A two-day workshop is underway in Gobabis to review the needs and constraints of indigenous, emerging charcoal producers in Namibia.

The workshop is hosted in collaboration with the Ministry of Industrialization and Trade (MIT) and will also aim to develop a common understanding of industry operations and identify market access.

A business support and value chain expert at MIT, Shumon Khalid, pointed out that a well-supported charcoal industry has vast development potential.

Charcoal is produced by de-bushing and clearing land for better grazing for agricultural purposes while also providing jobs to local people.

"We want to come away with a clear common understanding of the problems, a list of the solutions, and some tangible way those solutions can be delivered. Who can do what it takes to deliver the solution? The policy level, the regulatory level, what the private sector associations can come together to do, and what the producers themselves can do to find those gaps."

A charcoal producer in the Omaheke Region, Ndjoura Tjozongoro, noted that diversification of farming activities is crucially important, and charcoal production is one way to diversify farming, but many challenges need to be ironed out.

"We have got various problems, from requirements to standards to everything. As emerging farmers, we also don't have enough technical know-how on how to produce quality charcoal. We don't have access to international markets, especially the European market, which used to be a problem, so we want to iron out this with our officials."