MADAGASCAR: butane helps protect the Madagascan forest

July 2021

Promoting the use of butane gas as the main alternative energy to charcoal in Madagascar: this is the commitment made by the Ministry of the Environment and Sustainable Development, the Ministry of the Economy and Finance of Madagascar, and the Madagascan Committee of Butane (CMDB), the professional group of the butane gas sector in Madagascar, of which VITOGAZ Madagascar and GALANA Oil Distribution are part, through a tripartite partnership agreement signed on 2 July.

The situation of environmental degradation in Madagascar has become more than alarming in recent years. Coal production is one of the main causes of deforestation, with an annual consumption of 450,000 tonnes of charcoal. This initiative to democratise Butane gas allows actors in the sector to thus taunt the main and harmful competitor of butane: charcoal.

After several years of advocacy with the authorities for a policy revising the reduction of VAT on gas, CMDB and the latter are committed to democratising the use of gas in Madagascan households through various actions: a reduction in the price of the bottle, the marketing of bottles with a smaller capacity, the facilitation of access to gas for new users through allocations and promotions on fatapera kits (cooking set), the development of retail gas sales, and finally the implementation of reforestation campaigns. These commitments will be accompanied by communication and educational actions on the benefits of gas.

In a country like Madagascar, such an initiative is a good example of a win-win partnership on all fronts, both for the public sector and the private sector, and finally for Madagascar’s forests, with the result of reducing household carbon emissions.