Coping with Firewood Scarcity in Soroti District of Eastern Uganda

Abstract

This study investigated how rural households cope with firewood scarcity in dryland areas of Eastern Uganda. A household survey was conducted in December 2008 to January 2009, where 490 respondents were randomly interviewed. Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) were also held with community elders and women. Responses were analyzed both descriptively and qualitatively. Findings indicated that 99% of the households used firewood for cooking with a per capita consumption of 542.32 Kilograms. Commonly used tree species included Combretnum molle (42.7%) and Acacia polyacantha willd (18.2%). Over 78% of the households have a preference for acacia tree species for firewood. In particular, Acacia polyacantha willd (60.3%), Acacia hockii (16.9%) and Combretum collinum (9.6%) were the most preferred tree species. The scarcity of firewood supply was eminent from the average distance (2 ± 7 Km) traveled by collectors in search of them. Firewood collectors spent 1 to 10 hours with an average of 3 hours weekly in firewood collection activities. This resulted in per annum estimated opportunity cost of Shillings 432,000 (US 232 dollars) for those who collected on weekly basis and Shillings 1,080,000 shillings (US 580 dollars) for those who collected on daily basis. The frequency of collection decreased as distance increased among 89% of the households. Minority of households (1%) have resorted to deliberately planting trees on their own farms to ease problems of firewood shortage, and to modification of biomass stove so as to use less firewood. Households in their endeavour to circumvent the problem of continued scarcity have resorted to poorer quality tree/bushes for firewood (71.2%), alongside other coping strategies such as cooking meals once a day, avoidance of cooking some food types (70%), and using crop residues as fuel source (60%). There is a need for scaling-up on-farm tree planting as well as the use of improved biomass cook stoves in the region.

Prospect of Fuelwood Plantations for Marginal Small Tea Farmers: A Case Study in Matara and Badulla Districts, Sri Lanka

“…Gliricidia species is a promising candidate for establishment of such planation as it is the most common species in the study site ( Table 3 and Table 5). Even though Acasia, Mango and Cashew trees are used as fuelwood in tropical areas of the world [29], end users preference of these three species in our study were found to be low because of low calorific values and negative effect on the quality of the end product, i.e. tea.…”

Drivers of cooking energy choices by meal-types among smallholder farmers in western Kenya

“…The lower opportunity cost associated with accessing firewood from the forest reserve could explain the observed fuel sourcing behaviour there. Forest reserves are associated with sufficiency (Kandel et al, 2016), quality and diversity of firewood (Egeru et al, 2014;Agea et al, 2010). Availability of labour is another factor that could drive households to assign more effort to energy sourcing.…”

“…Despite the plethora of studies, information gaps exist in relation to incorporating agricultural crop production systems and bio-energy into household energy choice (Popp et al 2014). Notably, this happens in a situation where bio-energy crops (Soto, et al 2018) and tree planting for domestic energy subsistence (Agea et al 2010;Egeru et al 2014) have become agricultural activities. Desegregating cooking energy choice by meal types can provide further insights into households' energy demand (Muller and Yan, 2018).…”

Climate Change and Social Inequality

“…Gender and age play an important role in determining the susceptibility to damage caused by adverse effects of climate change. As noted above, the fact that women in many countries are tasked with collecting water and firewood means that they are more susceptible to damages from climate hazards (Egeru, et al, 2014 andIPCC 2014, p. 796). 6 Sherwood (2013) finds that prolonged drought created poverty traps for women in Gituamba, Kenya.…”