関東森林研究論 文72-1(2021)

Forest management and Woodfuel use in Tanzania: Current status and the potential for biomass
briquetting
Christian Paul KOLONEL1, 2, Satoshi YOSHINO 2, Takayoshi SATO 2
Department of Forest Engineering and Wood Sciences, Sokoine University of Agriculture,１Department of Forest Science, Graduate School of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture, ２Abstract: As forest dependence for energy production continues to rise due to increasing biomass energy demands, woodfuelproduction has been reported to be one of the main drivers of forest loss in Tanzania. The aim of the current study is to provide an
overview and understanding on the status of Tanzania forests and the biomass energy dependence from forests (woodfuel). The
study further investigates the need for biomass briquettes production (biomass briquetting) by highlighting the benefits and related
constraints on briquettes production in the country. Developing alternatives that can be used in the same manner as woodfuel suchas biomass briquettes is important not only in reducing forest loss due to unsustainable woodfuel production but also in an
efficient way to utilize the biomass residues, which are currently under-utilized. Despite the constraints on briquettes production,
there are still notable benefits of briquettes including reduction in forest loss, reduction in firewood usage, emission reduction,
employment and hence income generation. Thus, biomass briquetting should be a national agenda to facilitate awareness creation,
product promotion and wider adoption of briquettes use while regulating charcoal production industry.
Key-word: Biomass briquettes, Woodfuel, Charcoal, Tanzania

40o 38’ east of Greenwich. It borders Kenya and Uganda in theⅠ Introduction
Like for most developing countries, the utilization of woodnorth; the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda andbased fuels (charcoal and firewood) in Tanzania is much

Burundi in the west; Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique in thehigher, being the only source of energy available to a large partsouth and the Indian Ocean in the east (9). It has a total area ofof society (11). An increasing demand for forestry energy

945,749 km2 with a population of 44.9 million and anegatively affects forest status and availability because of

population growth rate of 2.9% per annum (according to theweak governance and coordination, making it difficult to

National Population and Housing Census of 2012).

regulate the industry due to its informal nature.
As little attention is paid to efficient fuel use, scant research
is undertaken to assess whether biomass energy is sustainably
produced and utilized (15). Promotion of biomass energy inthe form of densified solid fuels (briquettes) is gaining animportance, sought as an alternative to charcoal which caneventually contributes to sustainable forest management. Thisis mainly by improving the state of forests through decreasing
the risk of fire and by indirect incidence in perception of theforest as a source of jobs and wealth creation (12). Thus, thecurrent study presents an overview of the forestry energy
dependence and the potential for biomass briquettes in

Fig.1 Tanzania, its location and main regions (adopted fromTanzania.

Google maps)

Ⅱ Materials and methods
１．Study area This subsection presents the study area
(Tanzania) description and its location. Tanzania (figure 1)
is located in East Africa and lies between the latitude 1o S and
11o 45’ south of the Equator and the longitude 29o 20’E and－33 －（受理日 2021 年 1 月 5 日）

２．Study item

This study presents a review on the forest

being about 83.7 million cubic metres, only 42.8 million cubic

resources, forestry energy and the potential for biomass

metres are available for harvesting at a sustainable level (9).

briquettes production and utilization as an alternative toThis indicates that consumption exceeds the sustainable supply,

woodfuel in Tanzania. Information and data is from publishedoverwhelming the capacity of forests to sustainably supply

articles and reports on the relevant topic.

wood resources for a diverse range of needs. To cite anexample, annual estimates of 100,000 – 125,000 hectares of

Ⅲ Tanzania forest resources and ownershipforests are lost due to charcoal production. On the other hand,

Forests resources are categorized by type, usage and legal

an annual forest loss of 100,000 – 400,000 hectares isstatus (6), of which the total forest area is estimated at 48

attributed to unsustainable woodfuel production (14).

million ha (55 per cent of the total area (table 1).

Despite the fact most of the charcoal is produced
unsustainably with inefficient technologies, the proportion atTable 1 Status and categories of forest resources

which charcoal contributes to deforestation in Tanzania is notCategory

well established. This may be due to the informal nature ofType
Use

Ownership

Forest resource

Total area
million ha%

charcoal industry, unorganized available data and lack ofWoodlands

44.6

93

countrywide studies to establish the relative contribution ofForests*

3.4

7

charcoal

Productive forest

-

60.3

alternatives and weak strategies to regulate woodfuel use, highProtected forest

-

39.7

reliance on woodfuel will continue to exert pressure and henceCentral government

15.84

35

threaten the existence of forest resources.

Local government

3.36

7

Village governments

21.6

45

Private sector

3.36

7

General land

2.4

5

Mixed**

0.48

148

100

in

driving

deforestation.

２．Necessity of Briquettes

Total

inadequate

Biomass remains and shallcontinue to be the main energy source for both rural and urban
residents. Alternatives such as kerosene, Liquefied petroleumgas (LPG) and electricity are less utilized as cooking energy
due to decreased demand as a result of high cost of kerosene,high start up cost for LPG while cooking with electricity isperceived too expensive.

