Her talk, at a seminar during the Centre’s recent Science Week 2013 in Nairobi, gave several insights into wood-based fuel production and trade, as well as the many gaps in the knowledge and data that still exist. On 11 September, Miyuki Iiyama, a socio-economist with ICRAF, presented the preliminary findings of the review, which is looking at demand, supply and policies around woodfuel and charcoal. The work is being done under the auspices of the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agro forestry. Given the importance of wood-based fuels in Africa and their strong ties to people’s livelihoods and the environment, researchers from the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), Centre for International Forestry Research ( CIFOR) and International Network for Bamboo and Rattan ( INBAR), initiated a literature review of the status of woodfuels in sub-Saharan Africa. Furthermore, in countries like Kenya and Namibia where charcoal is legal, the regulatory framework for stakeholders is complex, multi-layered and obscure, and periodic bans on the production and trade of charcoal are not uncommon these bans are not always effective. These initiatives, such as promoting fuel-efficient stoves introducing modern, more efficient charcoal-burning kilns and encouraging the use of alternative fuels like gas, kerosene and electricity, have had mixed results in Africa. They have been linked to forest degradation, deforestation, and respiratory diseases (from indoor smoke), and major efforts directed at reducing or replacing their use.
But woodfuels, and particularly charcoal, are also clouded by controversy and obscure regulation. Woodfuel as a source of energy, commerce and employment makes it an important socioeconomic asset to the continent. The sector has been growing by around 3 percent annually since the turn of the 21st century, according to FAO data. In 2007 charcoal was a US$8-billion industry, employing more than 7 million people in the sub-region, according to World Bank estimates. Here, nine out of ten people-around 760 million individuals-rely on firewood and charcoal as their primary source of energy for cooking, heating and other uses.
Woodfuel meets around a tenth of the world’s energy demand, with its users overwhelmingly found in sub-Saharan Africa. Charcoal sellers in Mozambique.World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) archives
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