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Uganda has long struggled to protect its forests, amid a population explosion that fuels demand for plant-based energy sources perceived as cheap, especially charcoal.
According to a 2018 report by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, reliance on charcoal or firewood is highest in Africa and Asia, with some African cities almost entirely dependent on charcoal for cooking.
In Uganda, an East African country of 45 million people, charcoal is preferred in households across the income spectrum, but especially in those of the urban poor — seen as ideal in the preparation of certain dishes that require slow cooking.
The leading supplier of charcoal in the country, northern Uganda, has long been the scene of sustained forest destruction, with local leaders demanding a total ban on commercial production.
Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni recently issued an executive order banning the commercial production of charcoal in the area, disrupting a national trade that has long been influenced by cultural sensibilities as much as the seeming abundance of idle land.
It remains to be seen how effective the president’s order will be amid corruption concerns and an inevitable scarcity that’s bound to make charcoal more expensive.
Charcoal production persists despite the presidential order, as well as an anti-climate change law empowering local authorities to regulate harmful activities.
Some local activists have formed vigilante groups in districts such as Gulu, where a former lawmaker, Odonga Otto, recently led an attack on a truck that was dispossessed of 380 bags of charcoal.
Although Otto has since been charged with aggravated robbery, the country’s chief justice has praised the suspect as a hero.
District councils in the region raise revenue from licensing and taxes, and some security officials have backed truckers with armed security, according to Museveni and Otto.
Otto has helped impound multiple trucks, including two seized ones parked outside a police station where a crowd gathered one afternoon, hoping to grab the goods.
Otto says he plans to serve hundreds of local officials with letters of intent to sue for any lapses in protecting the environment.
This article was provided by The Associated Press.