
FORESTS NEWS
Analysis / 15 Jan 2018
Women producing charcoal in Zambia
(Or the costs and benefits of challenging the patriarchy)
Charcoal producer Mabvuto Zulu shows the results of her labor in Nyimba district, Zambia. Women’s involvement is growing in the traditionally male-dominated industry. CIFOR Photo/Mokhamad Edliadi
In an earlier piece on Forest News, 27-year-old Mabvuto Zulu shared her experiences producing charcoal in Zuwalinyenga village in eastern Zambia. Recent findings from the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) show that as a woman in charcoal production and trade, Mabvuto is not alone – in fact, women’s involvement in the traditionally male-dominated industry has increased across the country.
While anyone visiting a charcoal market in Lusaka would be able to witness a good number of women working as traders and retailers, discussions conducted in the charcoal-producing districts of Choma and Monze in southern Zambia reveal that it has also become increasingly common for women to engage in stages of production. This can include everything from packaging charcoal to molding kilns, and even felling and cutting trees.
The increased involvement of women is attributed to an increase in demand (particularly boosted by load shedding arrangements in major cities) as well as a perceived increase in poverty in rural areas. Many women view charcoal production and trade as a viable business opportunity with low entry barriers. Trees growing on what is seen as ‘no-man’s land’, such as national forest reserves, are generally easy to access, and capital requirements for producing charcoal tend to be low.
At the same time, some women feel pushed into charcoal production due to poverty and a lack of viable alternative livelihood options. This is aggravated by fluctuating rainfall patterns, which negatively affect crop yields. Despite the viability of charcoal, most women and men still view farming, not charcoal production, as their primary source of livelihood.
When asked about how income from charcoal is spent, most respondents mention various one-off expenses, such as school fees or agricultural inputs. Others, particularly widowed or divorced women, emphasize the income security that charcoal can provide when crops fail. Charcoal income thus plays an important complementary – rather than competing – role with other income sources.