Fuelwood production in developing countries: Toward an appropriate forest technology

Abstract

This paper addresses the need for appropriate forest technology as a solution to the rural fuelwood shortage in developing countries. Many such solutions are proposed with little reference to existing local needs and resources. Complex wood harvesting technologies require a long time to diffuse through a population. Therefore, increases in productivity can be better achieved through focusing on the improved maintenance and deployment of proper hand tools. Evidence from Kenya is used to demonstrate the improvements that can be made in hand-tool production and maintenance. Most fuelwood users currently manage trees to produce firewood in the form of fuelwood sticks, not large logs. Appropriate fuelwood production systems should be developed, based on the principles of coppicing and pollarding, short rotation periods, and producing small diameter fuelwood sticks. A hypothetical fuelstick project is discussed to show that not only are such systems possible, but they can be economically superior to conventional solutions.