CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

1.1. Introduction

Biomass fuel represents between 50% to 90% of primary energy consumption in developing countries and 12% to 15% primary energy consumed worldwide. Developing countries consume three quarters of global biomass where a greater majority of the world’s population lives mainly in rural areas and poor urban zones (Ballard and mate, 2010).

In a world of about 6.8 billion people, more than 2 billion rely on wood, dung and other biomass as a primary source of fuel. Exposure to indoor air pollution causes the premature deaths of more than 1.6 million persons, that is, 1 person every 20 seconds (Shell Foundation, 2006).

With the exception of biomass, renewable energy is presently a minor contributor to energy supply of Eastern and Southern Africa, accounting for less than 2 percent of the total supply (Lam, 2000). Will there one day exist an affordable, efficient and durable decentralized mode of energy supply for all to have access to? There can be no real social or economic development without secure energy services. People’s lifestyles to a certain degree are determined by the type of affordable energy sources available.

1.2 Context

1.2.1 Global Context

Burning wood or agricultural residues produces smoke with a variety of irritant pollutants, some of which are known carcinogens. More than 1.5 million deaths a year are caused by acute respiratory infections from breathing smoke from indoor cooking fires. Women and children are generally exposed to the greatest levels of pollutants and it is children who suffer the greatest health risk. Respiratory infections are the leading cause of death of young children worldwide (Marlia et al., 2003)

Biomass accounts for 73% of total domestic energy consumption and about 87% of households use firewood or charcoal with 2 kg of charcoal or 4.6 kg of firewood per day (Ministry of Housing, the living and the environment, 1997). More than half of the domestic energy needs are met by combustible renewable resources and waste, mainly in the form of biomass. It must also be noted that energy use depends upon their accessibility/availability as well as energy costs. Seen the poverty of developing countries and the price increase for petroleum products, firewood is still the most used fuel in rural areas, charcoal is mainly intended for large cities. For example, Abidjan 90% of population use the charcoal produces in the households (environmental department, 2000). Poverty conditions are also worsened through the health and quality of life impacts associated with traditional biomass fuels.

In the year 2000, indoor air pollution from solid fuel use was responsible for more than 1.6 million annual deaths and 2.7% of the global burden of disease (World Health Organization, 2000). Research on the relationship between environmental impact and household energy consumption has attracted considerable attention from researchers and analysts, who mainly concentrate on two aspects: the empirical estimation of energy demand functions and the impact effects on forest and children and women.

Solid fuel burning in the residential sector is a source of a variety of emissions including carbon monoxide, benzo[a]pyrene, formaldehyde, and nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter, with levels dependent upon the fuel types, combustion processes, and, of course, the scale of such solid fuel burning activities. (Clinch & Healy, 2000a), but are also linked to severe adverse health outcomes including acute respiratory infections (ARI), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) cancers, cataracts, and low birth weight for those exposed, and this has tangible implications for quality of life and health care costs (Clancy, Goodman, Sinclair, & Dockery, 2002). The urban poor in countries such as Nepal and Guatemala spend significant shares of their total expenditures on wood, around 5 percent when averaged over all households in the bottom quintile and around 10-15 percent when averaged over wood users only. Globally, there is a lack of detailed statistics on fuelwood consumption, their spatial distribution and future projections. This is due to several factors such as the fact that a large proportion of fuelwood is harvested and used in rural areas without entering the formal markets and statistics, and, the commercial production of fuelwood in many countries is done illegally, making the acquisition of reliable statics difficult (UNECE/FAO, 2012a)

1.2.2 African Context

Africa, especially Central Africa, is one of the southern continents where wood consumption will continue to grow as a household source of energy in the coming decades fuel (Ekouevi and Tuntivate 2011, Marien, 2009) although it will stay important for the other developing regions of the world.

