Obongi district has been chosen as one of the focus areas for a research project investigating the illegal charcoal business and charcoal burning in Uganda and Tanzania.
The research is being conducted by the Human Rights and Peace Center (HURIPEC) of Makerere University’s School of Law, in collaboration with Augustine University in Tanzania (SAUT) and the Center for Resolution of International Conflicts (CRIC) at the University of Copenhagen.
The research team, led by Dr. Susan Mlangwa, Prof. George Mutalemwa, Emmanuel Lwankomezi, Mang’enyi Ngongo from SAUT, Haruna Kanabi from HURIPEC, and Ms. Verena Luise from CRIC, was welcomed to Obongi by RDC Obongi Samuel Mpimbaza Hashaka.
The research project is titled “Charcoal Conflict in Climate Change’s Decarbonization Dilemmas: Knots of Livelihood, Nutrition, Communities, Gender, Migration, and Energy in East Africa.”
RDC Obongi Samuel Mpimbaza Hashaka expressed his support for the research and pledged cooperation to address the pressing issue of illegal charcoal trade in Obongi and other parts of East Africa.