CHAPTER 7: ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF DATA FOR RESEARCH QUESTION 3. 118
7.3 Group A: Deforestation in Masvingo Peri-Urban Area 121
7.3.1 Identification of Problem and plan 121
According to the data, the main cause of deforestation is that residents cut trees for firewood and to sell for income. I present data from the photo-narrative and then relate it to data from the reflective diary. Thereafter I present supporting literature.
Residents cut trees for firewood for use and sale
Photograph Ai: Depicting women carrying firewood from the peri-urban area of Masvingo
People are poor and unemployed, they depend on firewood as a source of energy… it is freely available so people just cut trees every time they need wood, we see women with babies carrying wood. I can imagine how hard these women work-walking long distances to gather wood…I wonder if they think about planting more trees (PN-Ai)
Photograph Aii: Showing stacks of firewood for sale
People eke out a living on selling firewood. This is a means of survival for the boy in the picture. (PN- Aii)
It is visible from the photograph above that firewood is an essential commodity (source of energy) in many poor homes in Zimbabwe. The excerpt also alerts us to the context of unemployment which exacerbates poverty (are poor and unemployed) and dependency on fire woods as a source of energy (just cut trees every time they need wood, is freely available ).
The following excerpts from the reflective diary reinforce the responses from the photo-narrative
These are thin, lean women who are carrying bundles of firewood, they have their babies with them-I can imagine all they want is to cook and keep their families warm. They don’t seem to worry about cutting down trees or the need to replace cut trees. May be we need to try and create awareness to curb the cutting of trees, these are God fearing women with children. Maybe we can address the cutting of trees at church. (RD-Ai)
People are so poor, this boy belongs in a classroom yet he is selling firewood when school is on, its sad when children have to deal with adult responsibilities so early in life is on. Electricity is
the forest and cut wood , the important thing is to plant more trees, but how? Who will they listen to? Aah the pastor is a man of great influence. (RD-Aii)
The above excepts reiterate the plight and hardship that poor citizens have to endure (thin woman, people are so poor, electricity is unaffordable to most people) in terms of their energy requirements. Hence deforestation is a means of meeting the energy needs for many people in Zimbabwe (keep their families warm, wood is free).
The identification of the above environmental challenges resonates with studies conducted in Zimbabwe by Dube, Musara & Chitamba (2014), Chambwera (2004) and Mandelli, et al. (2014). These studies found that deforestation is a major challenge in Zimbabwe, with 63% of Zimbabwe’s population relying on wood as the main source of energy for cooking and heating. The reliance on wood for energy stems from the high unemployment rate (around 95%), limited financial resources, lack of access to other forms of energy such as gas, the cost of purchasing electrical appliances, which also need to be maintained regularly, as well as the exorbitant cost of electricity in Zimbabwe.
The excerpts above elucidate group A’s plan to address the issue of deforestation by inculcating pro- environmental habits such as tree planting among people (replace cut trees, plant more trees) thereby raising environmental consciousness in order to change current practice (they don’t seem to worry about cutting down). The church is seen as a key avenue for the launch of their plan (maybe we can address the cutting of trees at church; these are god-fearing women with children) and the pastor is a powerful element in their plan (man of great influence) who can influence his congregation (these are God-fearing women).
Put simply, group A’s plan was to create environmental consciousness among the community (at their church service), by alerting people to consequences of ‘firewood harvesting’ and the need to conserve trees or plant replacement trees.
To put the plan into action the group approached the church pastor for support as is reflected in the excerpt below:
We turned to Pastor Smith for support, initially we were not confident about approaching him, but 3 members from our group attend his church. He liked our idea, and gave us permission to address churchgoers after the Sunday praise service. We were so excited, we met many times to research the information we were going to give to the community (RD-Aiv)
The pastor supported group A’s plan (him… he liked our idea; gave us permission to address churchgoers).
The group met to prepare (met many times to research the information) for their information sharing session with the community.
In terms of learning about EE, is can be seen that group A learnt about deforestation in the identification and planning stage by observation (we see), engaging in research/investigation (to research the information), consultation with community (him… he liked our idea); situational analysis (worry about cutting down trees or the need to replace cut trees), sensitivity to context (unemployed, poor, God fearing) arriving at conclusions (they are poor, supposed to be at school) as well as commitment to effective action (met many times to research the information we were going to give to the community).