[Stoves] re Charcoal in Ganbia

[Crispin Pemberton-Pigott]

Dear Alex

Rwanda has a commoditized fuels market where just about everyone pays for
almost all fuel. There is an energy market, in other words. Charcoal is the
strongly preferred fuel and people grow trees to convert to charcoal which
they sell on a sustainable basis. There is nearly no forest left to cut down
and that which remains is heavily protected (according to some reports). It
is like Lesotho in that people are aware of the monetary value of each and
every tree growing in their yards. They are cut and sold individually.
Nearly all trees are 'owned by someone'.

Rwanda also has a very large population in a short transporting distance.
This allows for marketing and distribution efficiencies that imply do not
exist elsewhere, the Sahel and Botswana being opposite examples.

Because of donor concentration on Rwanda, there is a lot of money around in
a small region making things like start-up funding easier to find. Getting
assistance for carbon offset money is also easier given the large localized
market.

For these reasons, Rwanda is an unusual place.

Regards
Crispin enjoying summer

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Re: [Stoves] re Charcoal in Ganbia

Hi Crispin,
In the context of your statement below, what of "special" about Rwanda?

Alex