The challenge of deforestation in tropical Africa: reflections on its principal causes, consequences and solutions

Boahene, Kwasi

doi:10.1002/(sici)1099-145x(199805/06)9:3<247::aid-ldr278>3.0.co;2-g

Cited by 33 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Energy consumption in Sub-Saharan Africa: In Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), land degradation due to inter alia, agricultural activities, firewood extraction and charcoal production, mining, human settlement, infrastructural and industrial development is one of the biggest problems threatening the lives of many people [67]. Chamshama and Nduwayezu [68] assert that in SSA there is a continued population-poverty-environmental degradation vicious cycle.…”

Section: Energy Consumption In Developing Countriesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Household Energy Consumption Patterns in Tanzania

Lp¹

2016

J Ecosyst Ecogr

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Introduction An overview of energy (fuel) consumptionGlobal energy consumption: The pivotal role played by energy in economic growth and improving livelihood has been highlighted by many authors (e.g. Alabe [1]; Jamal [2]; Leach and Gowman [3]; TaTEDO [4]; Thomas [5]; UN [6,7]; Panayotou [8]; Attigah and MayerTasch [9]; OECD [10]; World Economic Forum [11]). Similarly, the importance of forests to human life has been unequivocally pointed out (e.g. Zhao et al. [12]; G8 [13]; Malhi and Grace [14]). The most pervasive challenge associated with energy consumption is how to access energy on terms that facilitate economic growth while respecting environmental integrity [15]. Biomass fuel deserves a special focus in the global energy consumption equation as it (biomass) accounts for a significant proportion of total energy consumption: 14% globally [16,17], 3% in developed countries, 35% in developing countries [18,19], 60-95% in the poorest developing countries, 25-60% in middle-income countries, and <5% in high-income industrialised countries [20]. The percentage of total wood used for fuel is variable across the globe [21,22] [25], biomass accounts for 10% of world primary energy supply and is the world's largest single renewable energy source, since much of the world's population uses wood, charcoal, straw, or animal dung as cooking fuel. In most SSA countries, the wood-based biomass energy sector employs a significant workforce, providing regular income to tens-if not hundreds-of thousands of people [26].Statistics for people relying on biomass fuels are variable: According to IEA [27] nearly 2.5 billion people rely on biomass for cooking and heating, and the figure is anticipated to increase to 2.6 billion people by year 2030. Kandpal and Maheshwari [28] reported that biomass fuels are used by 50% of the global population as a major, and sometimes, the only source of domestic energy for cooking and heating. World Bank [29] estimated the number of poor people depending on forest resources to be 1.6 billion. The hitherto great dependence on biomass fuel can arguably be partially attributed to poor access to electrictrity. According to IEA [27] there is a significant inequality with regard to electrification status. Globally, 72.8% of overall population have access to electricity; in urban areas, 91.2% of population have access to electricity; and in rural areas 56.9% of the population have access to electricity. For Africa, overall is 34.36%; for urban areas 63.1%; and rural areas 16.9%. For Sub-Saharan Africa overall it is 22.6%; for urban 51.3%; and rural 7.5% (Figure 11).Energy consumption is linked to environmental and health problems. The literature [2,4,[30][31][32] suggest that the current energy consumption pattern which relies chiefly on fossil fuels (for developed countries) and on biomass (for developing countries), significantly erodes environmental sustainability at the local, national and global levels. According to Toman [15] serious discussion about climate change invariably involves serious disc...

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Section: Energy Consumption In Developing Countriesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Household Energy Consumption Patterns in Tanzania

Lp¹

2016

J Ecosyst Ecogr

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“…Sharp increases in dust deposition of terrigenous sediments could be related to land degradation processes in Senegal that started in the 1840s, after the promotion by the French colonial power of groundnut cultivation (Mulitza et al, 2010). The incessant demand for agricultural land eliminated the last stretches of original wooded savannas and open woodlands in the early 1900s (Boahene, 1998). What remained were agricultural parklands dominated by a small range of Acacia species (Tschakert and Tappan, 2004) that no longer could protect the soils against wind and water erosion and resulted in less favourable physical and chemical properties in the top soil (Kairé, 2003).…”

Section: Land Degradation In Senegalmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantifying the impact of land degradation on crop production: the case of Senegal

2016

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Abstract. Land degradation has been a persistent problem in Senegal for more than a century and by now has become a serious impediment to long-term development. In this paper, we quantify the impact of land degradation on crop yields using the results of a nationwide land degradation assessment. For this, the study needs to address two issues. First, the land degradation assessment comprises qualitative expert judgements that have to be converted into more objective, quantitative terms. We propose a land degradation index and assess its plausibility. Second, observational data on soils, land use, and rainfall do not provide sufficient information to isolate the impact of land degradation. We, therefore, design a pseudo-experiment that for sites with otherwise similar circumstances compares the yield of a site with and one without land degradation. This pairing exercise is conducted under a gradual refining of the classification of circumstances, until a more or less stable response to land degradation is obtained. In this way, we hope to have controlled sufficiently for confounding variables that will bias the estimation of the impact of land degradation on crop yields. A small number of shared characteristics reveal tendencies of "severe" land degradation levels being associated with declining yields as compared to similar sites with "low" degradation levels. However, as we zoom in at more detail some exceptions come to the fore, in particular in areas without fertilizer application. Yet, our overall conclusion is that yield reduction is associated with higher levels of land degradation, irrespective of whether fertilizer is being applied or not.

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“…The demographic, economic, and institutional factors considered here are based on the theoretical and empirical literature on the causes of deforestation in tropical regions (Butler and Laurance, 2008;Titenberg, 2000;Laurance, 1999), in the SSA region (Rudel, 2013;Mitchard and Flintrop, 2013;Diarrassouba and Boubacar, 2009;Boahene, 1998;Barnes, 1990) and countries in the SSA (Sieböck, 2002;Rusing, 2000). The international data sources were preferred for comprehensiveness of factors and consistency of the data.…”

Section: Data and Data Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Perplex of Deforestation in sub-Saharan Africa

Yalew¹

2015

JTFE

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Deforestation has been a complex phenomenon to study in sub-Saharan Africa. The average annual deforestation rate in the region is by far higher than the world average. What causes and drives deforestation in the region are debated to date. The present paper is motivated by this debate. It attempts to test whether the maintained hypotheses on the causes of deforestation can give answer to the problem in sub-Saharan Africa. It used average cross-national data of forty eight countries in the region. The data are retrieved from international sources. The Spearman's rank correlation coefficients between two deforestation indicators and five often-cited causes of deforestation were computed. The role of public forest ownership, share of forest and agricultural products in total exports, and the year of forest laws enacted are also discussed. However, it finds no clear, strong, and systematic pattern to argue that population density, rural population, rural poverty, industrial logging for exports, economic growth, late enactment of forest laws, and public ownership of forests are underlying causes of deforestation in the region. The trends of forestland in Rwanda and Zimbabwe vividly present the finding. Therefore, future studies related to the topic in the region shall focus on sub-national panel data.

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The challenge of deforestation in tropical Africa: reflections on its principal causes, consequences and solutions

Cited by 33 publications

References 17 publications

Household Energy Consumption Patterns in Tanzania

Household Energy Consumption Patterns in Tanzania

Quantifying the impact of land degradation on crop production: the case of Senegal

The Perplex of Deforestation in sub-Saharan Africa

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