BBQ-ed forest.

According to its Department of Forestry, Malawi has the highest deforestation rate of 14 Southern African nations. With 55 percent of the 12 million Malawians living below the poverty level, and a mere four percent with access to electricity, the forest becomes the primary resource for both firewood and the charcoal essential for cooking. Charcoal is made by heating wood in the absence of air.

Charcoal production is worth approximately US $8 million annually, and the Malawian government estimates that 125,000 acres of native forests are felled each year. But the problem extends beyond charcoal. The cycle of environmental destruction and poverty is self-perpetuating: The majority of Malawians are farmers, but because the soil is poor, they have to shift cultivation to a new field every two to three years. This necessitates cutting into the forest, which causes soil erosion and leads to greater food insecurity as soil fertility decreases.

To stem the dependence on charcoal production and extractive land management practices, the Wildlife and Environmental Society of Malawi, boosted by funding from a German development agency, GTZ, is promoting alternative money-making endeavors among local communities. Projects such as bee-keeping, chicken raising, making juice from the fruit of the monkey bread tree, and growing vegetable gardens have been met with enthusiasm in a major charcoal producing region, the southern district of Mwanza.

--UN, 1/28