The Save the Children (UK) Food Security and Livelihoods Programme conducted a livelihood assessment of the charcoal production area that stretches across Bong, Margibi, Bomi, Cape Mount and Montserrado Counties in Liberia in April 2001. The method used was the Household Economy Approach (HEA).
Since 1990, charcoal production has become much more important because the higher level of unemployment has meant that more people are looking for a way to earn money. There is also an increased demand for charcoal, because the other types of cooking fuel are too expensive for most people nowadays.
It is clear from both an economic and an environmental point of view that this way of life is unsustainable.
The aim of these assessments is to understand how people are living, with a focus on aspects affecting children' s rights to food, development and education.