Blackouts, LPG shortages frustrate charcoal fight

Malawi’s fight against charcoal is being undermined by unreliable electricity supply and limited access to liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), leaving households with few affordable alternatives for cooking.

The development has emerged as a major challenge in efforts to curb deforestation, with the Ministry of Natural Resources acknowledging that inadequate household energy transition is one of the root causes of forest degradation.

Charcoal production at the centre of deforestation. | BBC

The ministry’s Principal Secretary Misheck Munthali said charcoal production remains a major threat to the country’s forests because many households lack reliable alternative energy source.

He was speaking in Lilongwe on Wednesday during an engagement between the ministry and the Parliamentary Committee on Natural Resources, Energy and Climate Change.

“There are no tangible alternatives readily available for people to use for cooking. Electricity supply is a problem, and there are shortages in accessing gas. This leaves people with little choice but to continue using charcoal,” said Munthali.

He observed that the consequences are already evident in some of the country’s major forest reserves, with Dzalanyama Forest Reserve losing 9 673.68 hectares of dense forest between 2015 and 2025, to charcoal production and timber extraction as per the Department of Forestry data.

The committee’s chairperson Tiaone Hendry said the government’s push for households to abandon charcoal was being complicated by frequent electricity blackouts and limited access to LPG.

“So what are people supposed to do? There is a suggestion that people can now turn to ethanol, but it is too expensive to use,” she said.

Hendry said deforestation will remain difficult to tackle unless households have access to cheaper energy.

The committee was due to hear from the Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (Mera) on the availability of LPG and challenges affecting access to the fuel.

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