This session demonstrates how efficient charcoal and biochar production supports the restoration of forest and agricultural landscapes. Charcoal is the most important energy source for households across Sub-Sahara Africa. Efficiently produced charcoal reduces the wood demand for its production, thus protecting forests and woodlands, and it reduces the GHG emissions while using it as an energy source. Gasifier stoves in households, which make use of the energy surplus during char production for cooking, also reduce the fuelwood demand and yield biochar, which improves soils and food security. Showcases from Ghana, Madagascar, and Kenya will be presented.

Relevant Resource(s):

FLR Ghana

• Forest Landscape Restoration by means of sustainable wood energy value chains – Internationale Climate Initiative (IKI) (international-climate-initiative.com)
• Towards a sustainable charcoal production – Internationale Klimaschutzinitiative (IKI) (international-climate-initiative.com)
  

Gasifiers Kenya

• Use of Biochar-Producing Gasifier Cookstove Improves Energy Use Efficiency and Indoor Air Quality in Rural Households (mdpi.com)
  Biochar from cookstoves reduces greenhouse gas emissions from smallholder farms in Africa | SpringerLink

Biochar

• Biochar – a Soil Conditioner to Protect the Climate
• GLF Africa 2021 White Paper – Biochar for Climate Change Mitigation and Restoration of Degraded Lands

Charcoal

• Charcoal Value Chains in Kenya: A 20-year Synthesis
• Fiches Thématiques pour une Modernisation de la Filière Bois-Energie à Madagascar

Whitepaper

• Sustainable charcoal and biochar help to restore forest landscapes