* Mangroves, coastal forests, humid montane forest andplantations

Several years ago, plantations targeted to supply fuelwood
were established to address challenges on future availability ofwoodfuel. However, fuelwood plantations have largerly failedin Tanzania, partly due to management challenges, lack of** Unspecified forests with less known ownership; example
sacred forests

financial viability, little follow up and monitoring plans.
Likewise, more charcoal solutions to date are targeted on thesupply side (consumers i.e. big towns and cities, mainly Dar es

Ⅳ Forestry energy in Tanzania
１．Energy status, demand and supply

UnderSalaam) than on the demand side (production), at which
About 90% ofenergy use in Tanzania is wood based fuels (charcoal andfuelwood) while kerosene and electricity account for 8.8%,with non-wood fuels accounting to about 1.2%. Only 24% of
the population is connected to electricity (9), thus a continuous
reliance on woodfuel, with lack of relevant policies ultimately
contributing to deforestation and forest degradation (3). While
Tanzania consumes an estimated 1.6 million tons of charcoal
annually, approximately 15 million cubic meters of wood are
required to meet this demand (14).

unsustainable charcoal practices start thus leaving the entire
charcoal system largerly not addressed.
The inefficiencies in wood industry associated with low wood
conversion technologies results in large quantities of wood
wastes (sawdust, slabs and offcuts) which are normally left
accumulated in harvesting sites and eventually burnt, withthose on processing facilities being minimally used as directsource of energy. Direct use of biomass for energy results into
low energy output, with the piles of wood wastes in logging
sites accelerating the occurrence of forest fire, production ofWith the total annual supply (growth) of wood at national level－smokes and hence environmental pollution.

34 －関東森林研究72-1(2021)

Densification of wood residues into briquettes is moreplanning and implementation as free supply of raw materials

advantageous than direct burning of wood wastes as a fuel due

was assumed (4). From 2005 to date, various community

to having low bulk density, high moisture content and low

based organizations and private sectors are engaging inenergy content.

biomass briquettes production in Tanzania.

Briquetting (figure 2) involves the production of an

However, a number of issues constrain the successfulness ofenergy-dense solid fuel source (briquettes) through the process

briquettes production to realize their benefits over woodfuel.

of densification under a high compaction pressure or low

These includes unknown production capacity, lack ofcompaction pressure (7). Biomass briquetting (bio-briquetting)information on volume estimates of produced briquettes andinvolves conversion of low bulk density biomass into highsales volumes compounded by few marketing studies due todensity and energy-concentrated fuel through densification to

low community awareness on briquettes (10). Likewise,

form briquettes (5) mainly used for cooking and heating

access to technology, production bottlenecks, access to finance,

applications.

low business and marketing skills, supply limitations and low
adoption rate to utilizing biomass briquettes (4) hinders scaling
up of briquetting interventions.
As biomass briquettes have been demonstrated to be cheaper
than wood charcoal in some countries (1), the higher prices in
Tanzania limits their adoption and hence lack of public
acceptance (4). Furthermore, spatially dispersed feedstock,
short briquetting project span and lack of government
intervention makes it difficult for biomass briquetting tobecome a successful venture. Poor quality briquettes as
indicated by low-energy density, high moisture content fromhand operated machine (8) limits the scaling up of biomass
briquettes. In order to overcome these challenges, it is thus
important to devote much effort on promoting briquettes use
by proper planning and fully investment in high efficientFig.2 Briquettes production from biomass wastes

technologies for high quality products and hence wider market
penetration.

The use of charcoal briquettes (carbonized briquettes) fromsawmill residues is a viable option to reduce the pressure on
forest resources and presents a renewable energy resource as
an alternative to fossil fuels (7). The production of briquettes
from sawdust exemplifies the potential of appropriatetechnology for wood waste utilization to minimize theGreenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions and reduce deforestationby providing a substitute for woodfuel (13). Since morecharcoal are used than briquettes especially in long duration
heating (1), briquetting saves trees that can prevent soil
erosion and desertification by providing an alternative toburning wood for cooking energy (2).
３．Constraints on briquettes production

Ⅴ Conclusion and Way forward
Despite the constraints on briquettes production, there are still
notable benefits of briquettes including reduction in forest loss,
reduction in woodfuel usage, emission reduction, employmentand hence income generation. Thus, awareness creation,
product promotion and mass production are necessary for
wider adoption of briquettes use while regulating charcoal
production industry. Tree planting coupled with effective
forest management are the only solutions to meeting such highwood demands for energy purposes.
Generally, if the continuous high charcoal dependence is to be

While firstly

piloted in the late 1980s, briquettes production ended
unsuccessful due to various reasons, among them being
inappropriate briquetting machinery, unavailability and highcost of the briquetting machines’ spare parts, poor projects’－addressed, there is need to ensure adequate and affordable
availability of alternatives energy sources with the appropriatetechnology to meet consumer expectations.
More efforts are needed to understand the energy demands ofpotential consumers and the factors that will drive mass

35 －briquettes consumption in order to make briquettes moreof Natural Resources and Tourism (MNRT), Dar es

desirable to a wider range of users. Likewise, learning from

Salaam, Tanzania.

successful countries in terms of bio-briquetting such as Nepal(10) Mwampamba, T.H., Owen, M. and Pigaht, M.(2013).

and China is necessary to stimulate a change in the briquetting

Opportunities, challenges and way forward for thescenario by establishing research and promotional institutions.

charcoal briquette industry in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Energy for Sustainable Development. pp.158–170.
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