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The Charcoal Crackdown Saved Trees and Took Incomes With It

Enforcement in the north has slowed commercial cutting. Households that depended on the trade are still looking for the replacement.

By Grace AdokorachNorthern Uganda5 min read
A smallholder farmer working a plot in northern Uganda where commercial charcoal cutting has been restricted
Northern Uganda. 29 June 2026.
MixedEnvironment

Commercial charcoal moved north when the central woodlands thinned. Enforcement followed, and lorry traffic on the main routes fell noticeably.

The gap underneath

For households, charcoal was the cash crop that did not need rain. Removing it without a replacement pushes the same families towards clearing for cultivation, which is not obviously better for the woodland.

You cannot ban an income. You can only replace it.
Local council chairperson, northern Uganda

Officials point to briquette production, improved cookstoves and woodlot schemes, though uptake depends on a functioning market for the output rather than a launch event.

Sources & further reading
  1. National Forestry Authority - NFA Uganda
  2. Ministry of Water and Environment - Government of Uganda
  3. Daily Monitor - Nation Media Group
Grace Adokorach
Energy Correspondent, Lira

Grace Adokorach covers rural energy access in northern Uganda, from mini-grids and solar home systems to the household economics of cooking fuel.

  • Rural electrification
  • Mini-grids
  • Cooking fuel
Continue reading

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