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Rising demand for charcoal threatens Matabeleland North’s forests

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BY NOKUTHABA DLAMINI

Mazia Dube’s daily routine involves delivering tonnes of charcoal at one of Hwange’s busiest truck stops and he says his workload keeps increasing.

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Dube is hired by different people, who illegally obtain the charcoal from the forests in Hwange’s Madumabisa village, to drop the loads at the Truck Inn Stop in the Cinderella area from where it is loaded to Bulawayo bound haulage trucks.

The demand for charcoal among households in Zimbabwe’s urban areas has been rising sharply due to rolling power cuts as a result of depressed electricity generation and the country’s inability to import enough power to cover for the deficit.

“I make a profit of US$0.50 for every bag of charcoal I deliver at the truck stop,” Dube said.

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“A bag of charcoal costs US$7.”

He said on a good day he can make as much as US$100 from the charcoal deliveries with the business reaching its peak during winter.

Experts say high electricity costs coupled with frequent power cuts in Zimbabwe has pushed the demand for firewood for cooking, lighting and heating.

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This has accelerated the destruction of Zimbabwe’s fragile forests as the country loses about 60 million trees – some 33 000 hectares of forests – every year.

Stacks of chocoal headed for the market. Pic: Forestry Commission 

Mthelisi Sebele, an ecologist with the Forestry Commission in Matabeleland North, said the illegal cutting down of trees for firewood and charcoal had resulted in an alarming loss of indigenous forests and land degradation, especially in districts such as Hwange.

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The Forestry Commission is a government body mandated to protect state forests and it says the illegal charcoal industry has become a huge source of concern.

“Throughout the province, Hwange has become a hotspot, especially in areas such as Madumabisa Lubangwe and Matetsi up to Dete along the Nyantue River and Dinde,” Sebele said.

“The problem has been proving difficult to control since it started from Hwange around Deka Drum and spread in other areas from 2000 to 2010.

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“It has even spread to Victoria Falls and other areas controlled by the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, rural district councils and the Environmental Management Agency.

“Through our investigations we have established that there is high demand for charcoal, especially in Bulawayo and Hwange is the supplier,”

Charcoal – favoured for burning hotter and longer than wood – is made from heating wood without oxygen.

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The practice is taking root across swathes of the country, dominated by native forest hardwoods such as the mopane hardwood species, which takes over a decade to fully grow and adapt according to research.

Last year, 158 people from Matabeleland North and Bulawayo were arrested and fined for trading in charcoal with over two tonnes of charcoal confiscated by the authorities.

Sebele said those arrested during the clampdown included people who poached wood for carvings, which are also big businesses in tourist areas such as Victoria Falls.

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“In Hwange we confiscated 505 bags of charcoal and made 20 arrests and in Dete we repossessed 690 bags and arrested 50 people,” he added.

“In Lupane seven bags were also confiscated and 39 people got arrested for that offence while in Bulawayo and Victoria Falls a total of 69 people were arrested and 25 bags of charcoal were confiscated,”

“Our concern is that with the way the cutting down of trees is done it means that we will lose out as a country on farming, timber production, community livelihoods, climate change, soil proliferation and deficit of wood fibre production.”

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A truck loaded with chacoal. Pic: Forestry Commission 

The Forestry Commission is pushing for tighter laws to curb the practice and is proposing mandatory jail terms instead of fines, which are proving to be not deterrent enough.

Currently anyone caught selling firewood and charcoal can be fined US $59 or sentenced to a year in jail.

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Trymore Ndolo, a Victoria Falls Combined Residents Association member, feels the illegal cutting down of trees to make charcoal or for firewood is linked to growing poverty in communities.

“Here in ward 11 we have over 1000 people who have no access to electricity in their homes and some of them are poor and unemployed,” Ndolo said.

“So sending them to jail or imposing a stiff fine is unjustified.

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“Authorities must actually set up  a hub where people can sell the firewood at a very affordable price while on the other hand they work on making licensing accessible and easier because as we protect trees.

