Saving trees in Kilindi

Envirocare and District Forestry Officer work together

The women in Kilinde demonstrate the different types of improved clay stoves. But until now they have not made an income out of it.

The undulating hills surrounding Songe in Kilindi District are no longer covered in forest like it used to be. The elders and even the not-so-old in this newly establish district capital remember how the forest used to be thick all the way down to the fertile valleys of the Nguru Mountains. Not anymore. Recent growth in population has put a greater pressure on the natural resources that most people here are depending on. And the forest being used by everyone but managed by no one has caused serious damage to the environment.

Envirocare’s project

In the spring 2006 Envirocare embarked on a small project training 24 women on how to produce and sell energy-saving stoves that require a third of the wood normally used for cooking and how to plant jatropha trees in order to produce bio-fuel. The women were trained also in good organic farming practices.
Six months later the Jatropha seeds put directly in the ground have sprouted and grown to being already 30 cm high on average. The fields look promising and the women are proud:
-We meet every Thursday to discuss how our work is progressing. If someone needs help with weeding we support each other the best we can. Some of our husbands are also involved.
Kilindi being quite far from Envirocare’s head office the project has been supervised by the District Forestry Officer, who also makes sure that projects are in line with District Development Plans.

Energy-saving stoves

But the production of energy-saving stoves turned out to run into some unforeseen challenges. Though most of the women have made the stoves and use them in their own kitchens some still also use “the three stones” and only very few stoves have been produced for sale. Lack of time is the most common reason for the women not to collect the clay and make the stoves even though it is very near, and further talks revealed a number of obstacles to consider in future planning.
First of all, the firewood is despite dwindling forest reserves still easily available making it difficult for people to understand the seriousness of deforestation. Secondly the potential market for the stoves had not been sufficiently sensitised for making an investment even though only of TSH 1500 or 2000, as poverty and mindset inhibits behavioural changes. Thirdly, poverty cause women to make choices based on immediate needs. To think of environmental protection is a luxury they cannot afford and some of them even admit to selling charcoal as easy income generation.
The District Forestry Officer, Mr. Mrinji explains:
- Surely making and selling charcoal is illegal unless you hold permission and it ought to be reported. But it is very difficult to punish people when there are no real alternatives they can afford. That is why the law is not reinforced. We need to find those alternatives to charcoal before it makes sense to reinforce the law considering that one third of our population live below the poverty line.

Envirocare will continue to work in Kilindi District next year with a project funded by FAO on Forest Governance. And if funding is available, plans are under way for scaling up the interventions of sensitising people on environmental degradation in order to get people involved in taking better care of the environment. The challenge of poverty will be addressed also by introducing some easy to use methods of agro-processing and promoting organic agriculture.