This is Somalia's black gold. Charcoal has become big business in a country where, over the last decade, there have been no restrictions or regulations in the absence of a central government. Vast areas of bush have been depleted to feed an enormous appetite for charcoal in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States. This transforms a process that would otherwise take years to achieve naturally.
Most Somali households use it for cooking.
But since charcoal became a lucrative export trade to the Arab states, businessmen and environmentalists say battery-powered chain saws have been introduced. Most of the charcoal is made in southern Somalia, between Brava and Kismayo. Much of southern Somalia is typically sparse savannah with few forested areas, apart from around the Sakow area which has large trees. But Jilib near Kismayo and Brava have areas of thick vegetation, some too dense for livestock to pass. More than 80 percent of the trees used for charcoal are types of Acacia.