JANEEMO firewood stall in Ndirande

1st July 2009

The first load of Neem firewood from coppiced  trees in Chikwawa  district was transported and delivered for sale by Play Soccer Malawi  in a high density urban area of Blantyre, Ndirande. Play Soccer  Malawi's volunteers are enthusiastically selling and promoting neem firewood produced by JANEEMO communities in lower shire to offer an alternative to the illegal and unsustainably sourced charcoal that is  currently the only source of energy on offer.

Local women of the area  are very enthusiastic about the initiative and the firewood is selling well. Play Soccer Malawi works with over 10,000 families in the area  and hopes to promote JANEEMO concepts to the urban population through their curricula which they promote while playing football. Plans are also in the pipeline to test new recipes for moringa snacks to be given to children after the games.

The initiative kills two birds with one tree as JANEEMO communities in Chikwawa  are also happy to have a source of income from the firewood and now they are aware of the different points in the value chain they are keen to split and dry at  source. In the past they were selling their firewood at just 100 MKW a cubic metre now they are selling at average 3000 MKW a cubic metre and more.