 We know government says high reliance on rural and some urban households on timber and charcoal for domestic fuel needs to be addressed to enable the fight against the effects of climate change be meaningful. Land and Natural Resources Minister Jean Capata says there is need for measures that will reduce people's dependency on firewoods, especially for rural households, which currently stands at 84.5%. The Minister was speaking when she opened a regional workshop on wood fuel whose aim is to dialogue on cross-border wood fuel valuations in the circuit today. And Center for International Forestry Research, CFO Regional Scientist Davison Gumball said the continued and sustainable use of charcoal and wood fuels has become a major challenge for the region and must be addressed immediately. Government policy seems to reflect a region-wide aspiration for wood fuel to be tolerated until alternatives become available. The wood fuel sector, meanwhile, suffers lack of official support, marginalization and even outright violence across the region. A study that is in the progress shows that Zambia is epicenter of undocumented charcoal production and trade. It is therefore time that the dynamics of charcoal production and trade across this country are better understood. I really don't need to remind you that charcoal and wood firewood have become major issues within the region, and the region will continue to face problems related to how these fuels are accessed, how they are processed and how they are consumed. So we hope that this meeting will pick up on these few issues and try and thresh them out. The format is such that each of the countries here will make a presentation of the status of wood fuel and how they manage it in their respective countries.