Clean cooking, carbon projects boost livelihoods in Mvomero
Morogoro Regional Administrative Secretary Mussa Ali Mussa hands over a gas cylinder to project beneficiary Bibiana Kanyika, a resident of Gonja in Pemba Ward, Mvomero District. She received the cylinder as a reward from the PAMS Foundation project for successfully managing her tree farm. PHOTO | JACKSON JOHN
The project aligns with the National Clean Cooking Energy Strategy 2024–2034, which aims for 80 percent of Tanzanians to use clean energy for cooking by 2034
Morogoro. Pemba Ward in Mvomero District, Morogoro, is emerging as a model for linking clean cooking energy and carbon trading to community development and forest conservation.
The initiative, led by the PAMS Foundation, covers six villages of Maskati, Gonja, Mafuta, Pemba, Semwali and Dibago under agreements signed in 2022. It combines planting indigenous trees with distributing gas cylinders to reduce reliance on firewood and charcoal.
Project coordinator Richard Paul said the programme has already provided permanent jobs to more than 40 young people, created casual employment on 300 acres and rehabilitated 945 acres with more than 200,000 indigenous trees.
Farmers have also received Sh250 million in compensation and participation payments.
“To fight climate change, we are bringing communities into carbon trading while offering alternatives to firewood. Beneficiaries also receive gas cylinders, prioritising those who perform well in farm and nursery management,” Paul explained.
Challenges such as fears over land ownership were addressed by issuing customary land titles through the district council, giving farmers both security and access to loans.
The project aligns with the National Clean Cooking Energy Strategy 2024–2034, which aims for 80 percent of Tanzanians to use clean energy for cooking by 2034.
During a visit to Gonja Village, Mvomero District Commissioner Maulid Dotto urged villagers to safeguard the initiative. “This project provides jobs and conservation education. Its success depends on everyone’s cooperation,” he said.
Morogoro Regional Administrative Secretary, Dr Mussa Ali Mussa, praised the project for protecting both public health and forests, while the government also plans to boost household incomes by distributing spice seedlings such as cloves and cardamom.
Beneficiaries say the changes are already visible. Silili Anthony, a nursery worker, said he no longer uses firewood: “I now cook with gas and I understand the benefits for health and the environment.”
Bibiana Kanyika from Gonja Village added: “Cooking with gas has freed me from smoke and collecting firewood. I hope the government can help make gas cheaper and more accessible.”
According to the Ministry of Union and Environment, Tanzania could earn up to $1 billion (Sh2.4 trillion) annually from carbon trading. By March 2024, 24 projects had been registered, with Sh32 billion disbursed to local authorities.
With Mvomero among the early districts to implement such projects, residents are now seeing the benefits through jobs, income and environmental restoration.
