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Fuelwood Consumption and Forest Degradation: A Household Model for Domestic Energy Substitution in Rural India
Abstract
This paper disusses domestic energy supply and demand in rural India. Links between forest scarcity and household fuel collection are analyzed in a non-separable household model, focusing on substitution of non-commercial fuels from the commons and the private domain. Based on data from villages bordering a protected area, a novel maximum entropy approach is used for estimation. It is found that households respond to forest scarcity and increased fuelwood collection time by substituting fuels from private sources for forest fuelwood. However, the magnitude of the response appears insufficient to prevent current fuelwood collection practices from causing serious forest degradation
... Clancy et al. (2007) also examined energy policies' approach to women at a higher level. In addition, Amacher et al. (1996) and Heltberg et al. (2000) examined the relationship between fuelwood energy demand and deforestation, showing the tendency toward energy substitution as a result of deforestation. Furthermore, Türker and Kaygusuz (2001) fuelwood consumption. ...
... The imperfect nature of the labor market in rural areas of developing countries also suggests that household labor allocation decisions on fuelwood collection and on other activities (both farm and non-farm) are made simultaneously. As a result, the traditional non-separable household models form the basis for the analysis of fuel demand and supply (Heltberg et al. 2000). ...
... When a household decides on allocation of labor, the objective is assumed to be utility maximization. Following Heltberg et al. (2000), the model presented in Eq. [12.1] captures the situation of rural households that allocate their time endowment (T ) to farm activities (T F ), non-farm activities (T NF ), and fuelwood collection (T FW ), as well as consumption of goods that require energy from fuelwood as an input (c g ), consumption of other goods (c o ), and leisure (l), ...
Most rural households in Ethiopia use fuelwood as a main source
of energy; and women are largely responsible for both its collection
and use. Existing analyses of fuelwood in the literature are more
or less limited to demand, supply, and consumption issues. In this
study, we examined women’s workloads in rural areas, vis-à-vis the
collection and consumption of fuelwood. Based on data collected
from a survey of female-headed households, we used probit and
Ordinary Least Square (OLS) models to analyze decisions regarding
“own collection” (i.e., collection for household use) and consumption
of fuelwood, respectively. Content analysis and simple descriptive
statistical tools were also used to present and analyze qualitative
data. The major results indicated that donkey ownership, household
income, and accessibility to tree lots were positively associated
with high fuelwood consumption, while travel time to tree lots was
inversely related to consumption. From the qualitative data, it was
and other household activities. Developing and improving women’s
access to human and physical capital/assets through education,
land, and draught power are important factors in whether women
decide to collect fuelwood and how much fuelwood they consume.
... Rural households shift their family labor from on-farm work to off-farm work during unfavorable weather (Ito and Kurosaki, 2009;Huang et al., 2020). There is limited evidence regarding the interconnections among forest degradation, firewood collection, and fuel choice (Heltberg et al., 2000;Pattanayak et al., 2004). Only a small number of studies have investigated the relationship between firewood scarcity and fuel choice, with the majority relying on self-reported measures such as the time spent collecting firewood or distance to the forest source. ...
... There is evidence in the literature that local governments and forest owners use legal or property rights issues to impede others' access to forest resources. Therefore, active forest protection could lessen the use of fuelwood despite an expanding forest stock (Obua et al., 1998;Heltberg et al., 2000). In addition, there is a lack of empirical evidence on the causes of forest degradation in Africa (Rohde et al., 2006;Reenberg, 2012 There are several conclusions from this paper. ...
... It provides a comprehensive perspective on forest availability by considering overall vegetation health and density. This is an improvement in comparison to previous approaches that have been based on measuring firewood collection time (Heltberg et al., 2000;Palmer and MacGregor, 2009;Guta, 2012;Guta, 2014;Lee et al., 2015) or measuring the distance to the source of firewood in meters (Heltberg, 2005). ...
