What is the Charcoal and Firewood sellers’ future in The Gambia?

On September 7th, 2016, The ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE) has organized a capacity building training with the media practitioners in the Gambia on Clean and more efficient cooking energy services.

« The role of media is key to the successful implementation of any development agenda, and the issue of coking energy is not an exception » said Mr Abdoulie Gassama who was speaking at the national sensitisation forum for media practitioners on sustainable cooking energy.

This sentense that recalls the role of journalists reminds me of an old man who’s being in the wood venture for 50 years. He has once raised a concern on the ban of fuel wood and charcoal, saying instead of banning it why not fixing conditions like any tree you cut down you must plant 2 or 3 more trees. As a blogger, I think that ECREEE and the Gambia forestry should take into consideration the wood ventures thoughts before making the final decision.

For the coordinator of the West Africa Clean Cooking Alliance (WACCA) « There are indirectly involved because we are trying to work with charcoal producers. We can also get them into the production of biochar, give them other alternatives to make money without destroying the forest. So we think in the future, we will involve the group of charcoal sellers », said Sire Abdou Diallo at the capacity building training for media practitioners in Gambia.

This event was the launch of an alliance for sustainable cooking energy in the Gambia. This institution promote partnerships among members of the alliance and other stakeholders to ensure synergy in influencing policies and stimulating actions that contribute to a vibrant sustainable cooking energy sub sector and sustainable utilization of biomass.