“We should have answers to people’s daily needs.”

A new report by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) says over 2.4 billion people (one in three) globally depend on firewood for cooking.

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It says an estimated 12% of wild tree species is threatened by unsustainable logging “with declines in large-bodied species that have low natural rates of increase also linked to hunting pressure.”.

“Seventy percent of the world’s poor are directly dependent on wild species,” IPBES noted in its July report.

“One in five people rely on wild plants, algae and fungi for their food and income; 2.4 billion rely on fuel wood for cooking and about 90% of the 120 million people working in capture fisheries are supported by small-scale fishing.

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“But the regular use of wild species is extremely important not only in the Global South, from the fish that we eat, to medicines, cosmetics, decoration and recreation, wild species’ use is much more prevalent than most people realise.”

In response to the emerging deforestation problem in Matebeleland  North , the Victoria Falls Wildlife Trust (VFWT), a not for profit organisation operating in the region, has distributed over 4000 eco-friendly rocket stoves to communities.

“We have distributed 4361 of those stoves in 11 wards in and around Victoria Falls,” VFWT’s community development coordinator Edith January told The Standard.

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“The aim is to reduce deforestation and reduce carbon emissions produced through burning wood and we aim to keep distributing more so that we protect the environment while being aware of the daily needs of those communities.”

Wood fuels represent significant economic value in many countries, accounting for approximately US$ 6 billion for the whole of Africa, according to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation.

More than US$1 billion of this amount was made up by charcoal. – The Standard

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National

Zimbabwe moves to establish tough drug control agency amid rising substance abuse crisis

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BY NOKUTHABA DLAMINI

As Zimbabwe battles a surge in drug and substance abuse, the government has tabled a new Bill in Parliament seeking to establish a powerful agency to coordinate enforcement, rehabilitation, and prevention programmes across the country.

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The National Drug and Substance Abuse Control and Enforcement Agency Bill (H.B. 12, 2025) proposes the creation of a dedicated agency mandated to combat the supply and demand of illicit drugs, provide rehabilitation services, and strengthen coordination between law enforcement and social service institutions.

According to the explanatory memorandum of the Bill, the agency will operate under two main divisions — a Social Services Intervention Division to focus on prevention, treatment and community rehabilitation, and an Enforcement Division to target supply chains, trafficking networks, and related financial crimes.

The legislation describes drug abuse as “a grave internal national security threat” and “a public health crisis” that fuels organised crime, corruption and violence. It notes that drug profits have enabled criminal cartels to “purchase the instrumentalities of crime, including weapons,” and to corrupt both civilian and non-civilian public officials.

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Under the new framework, the agency will have powers to:

  • Investigate and arrest individuals involved in drug trafficking and production;
  • Work jointly with the Zimbabwe Republic Police, Zimbabwe Revenue Authority, and Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe;
  • Establish checkpoints at ports of entry and exit to intercept harmful substances; and
  • Expand the legal definition of “harmful drugs” to include emerging synthetic substances, in consultation with the Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe.

The Social Services Division will lead prevention campaigns, develop demand-reduction programmes, and facilitate the creation of rehabilitation and detoxification centres nationwide. It will also introduce a monitoring system requiring schools, employers, and local authorities to adopt anti-drug awareness and intervention programmes within 90 days of the Act’s commencement.

Each province and district will host offices of the agency to decentralise services and ensure community-level engagement, while traditional leaders will help devise local prevention strategies.

The Bill further empowers the agency to employ prosecutors from the National Prosecuting Authority to handle drug-related cases, signalling a shift toward specialised prosecution of narcotics offences. It also introduces a new, stricter “standard scale of fines” and penalties for drug crimes — higher than those prescribed under existing criminal laws.

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In a major development, the proposed law integrates the agency into Zimbabwe’s Money Laundering and Proceeds of Crime Act, allowing it to pursue unexplained wealth orders and seize assets linked to drug cartels.

