Two new technical briefs by the World Agroforestry Centre and the Stockholm Environment Institute analyze charcoal and firewood use in Kenya, advocating for cross-sectoral integration to support sustainability.

Achieving sustainable charcoal in Kenya provides an overview of the use of firewood in households, industry and institutions in Kenya.

More than 80 per cent or the urban population in Kenya depends on charcoal and the sector is valued equal to the tea industry, supporting the livelihoods of over 2 million people in the country.

In the brief, the policy environment for charcoal production and trade are analyzed, including the institutions involved and the problems, including corruption. Options are given for making the sector more sustainable which involve promoting efficient charcoal production and consumption technologies together with an enabling policy framework.

Sustainable firewood access and utilization looks at the importance of firewood in supplying energy for cooking and heating in rural areas of Kenya, and recommends that firewood be directly addressed in energy policies.

Three key challenges are identified: the imbalance between supply and demand; the disproportionate burden on women in collecting firewood; and the general lack of knowledge about how to make firewood use more sustainable.

A multi-sectoral integrated approach is proposed to managing firewood use in Kenya with county governments leading the effort to build a sustainable firewood production and use system.

See also: Fuels, cooking and cookstoves in Kenya