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Malawi’s forests are under severe threat due to primarily to an over reliance on illegal and unsustainably produced charcoal for urban cooking and heating fuel. The country’s high population growth is adding even more pressure to the situation. More than 96% of Malawian households rely on firewood and charcoal as their primary cooking fuels, and more than three quarters of all urban households rely on charcoal as their primary source of cooking and heating energy, which is the most significant driver of deforestation and forest degradation.

Co-funded by USAID & UKaid, Modern Cooking for Healthy Forests (MCHF) is a 5-year activity designed to support the Government of Malawi to promote sustainable forest management and improved energy options to maintain forest cover and reduce emissions. MCHF focuses on reducing the illegal and unsustainable demand for charcoal as a cooking fuel though a robust strategy that scales up the production of a sustainable wood fuel supply, promotes the adoption of alternative cooking energies and fuel-efficient cooking technologies, and strengthens forest governance systems in deforestation hotspots.