According to best current estimate by Food and Agricultural organisation (FAO, 1999), Africa’s fuelwood consumption reached 623 million m3 in 1994. This consumption level means that Africa is the highest level of per capita fuel wood consumption (0.89m3 /year) compared to other continents (Asia, 0.3m3/caput/year). except for five north African countries and south Afica, all African countries still depend heavily on wood to meet basic energy needs and even income. In various African regions such as Cameroon, fuel wood consumption ranges from 60% to 86% of primary consumption with a major part of 74% to 97% consumed by household (FAO,1998)

The fuel wood consumption at large scale is related to the severe environmental problems including deforestation, land degradation, loss of biodiversity, climate change and adverse health effects due to the indoor air pollution. Firewood accounts for over 54 % of all global harvests per annum which results in the huge amount of forest loss (Williams and Shackleton 2002). Himalayan forests are among the most diminished forests around the globe. Wood contributes 90 % of the total energy consumption in Himalayan Mountains. Pakistan is a forest-poor country with only 4.72 million hectares (5.36 %) of its land mass covered with forest. Fuel wood is the main source of energy in > 80 % of Pakistani households (Shaheen et al. 2011a). Satellite imagery analyses have revealed 27 % (821 x 10³ ha) loss of forest cover in Jammu and Kashmir (Joshi et al. 2001)

However, it appears that young children in Africans households that use solid biomass fuels are 2 to 3 times more likely to suffer ARI than children in households that use other fuels (Smith & Mehta, 2000). Similarly, women who have cooked over biomass fires for 15 years are 2 to 4 times more likely to develop COPD than are other women (Smith, 1999) Among all of the energy sources considered, firewood has the highest budget share among its users

1.2.3 National context

Cameroon is no exception to this general situation because 83% of Cameroon’s populations depend on woody biomass as a source of energy, and in rural areas it is often the only available source of energy (INS 2008). According to the Ministry of Energy and Water (MINEE 2010) fuelwood consumption increased from 1981/1982 to 2001/2002 at an annual rate of 2.67%. Generally, fuelwood is used as an energy source in two main forms: firewood and charcoal. MINEE (2010) estimates that the consumption of energy from biomass is distributed as follows: firewood (91.18%), charcoal (0.97%), bagasse and palm kernel shell (5.39 %) and other waste (2.45%). Existing studies show large discrepancies in the contribution of wood as a household source of energy between urban and rural areas on the one hand (Nkamleu et al 2002, Folefack and Abou 2009, Madi 2012.) and between major agro-ecological zones on the other hand. In general, the use of alternative sources of energy to wood increases as we move from rural to urban areas (Tchotsoua 2006, Madi 2012).

1.2.4 Regional Context

In the rural areas of the town of Buea, fuelwood consumption is increasing at a rate of 5% to 6% annually (Nkwatoh et al., 2009). This is as a result of an increase in population of both the rural and urban dwellers of the town of Buea and hence rapid demand for alternative sources of energy and since they cannot affort gas they depend on the forested lands in the Buea neighbourhood for wood exploitation by natives for home consumption and economic gains causing forest zones to be degraded more than they can be replenished. It is on this background that this research seeks to examine the economic and environmental effect of fuel wood consumption in Buea.

1.3. Problem statement

Fuelwood consumption provides the main source of energy for the Buea Rural community as well as most Cameroonians. Even though fuelwood usage is rampant in Cameroon, the extend of forest destruction and its consequences varies from one region to another.

Buea has a devastating environmental consequence as a result of fuel wood related activities such as climate change resulting from slash burning as a method of fetching wood and burning of the wood itself for energy, soil creep and erosion resulting from removal of the trees from the environment which exposes the soil to erosion, recent flooding in Buea as a result of deforestation and lastly, loss of biodiversity resulting from ecological destruction.

The presence of these environmental problems has a detrimental consequence for livelihood security and sustainability. These may be manifested as decrease in human wellbeing measured in social and economic terms such as longer distances and fuelwood collection time, localized loss of useful fruits species, increase cash need to purchase alternatives, increase price of fuelwood and finally the destruction of touristic sites. That is, forest is destroyed and hence limits eco-tourism. It is on this background that this research seeks to examine the environmental effect of fuel wood consumption in Buea.

1.4 Research Questions

The research is guided by the following research questions

1. What are Sources of energy for cooking and lightening?
2. What are the effects of fuelwood harvesting and utilization on the environment?
3. What are the reasons for continuous fuelwood consumption in Buea?
4. What role does fuelwood play in the economy of Buea?
5. What are some recommendations that can help the people to sustainably consume fuelwood and hence protect the environment?

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