This thesis comprises four empirical papers aimed at comprehending the interdependencies among climate change, scarcity of natural resources such as water and forests, human health, and households’ responses. Paper I investigates the impact of precipitation variability on households’ sanitation technology choices in Ethiopia. The findings indicate that increased precipitation variability causes households to abandon improved sanitation facilities in favor of unimproved sanitation systems. Paper II examines how local forest resource conditions affect households’ fuel choice in Uganda. The use of biobased fuels has detrimental effects on both human health and forests. The results show that, when compared to households in non-vegetated areas, those in more vegetated areas are less likely to depend on dirty biobased fuels like firewood and charcoal. A larger forest stock is associated with a greater likelihood of using a combination of clean and dirty fuels. Paper III analyzes the impacts of water scarcity, as measured by time spent collecting water, on diarrhea prevalence and the purchase of health insurance in Ethiopia. Results show that water scarcity has a significant and positive impact on both. Finally, paper IV scrutinizes the effects of seasonal temperature on seasonal farm labor market outcomes in Ethiopia. The main findings show that rising temperatures reduce the number of hired farm labor days and wage payments during planting, harvesting, and whole agricultural season.
... The extraction of wood for fuel in rural areas occurs from various sources such as forests, woody commons, farmland trees, and roadside trees (15), (9). The collection of firewood is predominantly carried out by women, often with assistance from children (9). ...
... One approach involves preventing land fragmentation and increasing the number of trees on private farms (15), (10),(6). In Sub-Saharan Africa, rapid population growth leads to smaller farm sizes, making it increasingly challenging for households to grow trees for their use and contribute to commercial demand(15). By promoting tree cultivation on private farms, the burden on forests from wood fuel extraction can be reduced(15),(10). ...
... In Sub-Saharan Africa, rapid population growth leads to smaller farm sizes, making it increasingly challenging for households to grow trees for their use and contribute to commercial demand(15). By promoting tree cultivation on private farms, the burden on forests from wood fuel extraction can be reduced(15),(10). ...
... Different policy instruments, such as information campaigns advocating improved and more efficient biomass stoves, or subsidy schemes to cover the expenses of the poor for adopting new technology in order to stimulate a fuel switching process, could be used (Heltberg, 2005). Such a transition is argued to be particularly important where fuelwood is an important fuel (Edmonds, 2002;Fisher, 2004;Heltberg et al., 2000) and forest degradation is a serious problem. For any policy program intending to achieve conversion towards clean fuels, or enhanced forest status, it is important to understand how households respond to changes in forest condition (Bandyopadhyay et al., 2011). ...
... Evidence on the links between forest degradation, firewood collection, and fuel choice is scant (Heltberg et al., 2000;Pattanayak et al., 2004). Relatively few studies examine the effect of firewood scarcity on fuel choice. ...
... These studies measure firewood scarcity in different ways. Some studies make use of economically related scarcity indicators, such as the price of firewood (Alem et al., 2016), the total firewood collection time (Guta, 2012(Guta, , 2014Lee et al., 2015;Palmer and MacGregor, 2009), and the average firewood collection time (Heltberg et al., 2000), where the latter two are used as indicators of opportunity costs of firewood. These measures have limitations. ...
In this study, we investigate how households' choice of energy source is influenced by the status of the local forest resource. We assume that households choose between clean fuels (e.g., kerosene, LPG, solar, and electricity), dirty biobased fuels (e.g., firewood, animal dung, crop residues, and charcoal), and mixed fuels. We integrate socioeconomic data with high-resolution satellite data on forest conditions from the Uganda National Panel Survey. The findings from a random-effects multinomial logit model indicate that households in vegetated areas are 6–7% less likely to rely solely on dirty biobased fuels, and 6–8% more likely to use mixed fuels, compared to those in non-vegetated areas. A larger forest stock is more strongly associated with lower use of firewood than charcoal. A possible explanation for the findings is the presence of policies for forest conservation and enhanced forest property rights, which improve forest conditions and limit opportunities to collect firewood. Given households' dependence on forest-based fuels, such policies could need to be modified to secure households’ access to these fuels.
