The hidden environmental cost of traditional fuel use

DAR ES SALAAM: FOR generations, traditionals have been at the heart of everyday life in Tanzania. Firewood and charcoal have provided millions of households with the energy needed to cook meals and carry out basic household activities.

For many families, particularly in rural and low-income communities, these fuels remain among the most accessible and affordable energy sources. They are deeply embedded in household practices, local economies and livelihoods.

But behind their apparent affordability lies a bitter truth: Traditional fuels are not truly cheap. Much of their real cost is simply not reflected in the price paid by households. Instead, the costs are borne by forests, soils, water resources, biodiversity, communities and future generations.

The widespread dependence on firewood and charcoal contributes to forest degradation, land degradation, air pollution and greenhouse-gas emissions. As Tanzania looks towards a more sustainable future, these hidden costs can no longer be ignored.

One of the most visible environmental consequences is the pressure placed on forests. Firewood and charcoal depend largely on wood harvested from trees. When trees are removed faster than forests can regenerate, forest cover declines.

In many communities, trees are cut not because people want to damage the environment, but because households need affordable energy and charcoal production provides an important source of income.

This makes the issue particularly complex: Environmental degradation is often closely connected to poverty, energy insecurity and limited livelihood opportunities.

The problem becomes more serious when charcoal production is carried out inefficiently. Traditional charcoalmaking methods can require substantial quantities of wood to produce relatively small amounts of charcoal.

This means that the environmental footprint of a bag of charcoal begins long before it reaches a household kitchen. Behind the charcoal sold in markets and along roadsides is a chain involving tree harvesting, charcoal production, transportation and combustion.

What consumers see as a relatively inexpensive fuel is therefore connected to a much larger environmental cost.

As nearby sources of wood become depleted, communities may have to travel farther to collect firewood or produce charcoal. Producers may move into new areas in search of suitable trees.

Over time, this can expand the geographical footprint of forest degradation and place increasing pressure on remaining natural vegetation. The result is a cycle in which declining forest resources make energy collection more difficult while continued dependence on those resources accelerates their depletion.

The loss of trees has consequences far beyond the disappearance of forest cover. Forests provide a wide range of ecosystem services that support human well-being and economic activity. They protect soils from erosion, regulate water flows, store carbon, moderate local climates and provide habitats for wildlife and other forms of biodiversity.

When vegetation is removed, soils become more vulnerable to erosion, particularly during periods of heavy rainfall. Sediment can enter rivers and streams, affecting aquatic ecosystems and water quality. Degraded landscapes can also become less productive for agriculture.

Biodiversity is another hidden casualty of unsustainable fuelwood and charcoal production. Forests and woodlands provide habitats for plants, insects, birds, mammals and countless other organisms.

As natural vegetation is cleared and fragmented, these habitats become increasingly disturbed. The loss of biodiversity may not be immediately visible to households searching for cooking fuel, but it can weaken ecosystems and reduce the natural services on which communities depend.

Forests are also important in regulating the climate. Trees absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store carbon in their biomass and soils. When forests are cleared or degraded, this carbon-storage capacity is reduced.

Burning wood and charcoal also releases carbon dioxide and other pollutants into the atmosphere. Although Tanzania’s contribution to global greenhouse-gas emissions is relatively small, protecting forests remains important both for climate mitigation and for maintaining the natural systems that help communities adapt to climate change.

Traditional fuels can also contribute significantly to air pollution.

Burning firewood and charcoal, particularly in poorly ventilated kitchens, produces smoke and other pollutants. What may appear to be an ordinary cooking activity can therefore create a polluted indoor environment. At a broader level, widespread combustion of biomass contributes to air pollution in communities.

Charcoal use is a particular concern in urban Tanzania. It is relatively easy to transport, store, and use, and many households depend on it because cleaner alternatives may be unavailable, unreliable, or unaffordable.

For low-income households, choosing charcoal is often an economic necessity rather than a deliberate choice to harm the environment. Therefore, policies aimed at reducing charcoal dependence should recognise the economic realities and energy needs of low-income households.

Simply telling people to stop using firewood and charcoal will not solve the problem. Millions of Tanzanians cannot immediately switch to cleaner cooking energy without affordable and reliable alternatives. In areas where access to clean energy is limited, households may have few practical options.

Even where electricity is available, connection costs, electricity prices, appliance costs, access to liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), and established cooking practices can influence households’ ability to move away from traditional fuels.

The transition must therefore reflect people’s economic circumstances and everyday needs. Cleaner cooking options need to be accessible, affordable, reliable and convenient.

Expanding electricity access, supporting solar cooking technologies, promoting biogas and LPG as cleaner cooking options, and improving the affordability and availability of efficient electric cooking appliances can help households gradually reduce their dependence on traditional fuels.

For low-income households in particular, policies should focus not only on promoting cleaner technologies but also on making them economically and practically accessible.

Clean cooking therefore deserves greater attention within Tanzania’s energy agenda. Energy policies often focus on electricity generation, transmission and industrial power, while household cooking receives comparatively less attention. Yet cooking accounts for a substantial share of household energy use and has direct implications for forest resources, air quality and household welfare.

A truly green energy transition should therefore place clean cooking at the centre of Tanzania’s energy agenda, ensuring that the shift away from traditional fuels is both environmentally sustainable and socially inclusive.

There is also an important economic dimension to the problem. Time spent collecting firewood is time that could otherwise be devoted to education, farming, employment or other productive activities.

As fuelwood becomes scarce, households may have to travel longer distances and spend more time obtaining it. What appears to be a free or inexpensive source of energy can therefore impose significant hidden costs on families and communities.

The environmental costs of traditional fuel use can eventually become economic costs. Agriculture depends on healthy soils, functioning ecosystems and reliable water resources; fisheries depend on healthy aquatic environments; and tourism relies on landscapes, wildlife and other natural attractions. Degradation of these resources can therefore affect multiple sectors of the economy and undermine livelihoods and national development.

Tanzania should address this challenge without blaming communities that depend on traditional fuels. Instead, efforts should focus on expanding access to affordable and reliable alternatives while strengthening the management of natural resources.

Measures such as clean energy expansion, more efficient charcoal production during the transition, alternative livelihood opportunities, reforestation, landscape restoration and effective enforcement of environmental regulations can help reduce pressure on forests and other ecosystems.

However, conservation measures alone cannot resolve the problem. Traditional fuels often appear inexpensive because many of their environmental and social costs are not reflected in the prices paid by consumers. These costs are instead borne by households, communities, ecosystems and future generations.

Addressing them therefore requires policies that consider both environmental protection and household energy needs.

Tanzania has an opportunity to pursue economic development while gradually reducing dependence on energy sources that place excessive pressure on natural resources.

This will require investment, innovation, stronger institutions and sustained political commitment, supported by closer integration of energy and environmental policies.

Moving away from traditional fuels should not mean abandoning the communities that depend on them; it should mean providing affordable, reliable and convenient alternatives. The real measure of progress should therefore be not only how much energy Tanzania produces, but also how it is produced, who can access it and what environmental costs accompany its use.

A sustainable energy transition is ultimately about protecting the natural resources, livelihoods and ecosystems on which Tanzania’s long-term development depends.

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