By Alicia Prager and Simpsa Samson
For all his adult life, (click here) Mohammed Haruna has worked as an accountant at a local bank. But with the escalation of the Boko Haram conflict in Nigeria’s Northeast, investors shied away. Five years ago, Haruna lost his job. To sustain his four kids and wife, the 49-year-old has desperately been looking for a way to make money.
He points at the big pile of wood behind him—it’s what he is offering clients today. As soon as everything is sold, he will go back into the bush to cut further trees.
The demand is high because firewood has become the number one source of energy in Nigeria’s conflict-ridden Northeast.
One loaded pick-up truck after another is leaving the market on the way to the customers’ homes. Five years ago, one load cost around 12,000 naira, today the price has more than doubled to roughly 25,000 naira ($70). And with every year that the conflict with Boko Haram persists, both demand and price are rising—and simultaneously the number of people looking for an income in the wood business....
