Charcoal Rush
Nigeria is losing her thick forest at an alarming rate due to increase in global appetite for charcoal which has placed so much demand on the country's forest.
Charcoal constitutes the primary urban fuel in most of Africa and some developed countries, and is a major source of income for many especially rural farmers whose farming activities have been greatly hampered by bandits and constant clashes with herders in parts of Nigeria.
Charcoal production is one of the main causes of deforestation in Africa, this in turn is closely linked to massive decrease in soil quality and a growing risk of crop failure.
According to the Food and Agricultural Organisation, Nigeria has lost 50% of its forest cover in two decades and is losing at 5% a year, the highest in the world. At this rate, experts warn, the country would loss all its forests by 2047.
Charcoal production process takes place in a poor oxygen environment which results in incomplete combustion of green house gases such as carbon dioxide (CO. 2) and methane (CH. 4) causing extreme weathers. This process is carried out almost in every charcoal producing community in parts of the country and no action is directed towards mitigating the effec
