Sokoine University of Agriculture

Economics and sustainability of commercial production of wood fuel in Miombo woodlands of eastern Tanzania

Show simple item record

dc.contributor.author Luoga, E. J.
dc.contributor.author Witkowski, E. T. F.
dc.contributor.author Balkwill, K.
dc.date.accessioned 2017-06-23T16:20:16Z
dc.date.available 2017-06-23T16:20:16Z
dc.date.issued 1999
dc.identifier.uri https://www.suaire.sua.ac.tz/handle/123456789/1677
dc.description.abstract Miombo woodlands, which comprise the largest proporti on of the savanna regions of southern Africa, are central to the livelihood of both rural and urban households . Wood fuel is the main source of energy for the majority of the population, with firewood used in rural areas and charcoal in urban centres. Indigenous commercial production of charcoal, using earth mound k ilns, utilises about 42 tree species, a higher number than for any other uses. Over 56% of the trees harvested within communal lands (ranging between 2.4 and 68.6 cm dbh) were felled for charcoal. The apparent profit in charcoal production is attributable to very low capital outlays, "free" own labour, "free raw materials" , lack of concern about associated external costs, high demand for charcoal and lack of alternative income-generating activities. Cutting of tr ees for charcoal implies an opportunity cost as the trees may have been used fo r other purposes such as timber, construction, medicine, firewood and food. Miombo woodlands also perform vital ecosystem serv ices such as carbon sequestration, nutrient cycling and watershed protection. The estimated local wood consumption for charcoal of 6.01 m 3 capita -1 year -1 is very high compared to subsistenc e firewood consumption of only 1.3 m 3 capita -1 year -1 . The area cleared for charcoal production locally was about 1 671 ha year -1 which is about 10% of the accessible area within local communal lands. This shows that al though commercialisation of wood resources provides tangible monetary benefits to rural communities, it also contributes to environmental degradation that will ultimately threaten their long-term survival. en_US
dc.language.iso en en_US
dc.publisher University of the Witwatersrand en_US
dc.subject Commercial production en_US
dc.subject Wood fuel en_US
dc.subject Miombo woodlands en_US
dc.subject Eastern Tanzania en_US
dc.title Economics and sustainability of commercial production of wood fuel in Miombo woodlands of eastern Tanzania en_US
dc.type Article en_US


Files in this item

This item appears in the following Collection(s)

Show simple item record

Search SUA IR


Browse

My Account

Statistics