It's a simple idea, but it has the potential to change the lives of people in New Zealand and Africa.
That's because New Zealand native Thabiso Mashaba came up with the "Slash for Cash" project, which turns wood waste into charcoal, fertilizer, and other products, reports Stuff.co.nz.
Mashaba, a cultural and environmental economist from Botswana, came to New Zealand in March to see for himself the aftermath of a devastating earthquake.
"I then asked the people why they're nothurrying up to clean up the beach," he says.
"Everybody was fingerpointing; forestry, government, this, and that."
He got them to appreciate "how we would go about it in Africa, which was how we would see it as an opportunity."
So Mashaba teamed up with a New Zealand nonprofit,EIT Te Pukenga, on the project, which has so far trained 42 people in the process of turning wood waste into charcoal, fertilizer, and other products.
"It's like having a motheror father holding your hand as you start your first steps and then watching you grow," Mashaba says.
"That's how they have been tous."
So far, the charcoal is being used
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