equation: Cc = 12S/H, where H is household size and S is the household sacs consumed per month. Then, state level charcoal consumption by household was deduced from it (Mwampamba, 2007)

The main purpose cont…. The Kiln efficiency: (Ek) Mc / Mw Finally, to interpret the speed of charcoal consumption into forest equivalent The forest per sac of charcoal (Fs)

Supplementary aim to evaluate charcoal trade, such as . charcoal vendors, the gender of household respondents The alternatives Respective prices of charcoal of the study areas. All deemed necessary for the future control and improvement on efficiency ways of charcoal production and use

Background Two and half decades, the trade expanded gradually clearing almost all available forests throughout the Somali territory for both local consumption and the exportation of charcoal (Further study is required in here)

Later on Puntland state administration banned burning living tree for the purpose and regulated utilization of dry (dead) plants for obtaining firewood and producing charcoal. The current administration has banned the trade. Is that possible?

Charcoal (Consumption and trade) In sub-Saharan nations firewood and charcoal accounts for 47% of eventual energy utilization (Byer, 1987; Hall and Moss, 1983). Consumption (in Puntland) Over 90% of families, Charcoal is the main domestic cooking fuel Due to unaffordability of both the resource and the appliances of the alternative Trade No capacity to enforce the law Being exported to Gulf states of Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Qatar (some banned the trade) Market demand in the gulf Lack of economic opportunities UN resolution in place to ban the exportation of charcoal

Environmental Aspect Deforestation Wiped out already strained acacia (Acacia Bussei, Acacia nilotica) forests Erosion, dwindling the volume of land for grazing and agriculture Reduce bio-diversity Note: deadwood is almost completely exploited and live trees are cut for the trade The types of harvesting trees (set fire at the base of the tree) for charcoal will never make possible for trees to regenerate again Not coppiced to stimulate growth

The Supplementary

Charcoal Vendors

Alternative Energy For Cooking PREFERENCE % LPG 84 ELECTRICITY 6 LPG & ELECTRICITY 9 SOLAR PEREFERENCE % LPG 75 ELECTRICITY 3 LPG & ELECTRICITY 20 SOLAR 2

Respective towns’ price paid sac-1 ($)

(Cc)Consumption per capita y-1) The Mean per capita consumption per person y-1 for the four towns was found to be between 2 and 4 ± std (Mwampamba, 2007).

One way ANOVA test (assuming unequal STDEV) was performed between the four towns and found there is a significant variations between them (F=4.63138076, P=1.72671E-08). Post hoc test was performed and determined Garowe level of consumption was significantly different from the other three towns.

Kiln Efficiency (Ek) In order to determine the Ek Average sacs produced per tree Average Kg per sac of charcoal The average sacs of charcoal produced per kiln Translate that into tree the Kiln efficiency (Ek) Mc = Mass of charcoal produced Mw= Mass of wood put into the kiln. Ek was found to be 20%

The forest per sac of charcoal (Fs) The amount of forest needed to produce in order to determine the rate forests are cut The forest per sac of charcoal (Fs) Calculating The rate of deforestation in concomitant with the population growth rate

Total sacks consumed per Town y-1 And Its equivalent in trees Total sacs Price ($) Trees Garowe 256500 5386500 205200 Burtinle 33300 599400 26640 Galkayo 560000 14000000 448000 Bossaso 1520000 27360000 1216000 Total 2369800 47345900 1895840  

Interpreting charcoal consumption into its equivalent hectares of forest Forests and woodlands cover about 23% of Somali mainland and are dominated by Acacia species. Out of the 23% there is no reliable data regarding exact amount of forests cover and woodland in Puntland.

Ms is the kg charcoal sack-1; In order approximate amount of forest required to harvest one sack of charcoal (Fs) required to measure: Ms is the kg charcoal sack-1; (Ek) the kiln efficiency is how many kg of wood produce a kg of charcoal, S stands for the stock density (th-1) (Bolzaet al, 1972). The coefficient 1.075 x 10-3 is a constant that integrates in the assumption of 93% instead of 100% of the stem harvest (Chidumayo, 1991) and the unit conversion of 1000 kg of wood into tone of wood. Fs = 1.075 x 10-3 (Ms X Ek x 1/S)  

the amount of forest needed to produce a single sack of charcoal (Fc) was calculated and found to be 0.000197273 h and subsequently calculated hectors of forest consumed in those four towns year-1 as 478 h. 35% of the population of Puntland live in urban areas with a population growth rate of 2.9 (Puntland facts and figures, UNFPA, 2003).

. Finally, the hectors of forest consumed by urban population was determined by multiplying quantity of forest required to produce single sack of charcoal (Fc) to the total sacs consumed by urban population estimate and found to be 829 h. Assuming 95% of population of Puntland rely on charcoal and firewood in one way or another, the total hectors cleared every year for that purpose is estimated 2369 h.

Work to be done Continue the work being done so far Determine Somali main land forest cover To attain sustainable management of forests and woodlands Gauge how prevalent is the business of charcoal (Distribution of Kilns throughout Somali territory) by employing combination of ground work, remote sensing, GPS and arcGIS. Replication of the same survey done in the other parts of Somalia to get the overall picture of devastating effect of charcoal consumption as a source of cooking energy

Recommendations Government should come up with a policy of establishing national energy plantations and charcoal production through efficient earth kilns Re-establishing cooperatives as already many rural households adjacent to woodlands, who do not have reliable sources of income, are engaged in charcoal making activities Promote alternative domestic sources of energy like LPG, solar, kerosene or efficient stoves

Improved use of available resources efficiently towards the intervention programs such as research, production, consumption, forest management and engaging local communities on the issue Like other neighboring and the rest of sub Saharan countries, FOREST ACT must be put in place in managing available forests sustainably and for ministry of environment implement it (Mwampamba, 2007)

Thank you