How booming Nasarawa charcoal is taking over other businesses

Chinonso, as he simply gave his name, goes to Umuahia in Abia State, at least three times, every month. On each trip, he used to convey over 200 bags of charcoal from Nasarawa State and its neighbouring counterpart, Benue.

Chinonso, a holder of Ordinary National Diploma in Accounting, had to abandon an automobile spare parts business in 2011, to venture into charcoal business. He found

charcoal a good business to invest his capital and, Nasarawa, a good place to get his supply from. And, fortunately, also, for him, Umuahia is a city that is well known for its use of charcoal and, thus, profit for charcoal traders.
Adamu, a native of Giza, in Keana Local Government Area of Nasarawa State, is chopping down trees around him, in production of the commodity which Chinonso deals in. Adamu is a farmer, but like Chinonso, he now ventures into charcoal business, leaving farming to his wife.
Several kilometres away, Odu, a middle aged native of Udege-Mbeki in Nasarawa Local Government Area, west of the state, is in the business of buying trees, also, for the production of charcoal to meet the demand of the ever-present merchants like Chinonso.
“I have the phone numbers of all of them. They will not stop calling, they book ahead for charcoal. They don’t want to come and hear stories,” Odu told this reporter of the growing number of merchants coming around to buy from him, adding that “buyers from these areas take charcoal straight to Abuja, demand is high there and supply has to be steady.”
Odu used to buy a tree for between N200 and N300 depending on its size, location, and his negotiation ability. A tree, depending on size, can fill five bags of charcoal. A bag of charcoal on site of production costs between N100 and N110, depending on the location. He also pays to the hands that chop down the trees.
Odu then sets fire on the fallen tree after it dries, to begin his charcoal production. To roast a tree into charcoal, all he needs is a space to make a hole and allow the burnt tree to cool enough for bagging.
Odu makes profit from this process, as does Adamu in Giza, and thousands who are now going into charcoal production.
Chinonso, the wholesale dealer, told this reporter that charcoal sells as easy as people eat food. “Even if you don’t have money, you must eat food. Eating food is not like charging the phone. No matter how difficult, people must raise money to eat. That is where charcoal derives its sources of marketability.” He said at his level of education and exposure, he only hears of climate change, and does not know what it means, and doesn’t care to make inquiries.
“I have been hearing of climate change, it is all big grammar that has nothing to do with me,” he said.
This is just as Adamu and Odu said they do not think talks about climate change have anything to do with them as uninformed persons just eking a living from a tortuous charcoal production.
“Should people not cut down trees on their farmlands again? Should we die from poverty and allow trees to survive?” Adamu asked.
Odu said: “The trees are ours for cutting. What should we spare them for?”
In urban centres including Lafia, the Nasarawa State capital, where the consumption of this commodity is also on the rise because of scarcity of kerosene, or the inability of many to afford the luxury of cooking gas, Daily Trust checks revealed that a bag of charcoal now goes for about N2000. Most families do not go for as much as a full bag, they buy in retail measurements of between N50 and N100, fetching more profit for the retailers.
In Lafia, even shop owners are combining charcoal business with other items. A lady who owns a kiosk in Tudun Gwandara area of the metropolis and another who fries and sells kosai (bean cake) are now retailing charcoal.
“Business moves, I discover more people coming for charcoal, than they do for kosai,” Mama Tabitha, as the local bean cake seller is popularly called, said.
Nigeria’s booming charcoal business has continued to blossom, putting doubts on the adaptation level in rural areas where mass tree felling for the production of the commodity has continued to surge.
Although mass tree felling for the purpose of producing charcoal is a business of the rural areas, especially in the North-Central part of the country, vast number of people in Nigeria’s urban centres rely on the product for cooking.
Charcoal business is not new to the country, as blacksmiths used it for over a century before the present time. However, the period between 1990 and 1995 raised its use from blacksmithing to domestic cooking after Nigerians manufactured “Abacha Stove”, which is used to hold the charcoal while it burns to cook food.
The stove was so named because it was manufactured during the administration of Nigeria’s former military leader, late General Sani Abacha. Regrettably, charcoal is fast taking over the kerosene stove among the urban poor because of the scarcity of kerosene and exorbitant cost of cooking gas.
Daily Trust observed that the charcoal business is booming in most rural areas because good number of farming hands are fast joining it and abandoning their farms.
“We cut down the big trees and burn them to produce charcoal through some traditional means”, said someone at a local charcoal factory in Akwanga.
Although the person refused to disclose his identity, he said that his family now relies on the business in many ways, including feeding, school fees for the children, and other basic things of life which farming could not provide. But, he also complained about the scarcity of  fertilizer which, he noted, farmers cannot do without.
Mr. Samson Samuel Ogallah, Programme Officer, Communications Outreach and Networking of the Building Nigeria’s Response to Climate Change (BNRCC)/Nigerian Environmental Study/Action Team (NEST), however, said: “Lack of awareness, lack of alternative and poverty among most Nigerians are the reasons why charcoal business is still thriving in most communities across Nigeria.
“We at BNRCC/NEST are, however, working with some partners  to create alternative to fuel wood. We are looking at the use of biogas as fuel for cooking – that is to convert animal dumps into fire for cooking. We are also trying our hands on wood energy efficient stove. We are also embarking on wood domestication – looking at the possibility of communities planting trees that can be used for fuel wood. We are doing this to reduce the pressure on trees in the bush.”
Continuing, he said: “With the devastating impacts of climate change in Nigeria and the world over, any attempt to get out of poverty that is anchored on charcoal business will further aggravate the negative impacts of climate change on the country. Trees serve as buffers and carbon sinkers that help mitigate the impacts of climate change.
“Charcoal business is not a way out of poverty but will leave those in the business, especially in the rural communities, even more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. When faced with the climate change impacts, even the gains made from the sales of charcoal cannot service the damage or disasters brought about by climate change. At the international climate change talk, the issue of loss and damage is yet to gain the attention of the world leaders. Hence, engaging in charcoal business is like adding fuel to the already burning fire.
“Government, the private sector and CSOs should assist the vulnerable communities to better adapt to the impact of climate change through switch to renewable energy, clean and appropriate technology.”
Ogalla, who participated in the just concluded UNFCCC COP 19 climate negotiation in Warsaw, Poland, added: Climate change talks must come up in concrete terms, like loss and damage, technology transfer, capacity building and urgent adaptation measures to address climate change.”