[Terrapreta] Biochar in the Sahel?

[Bakary Jatta]

Dear Tom,

Thank you for this post. Good to find out what is happening in my area.

I saw the mention of char being incorporated in soil in Mali by an
organization working with women some time ago. It mentioned that this was to
be introduced in other West African countries, including Senegal and The
Gambia. However, I have not yet been able to find out the who or where in
the case of The Gambia.

 So far one neighbor has asked me to make a metal drum retort for him. He
has regularly been incinerating his biomass rubbish just to get rid of it.
Part of the 'rubbish' are his tree prunings, which will provide him with
charcoal for fuel purposes. Perhaps I will find some more converts after
him.

Warm regards,

Bakary Jatta

Bwiam village, Western Region


----- Original Message -----

> Message: 1
> Date: Sat, 2 Feb 2008 17:25:05 -0800
> From: "Tom Miles" <tmiles at trmiles.com>
> Subject: [Terrapreta] Biochar in the Sahel?
> To: "'terrapreta'" <terrapreta at bioenergylists.org>
> Message-ID: <002a01c86603$9ba0c980$d2e25c80$@com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
> The Drylands Coordination Group (Mali, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan) has
> published a web document titled "Best Development Techniques and
> Approaches
> for Agricultural Improvement in the Sahel."
>
> http://www.drylands-group.org/Thematic_Focus/Agriculture/Best_techniques/ind
> ex.html
>
>
>
> See also, DCG Activities:
> http://www.drylands-group.org/Activities/index.html
>
>
>
> My experience is limited to Mali but it is tempting to wonder what Biochar
> with compost would do to improve productivity in this environment.
>
>
>
> According to the report on Ecofarms in Mail (in French) there is a
> substantial business in wood and charcoal for cooking in Mali. Biochar is
> not mentioned.
>
> http://www.drylands-group.org/Activities/DCG_Mali/index.html
>
>
>
> Tom Miles