Impact of the ICCN checkpoint

Impact of the ICCN checkpoint

Category: Illegal charcoal trade | Date: Apr 15 2008 | By: admin

A follow-up post by Ephrem:
After two months in operation, the ICCN Kibati checkpoint has made an appreciable difference in reducing the illegal charcoal trade at the south-eastern side of Virunga National Park. ICCN rangers and government troops are now doing joint patrols and working together to man the checkpoints. The results of these actions are:

2200 sacs (more than 110 tons) of illegal charcoal has been confiscated and re-distributed by UNHCR to camps providing refuge to displaced people
Decrease in the number of sacs seized per day from 200 to less than 20
80% decrease in charcoal production in the Virunga NP
Nearly 100% reduction of illegal charcoal smuggled to Rwanda

Checkpoint: One of the few military trucks still trying to pass through with charcoal

Who has been affected by the new charcoal interdiction efforts? Those in the commodity chain:

Rwandan militias or Interahamwe, who charge fees to access areas of the forest and who oversee the actual carbonization of the wood to make charcoal.

Corrupt members of the Congolese military who also charge the people making charcoal to look the other way, those in the military who sell Makala or charcoal, and those who charge the charcoal “mules” (peasants) for passage out of the park. Most of these peasants have now returned to their fields so the soldiers have lost this source of income.
Truckers
Charcoal production and distribution bosses

Who are the big losers?
Sadly, it is the people in Goma City. In December 20007, the price was $15 (US) per sac. That same sac now costs $25-30 (US). This isn’t entirely the result of the charcoal interdiction efforts. The effects of increased fuel prices and logistical issues related to washed out roads (common in the rainy season) are also to blame. With prices on the rise, it is clear that the policy of charcoal interdiction will meet with increased resistance and resentment unless affordable alternatives to charcoal are made available. That is the mission of this blog!

4 Responses to “Impact of the ICCN checkpoint”

Lisa, California, on 15 Apr 2008

Robert, I was thinking about yesterday’s post and just the idea of getting this off the ground in such a way that it would relieve the demand of chopping down the forest. I was thinking two things: Is this press the type of thing that, in the long run, every household could have to make their own briquettes; And then, on the otherhand, others may have this press and use it as a business opportunity, making briquettes to sell. As with the woman that Virginia is working with. The demand seems so great, that it would seem like every household should have one of these presses to make their own briquettes. I’m no production expert, but it would seem like mass production would be required to use this as some sort of business. I would be interested to know how many briquettes a person could make with that press and how exactly it works. Just seeing the loads and loads of very large bags of charcoal being brought out of Virunga; I think how in the world is this press going to compete with that? I think it’s a wonderful, wonderful idea. I’m just curious how you see it being implemented? You guys are constantly surprising me with your forsight and ingenuity. I’m sure you have lots more up your sleeve. Lisa

Robert Williams, on 15 Apr 2008

Great questions, Lisa! Here is what the Legacy Foundation says about the production capacity of the press I built:
“This model of the hand press is designed for use in a production team of four to eight persons. A team
of six persons, which plans and manages a steady supply of processed materials, will be able to pro-
duce 750-1000 fuel briquettes per 8 hr. day (including the materials processing). This is sufficient to
meet the fuelwood demands of 75 to 90 families per day. Without good management and advance planning for materials, the process can slow to a frustrating one third of this output with the same labor input! Enough cannot be said about the need for advance planning of materials.”
From this it evident that one press would be sufficient for up to 90 people. There is quite a lot of work involved in making the material, so it’s good to be able to spread out the work among more people. In terms of mass producing these briquettes, I’m going to meet with some manufacturing engineers where I worked in my previous incarnation. They’ll be able to give me a better idea about the kinds of machinery that will be required. There is money to made in this area and it could be a great micro-venture for some enterprising Congolese.

Robert Williams, on 15 Apr 2008

Correction to my previous (and redundant) comment. I meant 90 families as opposed to 90 people… Sorry.

Theresa Siskind St Petersburg FL, on 16 Apr 2008

Sobering report but you give us hope with your work. Thank you!

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