PREFACE

The importance of the charcoal sub-sector to the national economy and community livelihoods in Tanzania and beyond cannot be overemphasized. Charcoal is the largest source of household energy in urban areas for cooking and heating in Tanzania. In 2014 it was estimated that charcoal generated at least 1 billion US$ per annum in revenues. In 2021, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism (MNRT) estimated the contribution of charcoal to forest sector Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to be 44.2%, standing out as one of the most important forest products contributing to the national economy.

Despite the unrefuted signifi cance of charcoal for the country, it has been established that ineffi cient production, pricing and use of charcoal is among the factors that contribute to forest degradation and deforestation in Tanzania, where the annual deforestation rate is estimated to stand at 469,420 ha. In 2009, it was established that both central and local governments in Tanzania were losing about 100 million US$ per year due to a failure to eff ectively regulate the charcoal sub-sector and collect associated tax and non-tax revenues.

The aforementioned reasons among others prompted the government to take actions aimed to provide strategic direction and guidance to the charcoal subsector in order to improve effi ciency along the charcoal value chains and enhance the contribution of the sub-sector to the national economy and community livelihoods. The MNRT formed a special task force in 2018/19 comprising of representatives from all the key charcoal sub-sector stakeholders (NGOs, Private sector, LGAs, Academia and Central Government representatives) to conduct nationwide situational analysis and advice the Ministry on the best courses of action to improve performance of the charcoal sub-sector.