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Power blackouts, gas shortages push urban Malawians back to charcoal – EnviroNews
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A resident of Mzuzu in Malawi, Memory Banda, has returned to charcoal after abandoning the cleaner cooking appliances she bought six months ago, saying electricity blackouts and cooking gas shortages have left her with few alternatives.
At Area 6, popularly called SOSI in Mzuzu, Banda fans glowing embers beneath a heavy pot of nsima on a metal mbaula, or charcoal stove. Smoke rises from the fire, stinging her eyes as she prepares a meal for her family.
The mother of three invested in a single-burner liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) stove and relied on an electric hotplate for simple tasks like making morning tea. Both now sit unused in her kitchen.
“Electricity goes off at 5 a.m. and returns long after midnight,” Banda says.
“When I went to refill my gas cylinder last week, three different stations told me they were out of stock. My family has to eat, so I had no choice but to go back to charcoal.”
Her experience illustrates the challenge facing households seeking cleaner cooking options in Malawi’s urban centres, where unreliable electricity and intermittent LPG supplies are forcing some families to depend on charcoal again.
The shift raises concerns about the affordability and reliability of clean energy, the health effects of household smoke and pressure on forests already threatened by charcoal production.
A Crisis In Urban Kitchens
For years, government agencies and energy advocates have promoted cleaner cooking alternatives as part of efforts to reduce deforestation and limit exposure to smoke from traditional cooking fuels.
LPG and electric cooking appliances offer alternatives to charcoal, but their usefulness depends on reliable supplies, affordable technology and consistent access to electricity.
Energy and environmental policy analyst Chisomo Phiri says households are being caught between unreliable electricity and shortages of cooking gas.
“Urban families are caught between two failing supply lines,” Phiri says.
“When electricity fails, gas should serve as the natural fallback. When gas is scarce, families have no cushion left except charcoal. It is an operational survival decision, not a lack of environmental awareness.”
The source material attributes the electricity disruptions to low generation capacity and describes prolonged load-shedding, alongside recurring LPG shortages linked to foreign exchange constraints and supply-chain difficulties.
For households such as Banda’s, these disruptions leave few practical alternatives when they need to prepare daily meals.
However, the problem extends beyond the immediate supply crisis. The cost of clean cooking appliances, household incomes and established cooking practices also influence whether families can adopt and sustain alternative energy sources.
Clean Cooking Faces Long-Standing Barriers
Sustainability and environmental rights advocate Matthews Malata says the return to charcoal risks reversing progress made in promoting cleaner energy and protecting forests.
“The findings on the ground show that a lot of people are taking unsustainable charcoal as a fallback option when grid energy and LPG fail,” Malata says.
“The consequences are very serious. The more people rely on unsustainable charcoal, the more our forests are degraded, reversing all the gains we have made over time.”
Malata says unreliable electricity and gas shortages are immediate triggers, but Malawi also faces longstanding barriers to wider adoption of clean cooking.
He estimates that less than 1% of grid-connected households used electricity for cooking when power was relatively stable, while fewer than 3% of Malawians use LPG.
These figures point to the need to examine not only the reliability of energy supplies but also the affordability and accessibility of cleaner alternatives.
Malata says household income constraints, cultural cooking habits and the cost of clean energy technologies have limited adoption.
Without addressing these barriers, improvements in electricity generation or LPG availability alone may not be enough to move households away from charcoal permanently.
Charcoal Prices Rise As Demand Tightens
The growing reliance on charcoal also has an economic cost for urban households.
A charcoal vendor at Kavibale Market in Mzuzu, who spoke on condition of anonymity, says a bag that sold for K18,000 two months ago now costs more than K35,000.
“Supply is tight, but urban residents are buying faster than before because gas stoves are sitting cold,” the vendor says.
The reported price increase adds pressure to household budgets already affected by unreliable energy supplies. Families unable to use electricity or obtain LPG may have to spend more on charcoal, even as they return to a fuel they had hoped to stop using.
The trend also raises environmental concerns because increased demand can intensify pressure on forests supplying urban markets.
Environmental observers point to Dzalanyama Forest Reserve near Lilongwe and Kaning’ina Forest Reserve near Mzuzu as areas facing pressure from charcoal production.
The extent of forest loss directly attributable to charcoal production, however, requires systematic measurement to establish the scale of the damage and inform policy decisions.
Malata is calling for a comprehensive national economic and environmental assessment of charcoal dependence.