... Dado que el 70% del bosque nativo en Chile está en manos privadas, su uso es el resultado de decisiones que emergen a partir de la interacción de una serie de factores: características de los tomadores de decisión, mercados, contexto socioeconómico y ambiental, políticas públicas, entre otros (Amacher et al., 1996;Heltberg et al., 2000;Heltberg, 2002;Joshi and Mehmood, 2011). Algunos de estos factores son propios del tomador de decisión y su explotación, y no cambian bruscamente, como edad, escolaridad y calidad de sitio, mientras que otros sí, por ejemplo, el uso del suelo. ...
... Los sistemas productivos son dinámicos y cambian a través del tiempo, por ejemplo, los predios se heredan y se dividen, lo que implica cambios en el tomador de decisión; la economía crece y surgen nuevas oportunidades de ingreso, mejoran los caminos, etc. Heltberg et al. (2000) plantean que debido a que en áreas rurales la oferta y demanda de mano de obra se deciden al mismo tiempo, los modelos deben considerar un supuesto de no-separabilidad. Eso quiere decir que los tomadores de decisión deciden la cantidad de recursos asignados a actividades dentro y fuera del predio, evaluando los costos y beneficios de diferentes alternativas, en un proceso heurístico (basado en la experiencia) (Uijt, ecuación 1). ...
El presente documento resume los aspectos técnicos del procesamiento de los datos de terreno levantados en el desarrollo del Inventario Forestal Nacional de Chile. Este inventario se enmarca en el Programa de Monitoreo de Ecosistemas Forestales del Instituto Forestal (INFOR) y constituye la herramienta estadística que provee de datos e información respecto del estado y condición del recurso comprendido en los ecosistemas forestales. El inventario constituye una iniciativa única en su género del Ministerio de Agricultura, a través del diseño, implementación y operación del Instituto Forestal, y comprende un diseño estadístico orientado a cubrir las necesidades de datos e información asociadas a los diversos procesos internacionales que monitorean las acciones de los países hacia un desarrollo sustentable. Además, se basa en una conceptualización jerárquica de los ecosistemas y su diseño corresponde a un enfoque multifuente, multinivel y multirecursos, cubriendo así un amplio espectro de interrogantes respecto de los ecosistemas. Se entregan en este documento datos resúmenes que buscan describir el estado y condición de los recursos comprendidos en los ecosistemas forestales. Estos datos constituyen una parte muy básica de la información contenida en base de datos, la cual es por su parte una fuente de información de enorme potencial de análisis.
... Plate 3: Dry maize cob Slightly, less than a third (16.8%) of the households in the study area used alternate energy sources of fuel such as kerosene, biogas, solar, LPG and electricity in times of wood fuel scarcity ( Table 4). The energy sources were used ~ 6 ~ for cooking, heating and lighting in the developing world (Heltberg, Channing & Sekhar, 2000) [20] . However, household respondents do not afford the alternative energy sources sustainably because of high prices attached to them (Githiomi, 2010) [15] . ...
... Plate 3: Dry maize cob Slightly, less than a third (16.8%) of the households in the study area used alternate energy sources of fuel such as kerosene, biogas, solar, LPG and electricity in times of wood fuel scarcity ( Table 4). The energy sources were used ~ 6 ~ for cooking, heating and lighting in the developing world (Heltberg, Channing & Sekhar, 2000) [20] . However, household respondents do not afford the alternative energy sources sustainably because of high prices attached to them (Githiomi, 2010) [15] . ...
... Heltberg [57] 2000 Data on villages surrounding protected areas in rural India ...
... Fifthly, from the perspective of national economic development, in most developing countries, rural residents in the state of household energy poverty use firewood as fuel for a long period of time, which undermines the sustainability of forest resources. Heltberg (2000) [57] studied the demand and supply of domestic energy in rural households in India and found that the high consumption of fuelwood by rural households had led to the serious degradation of local forest resources. Yao (2013) [58] pointed out that the large amount of greenhouse gases released during solid combustion exacerbated the adverse effects of global climate change, increasing the government's cost of governance while negatively affecting the health of the population. ...
