Q FM Africa's Modern Radio
Climate Activist Revan Phiri has urged government to prioritize empowering charcoal traders who have formed cooperatives so that they have no reason to go back to ways that harm the environment.
Mr. Phiri says when government begins rolling out the various empowerment schemes, it will be ideal to empower the charcoal traders because failure to do so will send them back to indiscriminate illegal cutting down of trees.
He has told q news in an interview that such a move can go a long way in contributing to the fight against climate change especially in rural areas where there is less monitoring and large scale cutting of trees.
And Mr. Phiri says some of these charcoal dealers can be empowered to start-up businesses of tree nurseries which they can be selling to other people.
Meanwhile, Mr. Phiri has called for more afforestation measures in order to bring back to life parts of the forests that had been cleared by charcoal burners and other tree cutters.