“We need a comprehensive national economic and environmental cost assessment of charcoal dependence,” he says.
“We must identify the exact annual forest cover loss directly attributable to charcoal production so policymakers can grasp the economic value of what we are losing.”
Such an assessment could help policymakers evaluate the environmental costs of charcoal alongside the economic pressures that make it an essential cooking fuel for many households.
Smoke Raises Health Concerns
The return to traditional charcoal stoves also raises concerns about exposure to household air pollution.
Smoke from cooking can affect people who spend long periods near open fires or poorly ventilated cooking spaces, particularly women and young children.
For households forced to use charcoal indoors or near living areas, the health implications add another dimension to the clean cooking challenge.
Reducing exposure requires more than encouraging families to change their cooking habits. Households also need access to reliable, affordable alternatives that work when they need them.
Banda’s experience illustrates the gap between adopting cleaner technology and being able to depend on it. Buying an LPG stove or electric hotplate does not guarantee cleaner cooking if fuel is unavailable or electricity is unreliable.
Civil Society Calls For An Energy Reset
Peter Mumba, of the civil society organisation PAUSE, says Malawi’s recurring electricity blackouts and LPG shortages reflect wider concerns about energy planning and public accountability.
“For decades, Malawians have been asking the same question: How can a country so blessed with resources fail to provide its people with the most basic needs — cooking gas and electricity?” Mumba says.
He argues that the shortages should not be treated solely as technical problems.
“The lack of liquefied petroleum gas for cooking and the endless blackouts from ESCOM in Malawi today is no longer just a technical failure. To ordinary Malawians, it feels like a cartel,” he says.
Mumba also questions why LPG supplies appear more accessible in neighbouring countries, including Zambia, Tanzania and Mozambique, than in Malawi.
He attributes the situation to failures in planning, foreign exchange management and political will, and says the public deserves answers from those responsible for the energy system.
His remarks are allegations and criticisms, rather than established findings of wrongdoing. They underscore calls for greater transparency over fuel imports, foreign exchange allocations and the management of electricity and gas supplies.
Mumba says Malawi needs a reset in its approach to energy provision.
“We cannot keep going like this as a country. We can do better. The people paying tax and giving you power deserve answers,” he says.
He argues that reliable electricity and access to alternative cooking fuels are essential both to protecting forests and supporting the economy.
“If we want to protect our forests, we must provide alternative energy. If we want to protect our economy, we must provide electricity,” Mumba says.
Building A Sustainable Response
Energy and environmental advocates say addressing the crisis will require coordinated action on supply, affordability, conservation and accountability.
One priority is to improve the reliability of LPG supplies by addressing disruptions affecting importers and distributors. Greater transparency in foreign exchange allocation and supply-chain management could help identify bottlenecks contributing to shortages.
Expanding access to affordable electric cooking and off-grid solar systems could provide additional options, particularly where households can access technologies suited to their cooking needs and electricity requirements.
However, clean cooking programmes must account for household purchasing power. Appliances and fuels that remain too expensive for ordinary families are unlikely to replace charcoal on a lasting basis.
Forest protection must also be part of the response. Community-led forest management, restoration and alternative livelihoods for rural charcoal producers could help reduce pressure on woodland while addressing the economic incentives that sustain charcoal production.
Malawi could also explore opportunities to align clean cooking and forest conservation programmes with international climate and environmental commitments, including the Paris Agreement, its nationally determined contributions, Sustainable Development Goal 7 on affordable and clean energy, and the Convention on Biological Diversity.
Malata says the response must address the underlying economic and social barriers to cleaner energy.
“We must address household income gaps, improve access to clean technology markets, and encourage community-led forest restoration alongside private sector investment in renewable energy,” he says.
The challenge is to make cleaner cooking not only an environmental aspiration but a dependable and affordable option for households across the country.
Back To The Mbaula
Back in Mzuzu, Banda hopes her return to charcoal will be temporary.
For now, the LPG stove and electric hotplate she purchased remain unused as she relies on the mbaula to prepare food for her children.
“No one wants to cook with smoke,” she says, wiping ash from her apron.
“We want clean, fast energy so our children can breathe easily and our forests can survive. But until the taps for gas and electricity open consistently, the mbaula remains our only kitchen.”
Her words capture the central challenge facing Malawi’s clean cooking ambitions: households cannot make a lasting transition away from charcoal unless cleaner alternatives are affordable, available and reliable when they are needed.
By Tionge Hara, AfricaBrief
