IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/wdevel/v64y2014is1ps80-s90.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Producing Woodfuel for Urban Centers in the Democratic Republic of Congo: A Path Out of Poverty for Rural Households?

Author

Listed:
  • Schure, Jolien
  • Levang, Patrice
  • Wiersum, K. Freerk

Abstract

Woodfuel is a renewable energy source with good potential for climate change mitigation. In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the sector employs over 300,000 people for the supply of Kinshasa alone, but the benefits to the poor are often unknown. This paper analyzes the contribution of commercial woodfuel production to livelihoods and poverty reduction in the DRC. Woodfuel revenues, especially those of charcoal, contribute substantially to producers’ household income, ranging from 12% for fuelwood producers around Kisangani to 75% for charcoal producers around Kinshasa. It supports basic needs and investments in other livelihood activities (for 82% of charcoal producers and 65% of fuelwood producers), which helps to reduce poverty. The contribution of woodfuel commercialization to poverty reduction should be part of energy and forestry policies.

Suggested Citation

  • Schure, Jolien & Levang, Patrice & Wiersum, K. Freerk, 2014. "Producing Woodfuel for Urban Centers in the Democratic Republic of Congo: A Path Out of Poverty for Rural Households?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 64(S1), pages 80-90.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:64:y:2014:i:s1:p:s80-s90
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2014.03.013
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X14000795
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.worlddev.2014.03.013?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Morduch, Jonathan, 1994. "Poverty and Vulnerability," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(2), pages 221-225, May.
    2. Gugerty, Mary Kay, 2007. "You Can't Save Alone: Commitment in Rotating Savings and Credit Associations in Kenya," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 55(2), pages 251-282, January.
    3. Mary Kay Gugerty, 2007. "You Can't Save Alone: Commitment in Rotating Savings and Credit Associations in Kenya," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 55, pages 251-282.
    4. Shackleton, Charlie M. & Shackleton, Sheona E. & Buiten, Erik & Bird, Neil, 2007. "The importance of dry woodlands and forests in rural livelihoods and poverty alleviation in South Africa," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 9(5), pages 558-577, January.
    5. Paumgarten, F. & Shackleton, C.M., 2009. "Wealth differentiation in household use and trade in non-timber forest products in South Africa," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(12), pages 2950-2959, October.
    6. Wunder, Sven, 2001. "Poverty Alleviation and Tropical Forests--What Scope for Synergies?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 29(11), pages 1817-1833, November.
    7. Zulu, Leo Charles, 2010. "The forbidden fuel: Charcoal, urban woodfuel demand and supply dynamics, community forest management and woodfuel policy in Malawi," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(7), pages 3717-3730, July.
    8. Khundi, Fydess & Jagger, Pamela & Shively, Gerald & Sserunkuuma, Dick, 2011. "Income, poverty and charcoal production in Uganda," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(3), pages 199-205, March.
    9. Vedeld, Paul & Angelsen, Arild & Bojo, Jan & Sjaastad, Espen & Kobugabe Berg, Gertrude, 2007. "Forest environmental incomes and the rural poor," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 9(7), pages 869-879, April.
    10. Sunderlin, William D. & Angelsen, Arild & Belcher, Brian & Burgers, Paul & Nasi, Robert & Santoso, Levania & Wunder, Sven, 2005. "Livelihoods, forests, and conservation in developing countries: An Overview," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 33(9), pages 1383-1402, September.
    11. Subhrendu K. Pattanayak & Erin O. Sills, 2001. "Do Tropical Forests Provide Natural Insurance? The Microeconomics of Non-Timber Forest Product Collection in the Brazilian Amazon," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 77(4), pages 595-612.
    12. Labarta, Ricardo A. & White, Douglas S. & Swinton, Scott M., 2008. "Does Charcoal Production Slow Agricultural Expansion into the Peruvian Amazon Rainforest?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 527-540, March.
    13. Belcher, Brian M., 2005. "Forest Product Markets, Forests and Poverty Reduction," 2005: Forests, Wood and Livelihoods: Finding a Future for All, 16 August 2005 124400, Crawford Fund.
    14. Arnold, J.E. Michael & Kohlin, Gunnar & Persson, Reidar, 2006. "Woodfuels, livelihoods, and policy interventions: Changing Perspectives," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 596-611, March.
    15. Hofstad, Ole, 1997. "Woodland Deforestation by Charcoal Supply to Dar es Salaam," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 17-32, May.
