Dotted swirls of smoke are visible for kilometers in the Matetsi settlement area, Hwange district, Matabeleland North province, as one drives along the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls Road.
Deep in the bush, at least three kilometers from the road, the sounds of trees being chopped echo through the afternoon air as two men hack down huge logs. These logs will soon be rolled to make a kiln before being set on fire and left to burn for two weeks. The end product: charcoal. The iconic Mopane trees are the main target for loggers, aiming to sell tons of charcoal monthly.
The indigenous Mopane tree is under siege from villagers who cut it down and burn it to extract charcoal for sale to dealers who have swarmed the district. Mopane, a hardwood, is termite-resistant and preferred for building houses, fences, and railway sleepers. The tree is also becoming popular as a heavy and decorative wood used in furniture beyond Africa.
Charcoal production is fast becoming an important economic activity in many rural areas of Hwange district, ostensibly contributing to the livelihoods of many impoverished families hit hard by economic hardship exacerbated by climate change. However, when unchecked, it can become a major driver of forest and woodland degradation.
“It is a difficult job, but at least we have something in our pockets. Life is hard for us, especially with the rains no longer reliable in this area, so we have to find the means of survival.”
Charcoal producer who requested anonymity
Under Statutory Instrument 116 of 2012 of the Forest (Control of Firewood, Timber, and Forest Produce) Regulations 2012, charcoal is classified as fuelwood, and anyone trading in this product without a licence can be prosecuted, with equipment used to commit these offences confiscated by the State.
As charcoal has become a substitute for electricity and liquefied gas for low-income households, the country’s forests, especially the Mopane tree, are under threat. Soaring prices of basic foodstuffs and energy are driving local communities into poverty, says Greater Whange Residents Trust coordinator, Fidelis Chima. He argues that the government needs to restore economic production and provide vulnerable communities with social security.
Poachers are targeting indigenous trees such as Msasa/Igonde (zebrawood), Mutondo/Umtshonkwe (wild mango), Musharu/Iphane (Mopane), Muanze (mountain acacia), and Mupfuti/Itshabela, which fetch higher prices on the market compared to exotic trees. However, in Hwange, it is the Mopane tree that is targeted largely due to its abundance in the area and ability to burn at high temperatures.
Villagers say the pressing economic turmoil forces them to resort to the illicit practice, arguing that they are earning a living from the charcoal business.
Jane Tshuma*, a mother of four, says she was forced into the trade due to poverty following her husband’s death.
“I was living in poverty. That’s when I started trading in charcoal production, and now I earn a good income. It pays for my children’s school fees and my daily needs such as soap and sugar.”
In this business, villagers in Matetsi and Lubangwe have gone a notch higher by venturing into extensive production where Mopane trees are felled during the day and burned using traditional kilns through the night. Charcoal—favoured for burning hotter and longer than wood—is made by heating wood without oxygen.
Investigations show that the worst affected areas in Hwange district include Matetsi, Lubangwe, Nekabandama, Chentali, Madumabisa, and Gwayi resettlement areas, where the labour-intensive charcoal-making business has become a source of living for several villagers. Charcoal may fetch a high price, but it doesn’t come cheap—the production cycle is painstaking, and women are increasingly getting involved at each stage of the charcoal value chain. One must chop trees, roll logs to form a traditional kiln, set it ablaze, and let it burn for two weeks before charcoal chips are packed into sacks for sale.
Twenty-seven-year-old Georgina* needs to walk one hour from her homestead, a resettlement, to the production site deep in the Lubangwe forest.
“It’s very tough; this job is supposed to be done by men because of the physical labuor, but now women are supporting the men to earn a living,” says Georgina. “The charcoal business is taking care of many families that otherwise could be suffering since we don’t have social security cover from the government for a time such as this when we are faced with a heatwave and drought.”
Although laws exist to prohibit the illicit trade, they are rarely adhered to. For example, in Hwange, foresters or rangers, who are not well-resourced, have a hard time monitoring the whole district for illegal charcoal production.
Traders or middlemen, most of whom are truck drivers, charge two to three times more than the sourcing price asked by producers in the rural areas, arguing that there are high risks associated with transporting the illegal product.
