CONTENTS | ANB-BIA HOMEPAGE | WEEKLY NEWS
by Kennie Cliff Ntonga, Malawi, October 1999
THEME = ECOLOGY
Malawi's current deforestation rate of 50,000 hectares a year, is
likely to increase,
as more and more Malawians are shunning the use of electricity for their energy
requirements,
opting for firewood and charcoal which are cheaper and easy to access
The Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (ESCOM ), the country's sole producer and supplier of el-ectricity, increased its tariff by 15% in June this year. This followed a 35% increase effected by the corporation seven months earlier. As a result, many consumers in cities are spending nearly 20% of their monthly earnings on electricity alone. This is too high for a country whose Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita of US $206, is among the lowest in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region.
ESCOM's tariff rise has not only increased the Corporation's turnover, but also its operational problems. ESCOM generates its hydro-electric power at Tedzani and Nkula generating stations on the Shire River, Malawi's largest river.
Most of the firewood and charcoal used in the cities and towns of the Southern region, and in some parts of Central Region, originates from the banks of the Shire, in Mwanza and Chikwawa districts. The cutting down of trees along the Shire, causes the river to silt up, and this in turn hampers power-generating at the two generating stations. In February 1997, work at Nkula generating station ground to a halt after heavy silting caused the loss of two intake screens.
But will reducing electricity tariffs alone help save Malawi's trees that now have achieved the status of "endangered species"? The Deputy Director of Forestry in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs, Langes Sitaubi, thinks otherwise. "Tariffs may be reduced but people will still not make full use of electricity", he says. "My ministry has asked the Finance Department to consider reducing the surtax on all electrical appliances, such as cookers, irons and heaters in yet another attempt to save the forests". Sitaubi is also optimistic that following the liberalisation of the department supplying the electricity, more investors may soon join the power industry, thereby enabling Malawians to get a cheaper but better quality power supply.
The National Electricity Council (NEC), a body that regulates power generating and distribution in the country, recently told a local newspaper that ESCOM's tariff increases were justified, since about 80% of the basic material used in generating and distributing el- ectricity in Malawi, comes from abroad and has to be paid for in US dollars.
Some government and Non-governmental organisations are advocating the use of biogas and briquettes as appropriate alternatives to electricity. They claim the country has enough materials to provide alternative electricity sources. However, the Executive Director of the Consumers' Association of Malawi (CAMA), John Kapito, says biogas, if ever used, can have adverse effects on the human body. Kapito also wonders if Malawi's livestock population can produce enough droppings to cater for the country's energy needs.
Kapito says that briquettes can only work in rural areas where raw materials for producing the briquettes can be found. These include dried leaves, grass, paper and saw dust. At the same time, past experience has shown that those living in rural areas are the last people to profit from whatever improvements are made to the standard of living, even though it's the rural area which provides much of the basic material.
Robert Kafakoma is Executive Director of the Coordinating Unit for the Rehabilitation of the Environment (CURE). He says there are currently between 40-50 NGOs involved in environmental and natural resources management in the country. Many of these NGOs, such as the Evangelical Lutheran Development Programme (ELPD) and World Vision International (WVI), have been promoting tree-planting, regeneration and indigenous woodland management projects in rural areas. The Wildlife Society of Malawi (WSM) recently launched a project in Mwanza, under which, local communities are generating income from natural forests without cutting down trees. WSMs Executive Director, Daolos Mauambeta, says: "Local communities in the area are getting money from guinea-fowl rearing, seedling production, bee-keeping and processing of juice from the Malambe (adansonia digitata) and Bwemba (tamarindus indica) fruits." This programme, funded by German Technical Cooperation, is also being used in other SADC countries such as Botswana, Namibia and Mozambique.
One can only hope that these efforts will be complemented by massive reforestation programmes.
END
CONTENTS | ANB-BIA HOMEPAGE | WEEKLY NEWS
PeaceLink 1999 - Reproduction authorised, with usual acknowledgement