Title:
The role of wood energy in Africa. FAO
Author(s):
Abstract:
Except the five north African countries and South Africa, all African countries still depend heavily on wood to meet basic energy needs. In the various African regions, woodfuel share ranges from 61% to 86% of primary energy consumption, with a major part (74% to 97%) consumed by households. The management of woodfuel resources and demand should be considered a major issue in energy planning processes in Africa. On the other hand, woodfuel consumption is a major contributor to total wood removal, accounting for around 92% of total African wood consumption and contributing to greenhouse gas emissions. Woodfuel use is therefore a major local and global environmental issue in Africa, and should be fully integrated into forestry planning and environmental protection processes. In addition, woodfuels play a major socio-economic role in almost all African countries. Within the family, women are generally the most concerned by fuelwood issues since they devote a lot of their time to fuelwood gathering and cooking tasks; charcoal production and marketing on the other hand tend to be more formalized and male-specific, helping to provide jobs and substantial revenue for rural and urban people. These activities represent significant economic value in many countries, accounting for approximately US$ 6 billion for the whole of Africa. More than US$ 1 billion of this amount was made up by charcoal.
Item Type:
Website
Language:
en

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