Fuelwood scarcity and its adaptation measures: an assessment of coping strategies applied by small-scale farmers in Dodoma region, Tanzania

Abstract

In Tanzania, the majority of the rural population still relies on fuelwood as their major source of cooking energy. The adaptation measures of small-scale farmers in response to increasing fuelwood scarcity play a key role in altering the course of nutrition insecurity, environmental degradation, and economic instability. This study delivers a classification of coping strategies that does not exist in the literature. Furthermore, it analyses the adaptation measures applied by small-scale farmers in the semi-arid region of Dodoma district in response to fuelwood scarcity. A comparison between two case study sites provides information on the choice of adaptation measures by households. Overall, 28 coping strategies from 24 studies are identified, then differentiated into preventive and acute measures that are arranged into eight clusters. The classification is then used as a codebook to identify applied coping strategies at two case study sites. In total, 23 adaptation measures, including two strategies not cited in the literature, were identified through 39 household interviews. This suggests that the majority of coping strategies applied are independently from regional and social conditions. The majority of the strategies applied at the case study sites and described in the literature are acute measures that do not tackle the underlying problem triggering forest degradation. It is observed that the adaptation measures across the case study sites are widely congruent, thus showing that acute strategies are not replaced by preventive strategies but rather co-exist.

Adapting to Fuelwood Scarcity: The Farmers' Perspective

“…This study builds upon the work of Scheid et al (2018), which identifies coping strategies in response to fuelwood scarcity. This was done by conducting household interviews (n = 39) Gathering remains of charcoal production 10% 0%…”

“…The ranking is based on how frequently they were mentioned by the households. Multiple responses are possible (Scheid et al, 2018).…”

“…With fuelwood scarcity increasing, rural households in Sub-Saharan Africa are developing strategies to cope with the additional stress, such as increasing labor to collect fuelwood, collecting fuelwood from non-forest areas, using crop residues, and improving means of collection (e.g., bicycles, wheelbarrow or oxcarts) (Guta, 2014;Jagger and Shively, 2014;Scheid et al, 2018). Studies show that coping strategies negatively affect the food security of the population concerned, such as omitting or substituting dishes with extended cooking times, even though these typically carry high nutritional value (e.g., dry beans) (Brouwer et al, 1996;Kees and Feldmann, 2011;Makungwa et al, 2013;Sola et al, 2016).…”

“…There are a wide variety of coping strategies applied on the ground, which can be differentiated into supply side and demand side strategies (Köhlin et al, 2011;Damte et al, 2012;Schuenemann et al, 2018). Most of these strategies are an acute response (Scheid et al, 2018), with the goal to alter or manage the cause of the problem. However, often it is beyond the reach of the household to address the root of the problem (Brouwer et al, 1989).…”

“…In Tanzania, these areas are located in the center of the country, with the Dodoma region being one of them. Here, fuelwood scarcity can be observed, with farmers applying a wide variety of adaptation measures (Scheid et al, 2018). In rural Tanzania, fuelwood dependency is high.…”