This is within the framework of a Germano-Cameroon Forest and Environment Sectorial Support Programme (Pro PSFE) which seeks to process and promote forest products. The Secretary General in the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife, Denis Koulanga, on Thursday March 17, chaired a workshop grouping stakeholders of the project to examine and validate the results of the study at the German Cooperation office in Bastos, Yaounde.
Presenting the findings, the leader of the three-man team of consultants who did the study, Ibrahim Njoya, said the average consumption of charcoal in Garoua, Maroua, Ngaoundere and Kouseri, where the studies were carried out, is estimated at 24,000 tonnes annually to the tune of FCFA 6 billion. But supply is at best 8,431 tonnes per annum. The study, he said, also revealed that most of the wood rots in the forest zones in the East region, which could be processed into charcoal and conveyed to the northern region to curb the deficit in demand. They agreed that this would step up the livelihood of producers in the east, reduce the encroachment of desertification in the northern parts of the country and even facilitate regional trade between Cameroon and Chad.
“We noticed that the potential is available, the know-how is there but there is a problem of excessive control on the roads which could force the product at almost no franc from the source to get to the market at cut-throat price”, the consultants said. Reason why the study, among others, recommended the band on felling trees in the northern parts of the country, facilitate transport means so that the product can easily leave the source to the market and above all reduce control checks for the needy population to get the product at affordable prices.