    16. van Ruijven, Bas & Urban, Frauke & Benders, René M.J. & Moll, Henri C. & van der Sluijs, Jeroen P. & de Vries, Bert & van Vuuren, Detlef P., 2008. "Modeling Energy and Development: An Evaluation of Models and Concepts," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(12), pages 2801-2821, December.
    17. Beverly, Sondra G. & Sherraden, Michael, 1999. "Institutional determinants of saving: implications for low-income households and public policy," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 28(4), pages 457-473.
    18. Arnold, J. E. Michael & Perez, M. Ruiz, 2001. "Can non-timber forest products match tropical forest conservation and development objectives?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 437-447, December.
    19. Mwampamba, Tuyeni Heita, 2007. "Has the woodfuel crisis returned? Urban charcoal consumption in Tanzania and its implications to present and future forest availability," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(8), pages 4221-4234, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Valdemar J. Wesz Junior & Simone Piras & Catia Grisa & Stefano Ghinoi, 2021. "Assessing Brazilian agri-food policies: what impact on family farms?," Papers 2105.14996, arXiv.org.
    2. Vollmer, Frank & Zorrilla-Miras, Pedro & Baumert, Sophia & Luz, Ana Catarina & Woollen, Emily & Grundy, Isla & Artur, Luis & Ribeiro, Natasha & Mahamane, Mansour & Patenaude, Genevieve, 2017. "Charcoal income as a means to a valuable end: Scope and limitations of income from rural charcoal production to alleviate acute multidimensional poverty in Mabalane district, southern Mozambique," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 7, pages 43-60.
    3. Brobbey, Lawrence Kwabena & Hansen, Christian Pilegaard & Kyereh, Boateng & Pouliot, Mariéve, 2019. "The economic importance of charcoal to rural livelihoods: Evidence from a key charcoal-producing area in Ghana," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 19-31.
    4. Rose, Julian & Bensch, Gunther & Munyehirwe, Anicet & Peters, Jörg, 2022. "The forgotten coal: Charcoal demand in sub-Saharan Africa," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 25(C).
    5. Schure, Jolien & Ingram, Verina & Arts, Bas & Levang, Patrice & Mvula-Mampasi, Emmanuel, 2015. "Institutions and access to woodfuel commerce in the Democratic Republic of Congo," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 53-61.
    6. Shapiro, Aurélie C. & Bernhard, Katie P. & Zenobi, Stefano & Müller, Daniel & Aguilar-Amuchastegui, Naikoa & d'Annunzio, Rémi, 2021. "Proximate causes of forest degradation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo vary in space and time," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 2.
    7. Doris Mutta & Larwanou Mahamane & Chemuku Wekesa & Godwin Kowero & Anders Roos, 2021. "Sustainable Business Models for Informal Charcoal Producers in Kenya," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-17, March.
    8. Miller, Daniel C. & Hajjar, Reem, 2020. "Forests as pathways to prosperity: Empirical insights and conceptual advances," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    9. Guild, J. & Shackleton, C.M., 2018. "Informal urban fuelwood markets in South Africa in the context of socio-economic change," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 136-141.
    10. Wunder, Sven & Angelsen, Arild & Belcher, Brian, 2014. "Forests, Livelihoods, and Conservation: Broadening the Empirical Base," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 64(S1), pages 1-11.
    11. Pelletier, Johanne & Hamalambo, Boniface & Trainor, Anne & Barrett, Christopher B., 2021. "How land tenure and labor relations mediate charcoal’s environmental footprint in Zambia: Implications for sustainable energy transitions," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    12. Burke, Paul J. & Dundas, Guy, 2015. "Female Labor Force Participation and Household Dependence on Biomass Energy: Evidence from National Longitudinal Data," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 424-437.
    13. Eliezer Majambu & Salomon Mampeta Wabasa & Camille Welepele Elatre & Laurence Boutinot & Symphorien Ongolo, 2019. "Can Traditional Authority Improve the Governance of Forestland and Sustainability? Case Study from the Congo (DRC)," Land, MDPI, vol. 8(5), pages 1-12, April.
    14. Olabisi, Michael & Richardson, Robert B., 2022. "Why the poor pay higher energy prices: Evidence from Tanzania," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 26(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Porro, Roberto & Lopez-Feldman, Alejandro & Vela-Alvarado, Jorge W., 2015. "Forest use and agriculture in Ucayali, Peru: Livelihood strategies, poverty and wealth in an Amazon frontier," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 47-56.
