Small-Scale Woodlot Growers’ Interest in Participating in Bioenergy Market In Rural Ethiopia

Abstract

Production of value-added outputs from biomass residues represents an opportunity to increase the supply of renewable energy in Ethiopia. Particularly, agroforestry could provide biomass residues for improved bioenergy products. The aim of this study was to characterize the interest of growers to provide biomass residues to a hypothetical biomass feedstock market. This study relied on a survey conducted on a sample of 240 farmers. Although the awareness of potential biomass products was generally quite low, a majority of farmers expressed interest in supplying biomass residues, but the level of interest depended on certain individual socio-economic and demographic characteristics. For example, younger and female household heads were found to be more interested in participating in the hypothetical biomass market, as were households with an improved biomass stove, larger land holdings, and higher income levels. In addition, larger households and those that felt less vulnerable to firewood scarcity also expressed more interest. As a whole, the results imply that farmers, particularly those with younger and female heads of households, should be supported with programs tailored to ensure their inclusion in biomass supply chains. Respondents generally preferred farm-gate sales of biomass, so the collecting, baling, and transporting of woody residues need to be properly incentivized or new actors need to be recruited into the supply chain. Providing households with energy-efficient tools such as improved stoves would not only increase demand for biomass products, but also increase the amount of biomass residues that could be supplied to the market instead of used at home.

Determinants of charcoal production and marketing in the Mankranso forest district in the Ashanti region of Ghana

“…The inability to obtain means of transport to move produce from the farm gate to the nearest market has been a long-standing challenge in Ghana. For instance, [ [34] , [35] ] reported that the lack of a proper transportation system cripples the poultry business in Ghana. Lastly, poor market linkage and information sharing among the various actors was ranked as the least pressing challenge with a mean rank of 3.29.…”

Conservation and Conventional Vegetable Cultivation Increase Soil Organic Matter and Nutrients in the Ethiopian Highlands

“…Reducing livestock pressure would be another way to increase the availability of organic matter for mulching [51], although this may be challenging due to the importance of livestock systems for resilience and nutrition. A few alternatives, such as the current practice of growing eucalyptus (Eucalyptus globus) trees, might help reduce livestock pres-sure as they serve as a cash source [52,53]. In addition, using eucalyptus wood for cooking can help the organic matter supply by replacing the burning of dung and plant residue as fuel [2,52,53].…”

“…A few alternatives, such as the current practice of growing eucalyptus (Eucalyptus globus) trees, might help reduce livestock pres-sure as they serve as a cash source [52,53]. In addition, using eucalyptus wood for cooking can help the organic matter supply by replacing the burning of dung and plant residue as fuel [2,52,53]. However, growing such trees can put pressure on groundwater resources that can impact grain crop production systems in the region [54].…”

Beyond the ‘Field of Dreams’ model in smallholder forestry: Building viable timber value chains for smallholder tree growers in developing countries

“…In many parts of the world, these smallholder plantations support small and large industries such as furniture, construction, veneer, medium-density fireboard, export woodchips, pellets, and pulp and paper industries among others (Arvola et al, 2019;Nambiar, 2019;Midgley et al, 2017). These commercial linkages also provide a series of economic and non-economic benefits for rural households and communities such as increased incomes, higher crop yields, land use rights, and ecological services (Nigussie et al, 2021;Schirmer et al, 2015;Pokorny et al, 2010).…”