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Enabling Sustainable Bioenergy Transitions in Sub-Saharan Africa: Strategic Issues for Achieving Climate-Compatible Developments

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Sustainability Challenges in Sub-Saharan Africa I

Part of the book series: Science for Sustainable Societies ((SFSS))

Abstract

Catalysing a transition away from traditional biomass fuels and towards modern and sustainable bioenergy is critical in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The high current dependence on traditional biomass fuels in the form of fuelwood and charcoal is associated with significant negative sustainability outcomes. The high land use intensity of traditional biomass and subsistence farming leaves rural communities vulnerable to climate change, deepens poverty and provides only poor energy services at high environmental cost. The transition towards modern bioenergy options is often indirect but can also be direct when modern fuels and management systems are introduced through alternative development pathways. This chapter discusses four critical aspects that can facilitate sustainable bioenergy transitions in SSA, contributing to climate-compatible development. First, the linkages between sustainable development goals (SDGs) and modern bioenergy transitions need to be strengthened and should extend beyond the household sector to include cross-sectoral approaches. Second, appropriate markets and modes of production and use for modern bioenergy must be chosen by emphasising context-specific issues in SSA countries, rather than relying uncritically on lessons from other regions that have quite different socio-economic and biophysical characteristics. Third, land needs to be used much more productively and efficiently for food, energy and fibre by adopting integrated landscape approaches, regional engagement and local agro-business innovation. Fourth, linkages between climate change mitigation and adaptation should be strengthened and exploited to address both the challenges and the opportunities that a changing climate poses for bioenergy transitions in SSA.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    It is worth noting that apart from contributing to energy security, well-developed biofuel crop systems such as those based on sugarcane can offer poverty reduction benefits and create long-term livelihood opportunities within rural landscapes that otherwise might not have other major economic opportunities (Mudombi et al. 2018a; von Maltitz et al. 2019) (Chap. 3 Vol. 1; Chap. 5 Vol. 2).

  2. 2.

    It is worth noting that the rate of increase in charcoal use is normally much higher than the rate of urbanisation itself (e.g. due to demographic factors such as the smaller size of urban households compared to rural households) (Hosier et al. 1993). Thus, rapid urbanization and/or commercialisation can result in significantly higher forest degradation from charcoal demand (Santos et al. 2017).

  3. 3.

    Charcoal production in some dryland areas can also provide a socio-economic adaptation approach when agricultural livelihood opportunities are impacted by climate change (Ochieng et al. 2014).

  4. 4.

    Modeling results suggest that the global bioenergy potential is largely situated in Latin America and SSA mainly due to climatic and demographic factors (Hoogwijk et al. 2005; Smeets et al. 2007; WGBU 2009; Haberl et al. 2010; van Vuuren et al. 2009; Beringer et al. 2011; Chum et al. 2011; IPCC 2014). A common starting point of these modelling studies is that “food/fibre” should be prioritised, with sustainable bioenergy potential calculated after accounting for the land needed for food production and also excluding deforestation (IPCC 2014; Batidzirai et al. 2016).

  5. 5.

    Despite its negative environmental impacts, charcoal production and trade can improve rural livelihoods in terms of cash income (Openshaw 2010; Smith et al. 2015; Karanja and Gasparatos 2019). However, charcoal production does not necessarily reduce poverty in SSA, as revealed by multi-dimensional poverty indicators that incorporate health, housing and other fundamental indicators of well-being (Vollmer et al. 2017).

  6. 6.

    This has included in some cases the issue of indirect land use change. Indirect land use change (ILUC) can occur when non-food (e.g. bioenergy) production expands onto agricultural land and displaces food production, which then leads to additional land use elsewhere for food production to compensate the shortfall; ILUC cannot be measured empirically but instead is estimated through assumptions and modelling (Berndes et al. 2013; Finkbeiner 2014; Wicke et al. 2015).

  7. 7.

    It is worth noting that modern bioenergy systems normally include multiple co-products or waste streams such as bagasse and molasses, respectively, in the case of sugarcane ethanol. The use of such co-products and waste streams can increase land and water efficiency and reduce competition with food (Ackom et al. 2013).

  8. 8.

    Integrated food-energy systems are a particular class of such systems that can be very important in some SSA countries as they offer both synergies and complementarities between food and bioenergy production (Bogdanski 2012).

  9. 9.

    At the same time, these crops may require large amounts of agricultural inputs (e.g. fertiliser, agrochemicals, fuels), while their yields can be moderate, thus only having modest lifecycle GHG emission savings compared to fossil fuel alternatives (Fazio and Barbanti 2014; Pugesgaard et al. 2015). Implementing best practices could nevertheless facilitate improved scenarios and greater competitiveness for the use of annual crops as bioenergy feedstocks (Souza et al. 2015).

  10. 10.

    For similar reasons, biogas has become a major part of national adaptation strategies in some SSA countries facing significant land scarcity such as Malawi (Johnson and Jumbe 2013).

  11. 11.

    There is a wide scope for strategies incorporating climate-compatible and/or “low carbon resilient” development in the context of a green economy. Such strategies focus on innovation and improved management in sectors that have significant climate implications such as agriculture, forestry and transport (Fisher 2013; Stringer et al. 2014; Kongsager et al. 2016).

  12. 12.

    A prominent example comes from the EU, where the biofuels targets and sustainability criteria have had repercussions globally for markets and policies related to bioenergy, forest and agriculture (Johnson 2011; Pacini et al. 2013; Johnson and Mulugetta 2017) (Chap. 4 Vol. 1).

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Acknowledgements

This chapter was partly based on a previous research synthesis funded through institutional programme support provided to Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) within the SEI Reducing Climate Risk programme under the leadership of Richard J.T. Klein. However, SIDA was not involved in the choice of research topics or questions. The opinions expressed in the chapter are solely those of the authors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), Stockholm, Sweden

    Francis X. Johnson, Caroline A. Ochieng & Olle Olsson

  2. University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa

    Bothwell Batidzirai

  3. World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), Nairobi, Kenya

    Miyuki Iiyama

  4. Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS), Tsukuba, Japan

    Miyuki Iiyama

  5. United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

    Linus Mofor

  6. Institute for Future Initiatives (IFI), The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

    Alexandros Gasparatos

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  1. Institute for Future Initiatives (IFI), The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

    Alexandros Gasparatos

  2. Department of Planning, University for Development Studies, Wa, Ghana

    Abubakari Ahmed

  3. Graduate Programme in Sustainability Science – Global Leadership Initiative (GPSS-GLI), The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

    Merle Naidoo

  4. Institute for Future Initiatives (IFI), The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

    Alice Karanja

  5. Institute for Future Initiatives (IFI), The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan, Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS), United Nations University, Tokyo, Japan

    Kensuke Fukushi

  6. Institute for Global Environmental Studies (IGES), Hayama, Japan, Institute for Future Initiatives (IFI), The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

    Osamu Saito

  7. Institute for Global Environmental Studies (IGES), Hayama, Japan, Institute for Future Initiatives (IFI), The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

    Kazuhiko Takeuchi

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Johnson, F.X. et al. (2020). Enabling Sustainable Bioenergy Transitions in Sub-Saharan Africa: Strategic Issues for Achieving Climate-Compatible Developments. In: Gasparatos, A., et al. Sustainability Challenges in Sub-Saharan Africa I. Science for Sustainable Societies. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-4458-3_2

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