WISDOM – East Africa. Woodfuel Integrated Supply/Demand Overview Mapping (WISDOM) Methodology. Spatial woodfuel production and consumption analysis of selected African countries

Aug 2005

In this article the author analyses wood energy and the poverty situation in ten countries of East and Central Africa: Rwanda, Kenya, Egypt, Burundi, DR Congo, Eritrea, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.
The study intends to contribute to the identification of areas where rural and suburban populations, that depend primarily on woodfuels for their subsistence energy supply, are likely to suffer severe shortages, thus adding a new important dimension to the mapping of extreme poverty. The definition of wood energy situations and priority areas was done applying the Woodfuel Integrated Supply/Demand Overview Mapping (WISDOM).
The wood energy sector in Africa, specifically in the eastern and central sub-regions, plays a major role in both the forestry and energy sectors. Given this important role in energy and forestry, wood energy mapping at national and international levels, serves several inter-sectoral purposes. It supports both sustainable forest management and energy planning, helps to identify the potential for bioenergy development and helps to identify vulnerable geographic areas (in terms of pressures on the poor and/or the environment).
In the context of poverty and food security, the author deems energy issues as particularly significant. Access to energy— or lack thereof—adds an essential dimension to the analysis of global poverty as it has a critical and immediate impact on the health and nutrition of poor rural households. At the same time, lack of accessible wood resources creates an added burden on the rural poor who rely on them, triggering a vicious cycle in which essential soil nutrients (such as agricultural residues and cow dung) are burnt rather than returned to the soil, creating additional negative consequences on the production of food crops.
The article is organized five sections. The introduction deals with the rationale and scope of the study. Part 1 introduces WISDOM methodology and Part 2 shows research results.  Part 3 analyses findings while Part 4 set follow up recommendations. The study concludes with references and annexes.

By: R. Drigo (FAO)

 
download this document:   2674 kb
home