Dar es Salaam/Shinyanga. As dawn breaks over Tinde, Samuye and Ishina Bulaindi villages in Shinyanga Region, bicycles and motorcycles loaded with sacks of charcoal slip out along dusty tracks towards main roads linking rural settlements to urban markets.
Across the landscape, land lies stripped bare. Fresh stumps and blackened earth bear witness to recent tree felling for charcoal production.
Here, charcoal is more than a household fuel. It is the backbone of a sprawling informal economy that continues to expand despite forest laws, enforcement checkpoints and patrols.
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