ICAR Research Data Repository for Knowledge Management
The Fuelwood Trap
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View Archive Info| Field | Value | |
| Title |
The Fuelwood Trap
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| Creator |
Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation
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| Description |
The shortage of fuelwood has grave implications for life in Africa. Where energy is at a premium, the quality of life deteriorates and deforestation with its serious social and environmental consequences, is the result. The fuelwood problem is one recognized by the nine member countries of the Southern Africa Development Coordination Conference (SADCC). In 1980 these states (Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe) pledged to tackle their development problems together. One of the resulting projects was a study commissioned by the SADCC energy sector, which has been published in book-form as The Fuelwood Trap. One of its principal tasks was to examine past, present, and future energy needs. Today, more than 60 million people live in the SADCC region but, by the end of the century, there are likely to be 100 million inhabitants. The rapidly increasing urban population will rely on fuelwood for energy. Scarcity of fuelwood brings with it two serious consequences: women will spend more time collecting it, and will spend less time on cooking, heating and hygiene. The fragile African soils will lose their productivity through the erosion caused by widespread removal of trees and shrubs. From the case studies in The Fuelwood Trap, a complex network of causes and misguided emerge: a new approach is needed. Foresters have to look beyond the forests and at the traditional and future use of wood. Forestry departments can never produce enough seedlings in their nurseries to redress the balance, so farmers and communities must grow more trees themselves. Fuel efficient stoves might help, provided local people choose to learn and change. To relieve pressure on wood supplies, cities will have to be provided with alternative fuels. This concise, practical book draws on case studies to provide summaries of agro-forestry options for the SADCC region that are also relevant elsewhere. It describes new planting systems, new uses for trees, new management and harvesting techniques and useful cautionary comments on some of the fast growing exotic species hailed as , including eucalyptus and leucaena. Munslow B., et al 1988 The Fuelwood Trap: a Study of the SADCC Region ISBN 1-85383- 007-0 Earthscan Publicabons Lld, 3 Endsleigh Street, London WC1H ODD UK Munslow B., et al 1988 The Fuelwood Trap: a Study of the SADCC Region ISBN 1-85383- 007-0 Earthscan Publicabons Lld, 3 Endsleigh Street, London WC1H ODD UK |
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| Date |
1989
2014-10-08T13:15:54Z 2014-10-08T13:15:54Z |
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| Type |
News Item
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| Identifier |
CTA. 1989. The Fuelwood Trap. Spore 20. CTA, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
1011-0054 https://hdl.handle.net/10568/45050 |
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| Language |
en
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| Relation |
Spore
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| Rights |
Open Access
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| Publisher |
Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation
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| Source |
Spore
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