I live in Africa and I face the daily struggle against deforestation.
people in the countryside (in the bush) are cutting trees at an incredible pace to make charcoal out of them.
it's an easy way to make money and the country need charcoal for heating and cooking, but the impact on the forest is really devastating.
do you know a cheap machine (ideally a manual to be used where no electric power exists) to build pellets?
pellets should not be too small in order to be easy to be managed for a kitchen fire (not a modern burner).
something big like a piece of wood (whatever shape, from 5 to 10cm or more).
the machine should be able to transform straw, grass, small pieces of wood and whatever remains from the harvest for example of crop.
in the bush there is a huge amount of grass and straw growing during every rainy season at the end of which it is simply burnt to keep the bush clean.
If such cheap machine would exist the villagers could cut the grass and straw in the bush and produce the pellets out of it.
we might be able to solve the problem of revenue for the villagers and the problem of fuel for cooking.

please help
future generations may thank you lot more than what I can do.
thanks