Tanned, rested, and ready to switch to turbo mode. The Charcoal Factoid of the Day, gathered during our recent travels in our native Nicaragua is that a “quintal” bag of charcoal for sale in colonial Granada, on the banks of Lake Nicaragua, retails for about fifty cents US. It’s going to be hard to find a competitive substitute at that price! We’ll be reporting more on our fact-finding mission shortly and lots more shortly. Kim Continue reading
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The Charcoal Project on a stealth mission…
Folks, The Charcoal Project is on a field research trip (mixed in with a little R&R with the fam) in Nicaragua, my home. I will report back to you next Monday on the results of our findings. Thanks for checking in! Best, Kim Continue reading
Trading briquettes for mountain gorillas
Mountain Gorillas Veterinary Program farm partner Immaculée Uwimana from Rwanda and Justice Mvuyekure from Uganda were both looking for business opportunities that could be operated on small land holdings. We had recently become aware of a program operating in the DRC where byproducts were processed into an alternative fuel source aimed to compete with charcoal for family use. After some discussions, we decided to travel to the training location in Rumangabo, DRC. Read more Continue reading
Nation’s fortune rise and fall with the forest resources
A seemingly out-of-place artifact discovered along the banks of the Chesapeake Bay (Maryland, USA) offers a cautionary tale of how the rise and fall of nations is often linked to their natural resources. Continue reading
When good stove projects go bad!
How many abandoned stove projects litter the world? How much money have donors sunk into ill-conceived stove designs? Poorly executed marketing campaigns? And lack of investment in capacity building?
I raise this question because a recent conversation forced me to rethink one of my cherished assumptions: that local stove production was the only way to go. Continue reading