Charcoal trading is done under the cover of night to avoid arrest, with the product transported to cities mostly by truck drivers who easily evade roadblocks, which are normally mounted during the day.
While truck drivers and charcoal dealers buy a 50kg bag for between $4-$5, the same is resold for $12, with a bucket of charcoal fetching $4 or its equivalent, while a plastic bag full costs US$1.
“Charcoal trade is good business, and I make sure that when I come to Hwange, I buy about 30 bags of charcoal at $4 each, which I resell in Bulawayo. These days, with the load-shedding regime in full force, there is a notable demand for charcoal, which increases my profit margin. It’s a risky affair, but then it’s about survival here in Zimbabwe. We travel at night to avoid roadblocks, and when we are intercepted by police, we pay them a bribe.”
Truck driver who refused to be named for fear of reprisals
Environmentalists fear that without assertive government action, these forests may not be around for future generations. It takes 25 years on average for a Mopane tree to mature into adulthood.
“Trees are being cut down so quickly that they don’t have time to regenerate. Some trees, like the Mopane, take an average of 25 years to grow. Poor rainfall and veld fires have exacerbated the impact. If we continue on this trajectory, I’m afraid our trees, especially the Mopane, will not be around for future generations to see,” says Green Shango Trust director, Daniel Sithole.
Masikili village head in Matetsi, Mathias Shoko, confirms the booming charcoal business in his area, adding that the charcoal dealers come at night with trucks and lorries.
“We have a serious challenge here—forests are under siege from villagers hoping to cash in on the demand for charcoal. Buyers come with trucks and lorries to load the charcoal, mostly at night. We have held meetings as custodians of the environment with them to discourage the practice, which is decimating our Mopane trees, but warnings have fallen on deaf ears.”
He says the area, which is a resettlement, has a vast forest stretching to Robins camp and Pandamatenga, giving villagers leeway to practise charcoal production.
“The problem we have here is that people own their pieces of land where they till crops and do whatever they want with them at the expense of the environment. It’s very difficult to convince people to stop cutting Mopane trees since they own the land,” says Shoko.
Raids conducted by the Forestry Commission have only served to exacerbate the problem, as after confiscating the charcoal, villagers still go on to cut down more trees. Over the years, the Commission has clamoured for custodial sentences to be imposed ahead of the usual level 7 fine, aiming to arrest the illicit trade in charcoal.
According to the Forestry Commission, a body mandated to protect state forests, Zimbabwe loses about 60 million trees each year—some 262,000 hectares of forests—as a result of deforestation. The drivers of deforestation in the country include charcoal production, resettlement, and agricultural expansion, among other activities causing land-use change.
Charcoal making is increasing the loss of indigenous forests and land degradation, with the authority intensifying patrols in hotspot areas, says Violet Makoto, spokesperson for the Forestry Commission.
“This is a nationwide problem, and we are making efforts to conduct regular patrols in these hotspot areas to address the challenge. It is illegal to produce charcoal because it involves cutting down trees, which is termed an offence in the Forest Act chapter 19.05,” Makoto tells The Citizen Bulletin.
“As part of our patrols, we have tried to work with the police so that where you find roadblocks, we also station our officers there to monitor trucks travelling from these hotspots ferrying the product into urban centres. We know that this is being fueled by the energy challenges that some urban communities are now facing, where they see charcoal as the cheapest alternative in terms of cooking energy.”
She warns that the extent of the charcoal-making business in the country could result in the emergence of politically connected barons running syndicates.
“We are intensifying our regulations targeting those specific areas, but with anything lucrative within communities, you find that even some barons can emerge, and you end up having big people behind syndicates driving those operations. It’s a similar challenge that we also face, but we call upon our communities to realise that when we encourage such operations in the country, we are depleting our own resources, leading to deforestation and land degradation, which will affect us all as various communities in the country.”
In addition to Matetsi, Gwayi Conservancy, and Lubangwe in Hwange district, other hotspot areas include Lupane, Muzarabani, Gokwe, and Mwenezi. In Muzarabani, charcoal production has been happening under the guise of smuggling routes from Mozambique. Instead of getting charcoal from Mozambique, members of the community have ventured into intensive charcoal production on the Zimbabwean side of the border.
Editor’s note: Names marked with * have been changed to protect the sources’ identities.