A large proportion of a village dwellers' time is spent on collecting firewood and water. They may walk as much as 10km a day to get water for the family. This severely affects village productivity. This burden traditionally fall to women; recent research revealed that an average woman works 16.5 hours a day cooking, growing food, caring for children, carrying firewood and water, whilst a man works on average 6.5hours.

Firewood is an essential resource for all rural communities in Tanzania; there is no viable alternative and much of the country's natural forest has already been cut down for this purpose.

Although the remaining tracts of montane forest in Mufindi are now protected the availability of firewood for cooking and heating must be addressed.

Education and support for tree planting projects are necessary.

Water is the other finite resource that needs consideration. The water is collected from streams in the valley bottoms, whilst the population lives above. This creates a health risk, particularly during the rains when run off carries diseases into the streams.