    2. Nerfa, Lauren & Rhemtulla, Jeanine M. & Zerriffi, Hisham, 2020. "Forest dependence is more than forest income: Development of a new index of forest product collection and livelihood resources," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    3. Jagger, Pamela & Cheek, Jennifer Zavaleta & Miller, Daniel & Ryan, Casey & Shyamsundar, Priya & Sills, Erin, 2022. "The Role of Forests and Trees in Poverty Dynamics," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    4. Sullivan, Abigail, 2022. "Bridging the divide between rural and urban community-based forestry: A bibliometric review," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    5. Nielsen, Martin Reinhardt & Pouliot, Mariève & Kim Bakkegaard, Riyong, 2012. "Combining income and assets measures to include the transitory nature of poverty in assessments of forest dependence: Evidence from the Democratic Republic of Congo," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 37-46.
    6. Wunder, Sven & Angelsen, Arild & Belcher, Brian, 2014. "Forests, Livelihoods, and Conservation: Broadening the Empirical Base," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 64(S1), pages 1-11.
    7. Brobbey, Lawrence Kwabena & Hansen, Christian Pilegaard & Kyereh, Boateng & Pouliot, Mariéve, 2019. "The economic importance of charcoal to rural livelihoods: Evidence from a key charcoal-producing area in Ghana," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 19-31.
    8. Shyamsundar, Priya & Ahlroth, Sofia & Kristjanson, Patricia & Onder, Stefanie, 2020. "Supporting pathways to prosperity in forest landscapes – A PRIME framework," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    9. Coomes, Oliver T. & Takasaki, Yoshito & Abizaid, Christian & Arroyo-Mora, J. Pablo, 2016. "Environmental and market determinants of economic orientation among rain forest communities: Evidence from a large-scale survey in western Amazonia," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 260-271.
    10. Miller, Daniel C. & Hajjar, Reem, 2020. "Forests as pathways to prosperity: Empirical insights and conceptual advances," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    11. D'Agostino, Anthony L. & Urpelainen, Johannes & Xu, Alice, 2015. "Socio-economic determinants of charcoal expenditures in Tanzania: Evidence from panel data," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 472-481.
    12. Vollmer, Frank & Zorrilla-Miras, Pedro & Baumert, Sophia & Luz, Ana Catarina & Woollen, Emily & Grundy, Isla & Artur, Luis & Ribeiro, Natasha & Mahamane, Mansour & Patenaude, Genevieve, 2017. "Charcoal income as a means to a valuable end: Scope and limitations of income from rural charcoal production to alleviate acute multidimensional poverty in Mabalane district, southern Mozambique," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 7, pages 43-60.
    13. Smith, Harriet Elizabeth & Jones, Daniel & Vollmer, Frank & Baumert, Sophia & Ryan, Casey M. & Woollen, Emily & Lisboa, Sá N. & Carvalho, Mariana & Fisher, Janet A. & Luz, Ana C. & Grundy, Isla M. & P, 2019. "Urban energy transitions and rural income generation: Sustainable opportunities for rural development through charcoal production," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 237-245.
    14. Hogarth, Nicholas J. & Belcher, Brian & Campbell, Bruce & Stacey, Natasha, 2013. "The Role of Forest-Related Income in Household Economies and Rural Livelihoods in the Border-Region of Southern China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 111-123.
    15. Tumusiime, David Mwesigye & Vedeld, Paul & Gombya-Ssembajjwe, William, 2011. "Breaking the law? Illegal livelihoods from a Protected Area in Uganda," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(4), pages 273-283, April.
    16. Schure, Jolien & Ingram, Verina & Arts, Bas & Levang, Patrice & Mvula-Mampasi, Emmanuel, 2015. "Institutions and access to woodfuel commerce in the Democratic Republic of Congo," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 53-61.
    17. Pelletier, Johanne & Hamalambo, Boniface & Trainor, Anne & Barrett, Christopher B., 2021. "How land tenure and labor relations mediate charcoal’s environmental footprint in Zambia: Implications for sustainable energy transitions," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    18. Rasmussen, Laura Vang & Watkins, Cristy & Agrawal, Arun, 2017. "Forest contributions to livelihoods in changing agriculture-forest landscapes," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 1-8.
    19. Shackleton, Sheona & Campbell, Bruce & Lotz-Sisitka, Heila & Shackleton, Charlie, 2008. "Links between the Local Trade in Natural Products, Livelihoods and Poverty Alleviation in a Semi-arid Region of South Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 505-526, March.
    20. Harun M. Kiruki & Emma H. Zanden & Patrick Kariuki & Peter H. Verburg, 2020. "The contribution of charcoal production to rural livelihoods in a semi-arid area in Kenya," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 22(7), pages 6931-6960, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:64:y:2014:i:s1:p:s80-s90. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/worlddev .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.