The consistent migration from the rural areas to the urban centres by Nigerian youths in search of greener pasture has continued to leave the forests greener (except for the illegal deforestation by other means).But for the declining generation of ageing farmers left behind in villages, a larger percentage of young Nigerians now move to the cities for white-collar jobs, which are hardly available.While the forests are being abandoned to the elderly to farm, a series of researches have shown that the forest is imbued with more sources of income generation for those willing to embrace the opportunities.One of such income yielding forestry wastes is charcoal. In this wise, we can talk of the charcoal from tree trunks and other sources from various wastes as fallen leaves, saw dust, wood chips, sugarcane biogases and rice husk, among others.It is essential to realise that charcoal can be nature made or cultured. However, availability of trees in forests provides the fundamental basis for the charcoal. The implication is that apart from exploring charcoal in form of nature-made in the forest, experts believe that trees can be cultured in forests to become charcoal. All these methods provide potential income making opportunities for discerning investors and entrepreneurs.With the prices of gas and kerosene rather being on the high side, the tendency is to resort to the nearest available source of heat energy, which is firewood or electricity. While concentration on firewood has its negative impact on the environment (due to gradual depletion of the forests, the non-reliability of electricity supply also has its effect apart from likely electrocution.These factors have made the use of charcoal not only a better option but also a source of income to those who produce it in commercial quantity especially in the rural areas.Apart from its use locally, reports have also revealed that charcoal has now become an export commodity to European countries, where it is highly needed. Countries like Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, Italy, Poland, Belgium and Spain are highly interested in charcoal as it forms another source of fuel for them. With charcoal consumption put at eight million tonnes annually, some of the countries buy and resell it to their neighbours.An expert in the field and Managing Director of Waste Natural Power Limited, Mr. Ashok Bharwani, says an investment of N90,000 is certain to earn an investor about N1.9m per year.He says that the availability of the resources in every part of the country makes it a huge income potential for those who are interested.Bharwani says, "The charcoal does not require big machinery and power to produce. It is simply made from forestry wastes like fallen leaves, saw dust, wood chips, sugarcane biogases, rice husk and many other agricultural wastes."The good thing about it is that all you need is to invest about N90,000 inclusive training and materials and at the end of one year you are sure of earning about N1.9m."He also discloses that the product is not only efficient for cooking but also an ideal fuel source because it is pollution free as there is no sulphur and hazardous contents."It has lower ash content of between two and five per cent. There is no fly ash when it burns, consistent high burning efficiency due to low moisture and easy for transportation, feeding and combustion due to unique shape," he adds.Bharwani believes that with a little investment in the project by the leaders at the three tiers of government, such problems as soil erosion, deforestation as well as desertification will be highly tackled.He says, "At the same time, 40 million trees would be saved from being cut to use as firewood by rural Nigerians. It also generates employment in millions."The charcoal production, which he describes as the Drum Method, has the option of being converted into pesticide or organic fertiliser after it had been used for cooking. This has made it possible to keep recycling the product.Bharwani is of the opinion that this is a golden opportunity that should be exploited by the teeming unemployed youths in the country, stressing that government at all levels should mobilise such restless youths towards channelling their vision and energy into prospecting in this area, as well as giving them the necessary training.He says, "You know it is always difficult to convince people about investment prospects. Until they see people making money from it, they wont want to put their capital in it. This is an opportunity for the unemployed youths in the city centres and the rural areas. It is also an opportunity for the government at levels to give this training to their unemployed subjects so that they can begin the process of making charcoal."
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