From crisis to context: Reviewing the future of sustainable charcoal in Africa

Branch, Adam; Agyei, Frank Kwaku; Anai, Jok Gai; Apecu, Stella Laloyo; Bartlett, Anne; Brownell, Emily; Caravani, Matteo; Cavanagh, Connor Joseph; Fennell, Shailaja; Langole, Stephen; Mabele, Mathew Bukhi; Mwampamba, Tuyeni H.; Njenga, Mary; Owor, Arthur; Phillips, James L.; Tiitmamer, Nhial

doi:10.1016/j.erss.2021.102457

Cited by 22 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 129 publications

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“…Yet, remaining bias toward some standard narratives of deforestation in national institutions and policies impedes the ability to tackle major drivers of forest loss and to find long-term sustainable forest conservation practices (Wong et al 2019, Skutsch andTurnhout 2020). For example, smallholder deforestation continues to be blamed as an important culprit despite patchy empirical evidence (Branch et al 2022, Wong et al 2022 and the fact that shifting cultivation is mainly causing forest degradation rather than deforestation (Mertz et al 2012). Besides, conclusions on the drivers of deforestation frequently rely purely on remotely sensed land-cover changes without supporting local evidence on underlying processes of land use change (as, e.g.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adaptive approaches to REDD+ are needed for countries with high forest cover and low deforestation rates

Schweikart

Mertz²,

Müller³

2022

Environ. Res. Lett.

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Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) aims to maintain forest carbon stocks above benchmark reference levels through financial compensation. However, countries with high forest cover and low deforestation (HFLD) are unlikely to be compensated fairly if REDD+ initiatives fail to conserve existing forests and to incentivize low deforestation rates. Here we analyze the submissions of forest reference levels (FRLs) of five HFLD countries (Democratic Republic of the Congo [DRC], Republic of the Congo [Congo], Guyana, Papua New Guinea, Suriname) to the REDD+ platform of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. We assessed if the FRLs are likely to yield compensation payments that maintain carbon stocks above the business-as-usual (BAU) scenario and compared them with quantitative emission data. Our results show that only Guyana submitted an FRL that yielded sufficient monetary incentives for low deforestation rates. Compensation payments will likely be insufficient in Suriname, Papua New Guinea, and the Congo. The FRL of the DRC would generate the highest compensation payment (on average US$ 1.3 billion annually). Overall, our results suggest that payments from REDD+ will fail to provide adequate incentives for most HFLD countries. We suggest that the FRL should allow for post hoc adaptation to changes in the drivers of deforestation. This implies that REDD+ schemes need sufficient flexibility to reflect changes in the opportunity costs of alternative land uses, which is particularly acute for HFLD countries where pressure on forests can accumulate rapidly. More adaptive REDD+ likely better rewards HFLD countries in ways that preserve their valuable forest ecosystems.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adaptive approaches to REDD+ are needed for countries with high forest cover and low deforestation rates

Schweikart

Mertz²,

Müller³

2022

Environ. Res. Lett.

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“…The politics of labor, as it is structured through gender, age, and other identities within households and communities, has immense bearing on contests over who gets to—or has to—produce charcoal. Where young, local men produce charcoal, it has generated contentious politics with elders around rural transformation; where migrant laborers are involved in production, it can generate contentious ethnic and national politics (Branch and Martiniello 2018). The politics of land are also a key determinant of charcoal politics, as production involves struggles over land, trees, or forests, entailing questions of property and access rights.…”

Section: Charcoal Within Resource Complexesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The growing literature on charcoal in Africa is predominantly concerned with charcoal policy, however, especially the need for formal regulation and technological improvement, rather than charcoal's politics (Branch et al 2022). This literature often begins with the deficits said to characterize the sector, the "weak, misguided, neglected, underdeveloped, disjointed, overly prohibitive, contradictory or non-existent woodfuel policies and laws, combined with poor enforcement and regulatory capacity" (Zulu and Richardson 2013, 130).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Charcoal politics in Africa: Value chains, resource complexes, and energopolitics

Branch

Phillips

Agyei

2023

Progress in Environmental Geography

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Charcoal is a primary urban energy source throughout Africa; it is also blamed for massive environmental harm, in particular deforestation and forest degradation. Despite its centrality to urbanization, rural economies, and contemporary environmental transformations, however, charcoal's politics have been relatively underexplored. This article develops three approaches to the study of charcoal politics in Africa by critically assessing the existing literature on charcoal and drawing on studies of the politics of other forms of energy. First, charcoal can be understood as a commodity within value chains, generative of profits and rents. Formal and informal institutions govern charcoal's distribution, and the relative power of actors determines access, control, and proceeds. Second, charcoal is a material object manufactured from trees and distributed through socio-technical infrastructures. It is embedded within “resource complexes” involving political contestation around land, trees, labor, transport, and legitimacy, determining where, how, and by whom charcoal is produced and traded. Third, charcoal is a source of energy within specific energy regimes that underlie political-ecological systems, a form of “energopolitics.” Uganda provides a case study illustrating the energopolitics of charcoal as it shapes the state, state–society relations, and visions of development and modernization.

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“…Nabukalu and Giere (2019) believe that scarcity of charcoal arises sometimes due to some ecological reasons such as exceeded deforestation which prohibits charcoal producers from cutting down trees over a period of time hence resulting in inadequate supply. However, Branch and Tiitmamer, (2022) reported in the literature that charcoal production will cease due to the ongoing global effort to ensure…”

Section: Challenges In Consuming Charcoalmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors influencing household’s charcoal consumption in Montserrado County, Liberia

2022

Int. J. Biosci.

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In sub-Saharan African Countries, charcoal is still preferred as the main source of energy use by the majority, and its importance is not only as a source of energy but also for generating employment and income among its producers. The current study intends to look into factors related to household charcoal consumption in Montserrado County, Liberia. Specifically, the study aims to assess socio-economic factors affecting household charcoal consumption and to identify the challenges associated with charcoal consumption. The study adopted a cross-sectional research design whereby data were collected once from 386 respondents who are charcoal consumers in Montserrado County. Quantitative data retrieved from the questionnaires were analyzed by using SPSS version 20 in which descriptive and inferential statistics were determined. Results from the multiple linear regression analysis showed that factors such as education level, number of meals, price of charcoal and household size were statistically significantly associated with household charcoal consumption in the study area.Furthermore, the high price of charcoal, low quality of charcoal and dirtiness of homes were the top three challenges affecting charcoal consumption in the study area. The study recommends the government formulate policies for improving accessibility to other alternative energy sources such as gas and electricity affordably and reliably to encourage inter-energy switching among households to ensure sustainable per capita consumption of charcoal.

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From crisis to context: Reviewing the future of sustainable charcoal in Africa

Cited by 22 publications

References 129 publications

Adaptive approaches to REDD+ are needed for countries with high forest cover and low deforestation rates

Adaptive approaches to REDD+ are needed for countries with high forest cover and low deforestation rates

Charcoal politics in Africa: Value chains, resource complexes, and energopolitics

Factors influencing household’s charcoal consumption in Montserrado County, Liberia

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