The Federal Government has raised the alarm over the growing environmental impact of charcoal production in Nigeria, warning that the largely unregulated trade is rapidly destroying forests and undermining sustainable livelihoods.
At a stakeholder dialogue in Abuja themed “Trade and Trees: Rethinking Charcoal Production and the Vanishing Forests,” top government officials and environmental advocates highlighted the urgent need for reforms. The event was organised by the Centre for Renewable Energy and Action on Climate Change with support from EkoEnergy.
Speaking at the session, Dr. Aishetu Ndayako, Permanent Secretary of the Ecological Project Office, said charcoal remains a key source of cooking fuel for millions of Nigerians—particularly in rural and semi-urban communities—but its production has come at a steep ecological cost. She cited uncontrolled tree felling, loss of biodiversity, and forest degradation as direct outcomes of the booming charcoal trade.
With over 70% of the population depending on biomass for cooking, the demand for charcoal has surged—both for local use and exports. However, the absence of strong regulation and sustainable harvesting practices has left many ecosystems severely damaged.
Ndayako urged policymakers to harmonise forest and energy policies, strengthen enforcement, and support community-led reforestation and tree-planting programs. She also called for scaling up access to cleaner alternatives like liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), ethanol, biogas, and improved cookstoves.
Also speaking at the event, Minister of State for Education, Professor Suwaiba Ahmad, emphasized the importance of environmental education. Represented by an education ministry official, she said integrating sustainability topics into school curriculums could help nurture a generation that understands the long-term impact of unsustainable practices.
The minister highlighted recent education reforms, including the Diaspora Bridge Initiative, which aims to improve research and collaboration in STEM-related fields.
Executive Director of the hosting organisation, Usman Muhammad, pointed out that Nigeria is currently Africa’s largest producer and the world’s second-largest exporter of charcoal. He said the country is losing approximately 1.5 million trees each day, with deforestation especially severe in the savannah regions of Niger, Benue, Taraba, Kwara, and Kogi States.
Muhammad warned that the consequences include rising carbon emissions, droughts, desertification, and worsening health conditions due to inefficient production methods. He called for urgent collective action and announced plans to convene a National Summit on Charcoal and Forest Conservation in June 2026.
Stakeholders at the event agreed that Nigeria must rethink how it balances energy needs with environmental sustainability, before its forests and the communities that depend on them are lost.
