Picture: Charcoal making
The Rural Women Center for Education and Development (RuWCED)- has in a capacity building workshop empowered some 55 women with skills on the production of clean charcoal within the context of a project known as “complementary climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies”. This took place April 30, 2021 at the Special Needs entrepreneurship Hall, Fish okpond Hill Bamenda, and Cameroon.
The 55 who acquired the training were all Internally Displaced Persons IDPs, forced by the Anglophone crisis to settle in Bamenda. RuWCED’s choice to train them in the production of climate friendly charcoal was in view of next week’s training on production of cleaner cooking stoves. This will help the women to move from 3 stone fireside which produces much smoke and encourages deforestation to cleaner cooking stoves with less health effects and more climate friendly since they would be encouraged to use eco charcoal produced from recycled waste rather than conventional charcoal. The choice of IDP women was because they are the most vulnerable to the effects of smoke in the kitchen, climate change and most of them are breadwinners in their household due to the crisis in the region and the COVID 19 which has caused many men to lose their jobs.
Mr Akuro Forsab, coordinator of the project on complementary climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies facilitated at the workshop to ensure that participants return with desired knowledge. He gave lectures on agro ecology and climate justice. Mr. Tata Elvis an Environmentalist and founder of CAYSDEP facilitated on various recycling options demonstrated on a table stand like conversion of plastics to pavement tiles, diapers to manure canned drinks to aluminium etc.He then proceeded with a practical sesson where everyone was involved in the production of eco charcoal from corn cobs and cow dung called cocorbs
and also saw dust and cow dung called cosad.
Explaining to the trainees, he said the kind of charcoal is less smoky for cooking thus reducing the rate of smoke exposure there by correspondingly protecting the woman’s health and the environment. Meanwhile the use of waste like cow dunk, maize cubs and saw dust also reduces environmental degradation and climate change just like plastic waste can be recycled to paved blocks to reduce environmental pollution. It was also said the use of these kinds of charcoal reduces deforestation where people fell down trees to produce charcoal but consequently reduce oxygen needed by man .The session on charcoal production was finalised with the cooking of rice using the charcoal which was an amazing sight for participants.
Other xperts like Mr Agbor Ebai Maurice Chief of service at the ministry of environment talked about complementary climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies while Ngwa Nora from communications department of RuWCED talked about use of modern communication techniques for climate activism she ended her talk with a practical session on using your whatsapp status to talk about climate change. Samuel Leboh outreach coordinator at RuWCED also gave a brief talk about practical steps to reduce your carbon foot print.
“This training is very important and at the end of this training we expect women to reduce deforestation and have a better livelihood through the production homemade charcoal and use of Charcoal pots which will be donated to them at the end of the training next week.” Akuro Forsab, Project Coordinator said in an interview on the significance of the project.
Picture :Facilitators display recycled products
At the end of the day, participants took the commitment to ensure that what they have learned is put to practice and to promote sensitization for a climate change free society. Some IDPs speaking to the press gave appreciation of the lessons learned. Zenobia said “this will help reduce the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere…I feel very happy because I have been using things to pollute the air but as from today I will stop.” To Queenta, everything said and done at the training was new to her. “I never had an idea on such things, but I have learnt alot today and I have learnt it well. I have made sure to keep the information in my head so I get to teach others”.
lizette termed the training a blessing. “I really want to testify that I am blessed. Being versed with the making of charcoal, a very easy procedure for that matter. This will help me go a long way financially as I will use the knowledge I gathered today to make income for my family”
RuWCED being a nonprofit organization has promised to organize more trainings in the days ahead with practical sessions on the manufacturing of cleaner cooking stoves to further beef up the skills of Internally Displaced Persons