Publications & Resources

Across Tanzania’s southern landscapes, a quiet transformation is taking place. Communities, schools, civil society organizations, and local authorities are working together to address environmental degradation, promote sustainable energy solutions, and strengthen community participation in natural resource governance.

Early in the morning in Mbuyuni village in Masasi District, women and children used to spend hours collecting firewood before the day’s cooking could even begin. For many families, firewood was the only available source of energy, but it came at a high cost—time, health risks, and increasing pressure on nearby forests.

TaTEDO SESO in collaboration with her partners (The Government of Tanzania, the Tanzania Natural Resources Forum, and the European Union) assigned a team of three experts to review and analyze related policies and legal frameworks hindering sustainable charcoal value chain promotion in Tanzania from Mid-June to the end of August 2024. T

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 2020, charcoal production in Tanzania was estimated at 1.9 million tonnes per year with a Gross Value Added of TZS 2.1 trillion contributing about 44% of the forest sector GDP. Charcoal generates revenues of about USD 1 billion per annum and supports the livelihoods of people along the value chain. Charcoal is the largest source of household energy for cooking in urban areas in Tanzania, as it is considered relatively available, affordable, and easy to transport, distribute, and store.

Charcoal is the largest source of household energy in urban areas for cooking and heating in Tanzania, as it is considered relatively available, affordable, and easy to transport, distribute, and store1. Sustainable charcoal value chains in the country are guided by policy and legal framework instruments that work together in a triangulation manner. However, the low pace to sustainable charcoal value chain development could be due to either outdated or contradicting policy and legal framework instruments. In the country, we have noticed this situation as the charcoal value chains is governed by several police instruments including legal frameworks, each in most cases operating independently. For effective, development of charcoal value chains in the country, there are some policies and legal frameworks that conflict with each other, thus there is a need for revision and harmonization.

The United Republic of Tanzania, which comprises of Tanzania Mainland and Zanzibar, brings forth her Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) guided by both national and international contexts. These INDCs were prepared in consistence with decision 1/CP.20, and will be implemented by 2030.

The completion of this important PURE Investment Prospectus is a contribution of joint efforts from a range of individuals and organizations. We wish to express our deepest gratitude to the Mott Foundation for its contribution of project financial resources and the World Resources Institute (WRI) for providing the platform and support for this project. We are particularly indebted to our technical advisors, Eng Estomih Sawe (TaTEDO SESO CEO), Mr. David Njugi (Productive Use Specialist-WRI), and Mr. Anderson Ngowa (Finance Associate-WRI), for their valuable guidance, constructive feedback, and unwavering encouragement throughout the implementation of this project. Their expertise was instrumental in shaping the direction and quality of this work.

Climate change is serious global challenge threatening humanity and achievement of the local, national and global development plans including the 2030 UN Sustainable Development Goals. Modern energy services are a powerful engine of economic and social development. It is a foundation stone of the modern industrial economy and provides an essential ingredient for almost all human activities: it provides services for cooking and space/water heating, lighting, health, food production and storage, education, mineral extraction, industrial production and transportation.

TANESCO (Tanzania Electric Supply Company) is the government-owned power utility in Tanzania, and is responsible for generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. This briefing note explains the opportunity TANESCO has to take an integrated electricity access and modern energy cooking approach. TANESCO can increase its revenue and the demand for surplus electricity in the future by promoting and accelerating customers’ transition to electric cooking (eCooking) on energy efficient appliances. At the same time this would affect the health and wellbeing of their customers, mitigate carbon emissions, and protect the local environment from deforestation. TANESCO’s planning processes can encourage grid-connected customers to efficiently use electricity for cooking at affordable costs. This is a win-win scenario where the financial sustainability of the utility, and the wellbeing of customers and the environment can all be positively affected through a strategic approach to integrate electricity access and modern energy cooking, as is being pursued in neighbouring Uganda and Kenya. We recommend a pilot of energy efficient cooking appliances to pursue this objective and can offer support in this endeavour.