#nathaliebertrams

[pulitzerfieldnotes]

Where the City Meets the Forest

Ingrid Gercama // Nathalie Bertrams

Daily hundreds of whole sellers, resellers, packagers and transporters come together at Mgona market to sell charcoal. For an illegal market, it is very loud and boldly out in the open: vendors shout the prizes of their wares and even the police comes to buy charcoal.

Rose John, a wholesale lady, has been selling charcoal for almost five years now. It is particularly profitable, she says, when “there is no electricity, people buy a lot more”. On such a day Rose can sell up to five bags of 15 kg – for around 14 USD profit.

“People in Lilongwe prefer charcoal to firewood because firewood smokes” says Ronald Nijera, a charcoal stove producer selling his goods close to Mgona market. Especially in the rainy season “people like to burn the fuel in their bedrooms” as they don’t have a stand-alone kitchen. Wood is believed to be “for country people”.

Steven Kanhuni, chairman of the Mgona market shows that business is not without risk. Responsible for the daily faring of the market he has just come from the police station to deal with the arrest of his colleague: “Government forces us to abolish this business but poverty is forcing us to continue”.

To read more of Ingrid and Nathalie’s reporting, visit their project “Smoke and Mirrors”.

[pulitzerfieldnotes]

The Stove Beaters

Ingrid Gercama // Nathalie Bertrams

In a suburb of Lilongwe under a few improvised roofs of plastic sheets and wooden beams, a group of men are forging charcoal stoves. Around fifteen bulky men hammer, weld and cut second hand metal sheets into charcoal cook stoves. They have successfully copied the Kenyan Jiko stove – a cheap and popular model without any energy efficient properties.

Owner Ronald Djierna started the business in 2013. “One person can sell over ten cook stoves (with prizes ranging $1,75 – 5) per day”. Djierna realised that his stove can be dangerous: ““This one – if you use it inside without ventilation, you can die”. Ronald would love to produce a cleaner charcoal stove but needs training and material: “Now we use the sheet from roofs to forge our stoves”.

In Malawi, most of the NGOs working on cookstoves are concentrating on rural areas, which constitute 85% of the country, and on firewood cookstoves.

Ramzy Kanaan from PERFORM, an initiative working on reducing forest degradation, says: “There are much more effective charcoal stove available in other countries.” He continues: “It is clear that charcoal in Malawi will continue growing. It is the fuel of preference across urban Malawi”.

To read more of Nathalie and Ingrid’s reporting, visit their project “Smoke and Mirrors”.

[pulitzerfieldnotes]

In Cook Stove Paradise…

Ingrid Gercama // Nathalie Bertrams

Florence Togama, a mother of two, from Mulema village in the South of Malawi, has a big collection of cook stoves: a modified Jiko charcoal stove, a Chitetezo clay model, two sets of built-in rocket stoves, one in the kitchen and one outside, and various models hidden under a pile of junk. Her kitchen is almost a museum of cook stoves showcasing the history of NGO work in the village.

But – even with so many different options available – Florence is still cooking on her “old” three-stone fire. She explains: “In the rainy season, with the wet wood, the other stoves don’t really work and smoke too much.”

Each model has its advantages and disadvantages, she believes. The Jiko model isn’t very energy efficient and the Chitetezo clay model, the most common improved cook stove in Malawi, is cheap but heavy and breaks easily. The in-built rocket stoves worked well for her, but now she wants to convert her kitchen in a bedroom – they are just not practical anymore.

Florence defies the myth that people will discard old cooking habits when a more advanced fuel and stove become available. Old habits stick and improved technologies might just don’t deliver the promised.

To read more of Nathalie and Ingrid’s reporting, visit their project “Smoke and Mirrors”.

[pulitzerfieldnotes]

Multi-Party Democracy and “Free” Trees

Ingrid Gercama // Nathalie Bertrams

“It costs us much money – around $10,000 per year per platoon – to protect Malawi’s forests”, says Stella Gama, Assistant Director at the Department of Forestry. Since one year the department and the army work together in a desperate attempt to save Malawi’s forests.

An army commander deployed in one of the biggest reserves shows the scale of illegal networks: “Are you telling me you are collecting fuel wood in a ten-ton truck? No, those are organised business men and they use the forest as their source of income”. Malawi’s charcoal trade is estimated at a total value of US$57 million.

The sheer scale of the plundering is a recent trend. “Before 1997, before introduction of the multi-party democracy in the country – we only used to have one guard”, says Plantation Manager Mr. Kabichi about the Dzalanyama forest reserve, an area of 984 km2. “The government was very strong. People were afraid to come in, even afraid to pass by”.

He continues: “Since multi-party democracy some things have become better. But most public assets are now seen as free”. He estimates the plundering at 5 ha of wood annually. He shakes his head: “We are losing here…”

To read more of Nathalie and Ingrid’s reporting, visit their project “Smoke and Mirrors”.