Gas

We ran out of gas home, so I decided to jump into the car and drive to Musoma to get a refill (which means bringing back an empty cylinder to a dealer and getting a full one, paying 45,000 Tanzanian shillings). To my taste and to my parochial budget, the retail price of the gas is way too expensive for any average customer in Tanzania. This gas cylinder will last for a month, sometimes bit longer, sometimes bit shorter. At the same time one sack of charcoal in our area is still around 8-10 thousand Tanzanian shillings. I will use maybe two sacks per month. You do the counting.

If the government is serious about saving the natural environment and whatever forests are left out there after massive devastation done by charcoal burners and firewood collectors all over the country (and at the same time reluctance of many Tanzanians to change their mentality towards the conservation of the natural environment by planting trees and preserving forests that are still left there, not only cutting trees), it must step in and control or subsidize the price of gas.

Second, the national enforced policy to make people plant and reserve trees in their communities. Not only once a year celebrate a national planting day with leaders showing example in the flashlights of cameras and spotlights of TV cameras. Otherwise people will not switch to alternative sources of energy as gas or solar power is way too expensive to most of them. So what can they do? Nothing! They need to live, they need to cook, they need to boil drinking water. So, the onslaught on forests will continue and the outcome will be gruesome, to say the least. I do not envy the government this task, to be honest. To change mentality and make people participate fully in preserving the nature is a tough ask...But there is no other way. Since the childhood, in kindergarten, schools, communities, neighborhoods, it must be implanted in people's heads - 'plant trees, plant trees, plant trees!' For the foreseeable future firewood and charcoal will remain as the major source of energy for most Tanzanians. So, in order to keep supplies flowing, existing national policies must be be enforced, planting trees must be encouraged in any possible way and must turn into national pride!

Whenever I drive to Musoma, which is around 37 kilometers from Kiabakari, I pass on my way throngs of bicycles loaded with firewood and charcoal from the countryside heading to town to sell. But on their way back I have never witnessed anyone carrying tree plants to replace the fallen trees. The climate change is visible to anyone. In the past twenty years I've been living in the area, I see how barren hills have become, how erratic weather is becoming and how confused people are in regards to times of farming and planting as you never know these days what is going to happen. Will it rain as it should according to tradition of the area or we will witness yet another weird weather pattern with strong winds, erratic violent rains, thunderbolts, huge downpours, then nothing for several days or weeks...