The Bill stresses rehabilitation and social reintegration as key pillars. It obliges the agency to support affected individuals through psychosocial counselling, vocational training, and community wellness programmes aimed at helping addicts rebuild their lives.

If passed, the National Drug and Substance Abuse Control and Enforcement Agency will replace fragmented anti-drug efforts currently scattered across ministries and law enforcement agencies, creating a central authority to drive national strategy and coordination.

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Parliament is expected to debate the Bill in the coming weeks amid growing concern over youth addiction to crystal meth, cough syrups, and other illicit substances that have taken root in both urban and rural communities.

 

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Hwange unit 8 breaks down, deepening Zimbabwe’s power supply challenges

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BY WANDILE TSHUMA 

ZESA Holdings has announced that Hwange Unit 8 has been taken off the national grid following a technical fault, a development expected to worsen Zimbabwe’s persistent electricity shortages.

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In a statement released on Monday, the power utility said the unit would be out of service for ten days while restoration work is carried out.

“Hwange Unit 8 has been taken off the grid due to a technical fault. The unit will be out of service for 10 days while restoration work is carried out,” ZESA said.

The company said Hwange Unit 7 remains operational, generating 335 megawatts (MW) to support system stability, while power generation at Kariba South Power Station has been ramped up with “careful management of water allocations” to compensate for the temporary shortfall.

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ZESA apologized for the inconvenience and appealed for public understanding as engineers work to restore the unit.

Zimbabwe has faced recurring electricity supply challenges over the past two decades, driven by ageing infrastructure, limited generation capacity, and low water levels at Kariba Dam. While the commissioning of Hwange Units 7 and 8 in 2023 brought some relief, frequent breakdowns have continued to disrupt supply, forcing industries and households to endure prolonged load-shedding.

The latest fault at Hwange comes at a time when power demand is surging across the country, particularly during the hot season when air conditioning and irrigation systems increase pressure on the grid.

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Energy experts say the outage highlights the need for greater investment in maintenance, renewable energy, and grid modernization to stabilize Zimbabwe’s power supply in the long term.

 

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Tsholotsho to host national commemoration of International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction

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BY NOKUTHABA DLAMINI

Zimbabwe will on Thursday, this week,  join the rest of the world in commemorating the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction (IDDR), with national events set to take place at Tshino Primary School in Ward 5, Tsholotsho District, along the Tsholotsho–Sipepa road.

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The global day, observed annually, aims to promote a culture of disaster risk awareness and highlight efforts to reduce vulnerability and build resilience in communities.

Speaking to VicFallsLive, Civil Protection Unit Director Nathan Nkomo said this year’s commemoration holds special significance for Tsholotsho, a district that has long struggled with recurrent flooding.

“The whole issue is to reduce, not to increase the occurrence of disasters. And by commemorating, that’s where we share ideas with other people,” Nkomo said.

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He noted that Tsholotsho’s selection as the national host was deliberate, following the successful relocation of families who were affected by flooding at the confluence of the Gwai and Shashani rivers.

“It’s not by accident that we are commemorating in Tsholotsho. We have built 305 houses for people who were affected in the Spepa area, and we will be celebrating in style because we have managed to relocate them,” he said.

“Now we no longer hear of people being flooded in Tsholotsho because of that relocation. So, we will be celebrating in style for Tshini and Sawudweni.”

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The relocations, carried out under government’s disaster recovery and housing programs, have been hailed as a success story in proactive disaster risk management.

Looking ahead to the cyclone season, Nkomo said funding remains the major challenge in preparedness and response.

“We cannot preempt to say there are challenges yet, but historically, since we’ve dealt with COVID-19 and Cyclone Idai, the issue of funds has always been critical,” he said.

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“This year, we are dealing with cyclones at a time when even our development partners have dwindling resources. So, funding will take centre stage in our deliberations, to see how best we can respond with the little we have. The whole idea, when you go to war, is not the question of numbers, but of strategy and how to win.”

The International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction is observed globally every October 13, but Zimbabwe’s national commemorations are being held later this year to align with local preparedness programs and community-based activities.

 

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