Citation: Larwanou, M.; Mutta, D.; Wekesa, C.; Roos, A. Charcoal Trade in Niger—Product Flows and Business Models. Forests 2023, 14, 1910. https://doi.org/10.3390/ f14091910 Academic Editors: Giulio Sperandio, Andrea Acampora and Vincenzo Civitarese Received: 18 August 2023 Revised: 15 September 2023 Accepted: 15 September 2023 Published: 19 September 2023 Copyright: © 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). Article Charcoal Trade in Niger—Product Flows and Business Models Mahamane Larwanou 1 , Doris Mutta 2 , Chemuku Wekesa 3 and Anders Roos 4, * 1 Département Génie Rural, Eaux et Forêts, Faculté d’Agronomie, Université Abdou Moumouni de Niamey, Niamey BP 10960, Niger; m.larwanou@gmail.com 2 African Forest Forum (AFF), Nairobi P.O. Box 30677-00100, Kenya; d.mutta@cgiar.org 3 Kenya Forestry Research Institute, Taita Taveta Research Centre, Wundanyi P.O. Box 1206-80304, Kenya; chemukukefri@gmail.com 4 Department of Forest Economics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Box 7060, 750 07 Uppsala, Sweden * Correspondence: anders.roos@slu.se; Tel.: +46-739840705 Abstract: Charcoal is used in Africa for household energy, and the sector involves different actors with specific business strategies. Based on theories on sustainable business models and livelihoods, charcoal traders in five cities in Niger were surveyed about supply chains and strategies. Most charcoal is imported from Nigeria, and smaller quantities come from Benin and Burkina Faso or domestically. Men dominate the trade. Customers value charcoal quality, tree species, packaging, and low prices. Three groups of traders and their business models were identified: small-scale retailers, large-scale retailers, and wholesalers. The charcoal trade is typically combined with trade in other products and is frequently conducted with family members or friends; laborers are employed for loading and unloading. The charcoal business provides a complementary income for the traders’ livelihoods. Most respondents believed that trade would increase in the future; wholesalers expected promising future business opportunities. This study concludes that improvements should focus on quality, better marketing skills, and more sustainable charcoal sourcing. Charcoal use in the Sahel region of Africa should also be studied further to enable the development of effective policies in the West African bioenergy sector. The cross-border charcoal trade creates a need for coordinated policies for a sustainable charcoal sector in the Sahel region. Keywords: bioenergy; business strategy; charcoal import; informal economy 1. Introduction Charcoal is an important energy source across Africa, and the continent accounts for 65% of its global production [1,2]. Since charcoal contains approximately 1.7 times more energy than firewood per unit weight, it is suitable for long-distance trade [1,3]; hence, the charcoal trade can be observed from production sites in forested regions to places where markets can be found. Aspects of charcoal production, commerce, and significance for livelihoods in Africa have been analyzed in previous studies [4,5]; however, the charcoal trade in the western Sahel region (Senegal, Gambia, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger) is not so ade- quately described. This part of Africa, characterized by low rainfall and with a considerable population of 90 million, is highly dependent on biomass for household energy needs. This biomass includes, to an important degree, charcoal, and the consumption of this energy carrier in the region is on the rise (p. 82, [1,6]). Ouedraogo [7] documented that a section of the more well-off households in Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso frequently used charcoal alongside fuelwood for energy; however, the study did not trace the origin of the charcoal quantities. The charcoal trade from the north of Ghana, a West African country, to the demand centers in the southern region of the country has been studied [8,9]. Moreover, the importance of the charcoal trade in Africa, including the Sahel, has been examined Forests 2023, 14, 1910. https://doi.org/10.3390/f14091910 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/forests