Energy poverty is one of the three major crises of the global energy system. It tends to deepen as a result of the imbalance between supply and demand, energy transition and financial factors, especially in rural areas of developing countries. This paper took rural household energy poverty as the subject and collected 27 Chinese papers and 44 English papers from Google Scholar, Sci-hub, CNKI and other academic websites in the academic field on the definition, identification methods, influencing factors and governance countermeasures of energy poverty. It focused on analyzing the influence of income level, geographic location, urban–rural differences, demographic characteristics and other factors on energy poverty, as well as the profound impact of energy poverty on the population’s health, the population’s economic status, social equity, welfare of the population, the national economic development, etc. It finally landed on the government’s countermeasures to govern energy poverty so as to provide references for solving the problem of energy poverty by systematically sorting out the literature.
... He argues that gender roles should be an inherent part of sustainable economic development programs. Heltberg et al. (2000) and found that female family members proactively get involved in collecting firewood from the forest more than the male ones, while male family members play a conventional role in the family by engaging in agriculture, earning wages, and engaging in other nonfarm employment activities. Israel (2002) analyzed the Bolivian Integrated Household Survey 1989 and claimed that compared to men, women have a stronger preference toward clean energy sources. ...
... However, some studies have claimed that household size might negatively affect the probability of selecting clean cooking fuel and that such a relationship could be non-linear (Pandey and Chaubal, 2011;Rahut et al., 2017a). The reason household size is positively related to the high consumption of solid fuels, such as wood, is the increase in demand for energy and excess labor supply for collecting wood for fuel in rural areas (Heltberg et al., 2000). Rahut et al. (2017a) conduct a primary survey of 500 farmers from the seven districts of the Himalayan region of northern Pakistan and ascertain that young and educated farmers with large land holdings use more than one energy source for cooking purposes. ...
The natural environment is negatively impacted by the daily fuel use for domestic purposes, particularly in developing nations with large populations, such as India, where biomass is the primary source of fuel for household cooking. However, a greater understanding is needed about the trends, patterns, and factors affecting household energy consumption and choice in India over the past two decades. The National Family Health Survey (NFHS) data from the years 2005–2006, 2015–2016, and the most recent year 2019–21 are used in this study to empirically demonstrate that characteristics including gender, education, capital, social status, and geography have significant influence on a household's decision to use cleaner energy. The results report that homes in rural regions, the poorest and most impoverished households, those headed by women, and without formal education have been unable to switch to cleaner fuels such as liquid petroleum gas (LPG) over time. As the study suggests that increasing income levels and education can lead to a shift toward cleaner household energy consumption, policies promoting economic growth and education can reduce greenhouse gas emissions from household energy consumption. Thus, policies like subsidies in LPG and electricity shall explicitly aim to assist impoverished households and lower-income families in enhancing their accessibility and affordability options for cleaner energy sources. The research underscores the significance of directing efforts towards the economically disadvantaged segments of society, guaranteeing their access to more environmentally friendly energy sources.
... Bioenergy is the single largest renewable energy source which supplies about 10% of the world's primary energy needs [4]. Generally, biomass fuels provide about 35% of energy supplies in developing countries [5]. In Africa, about half of the domestic energy demand is met using bioenergy in the form of fuelwood [6]. ...
... The production of wood fuel most frequently results in forest depletion [7]. Alternative sources of bioenergy supply besides fuelwood including crop residues, animal dung, and non-timber industrial materials like bamboo have been recommended [5]. Substitution of fuelwood with these alternatives will reduce pressure on natural forests. ...
In the search for alternatives to wood fuel, to meet the bio-energy requirement of an ever-increasing global population, the International Network for Bamboo and Rattan has supported farmers in many tropical countries to establish plantations of Beema bamboo (a tissue-cultured clone from Bambusa vulgaris) and Oxytenanthera abyssinica for bio-energy production. The quality of these species as solid biofuels is unknown due to the absence of data on their physico-thermal and emission characteristics. Using the American Standard for Testing and Materials and other internationally accepted standards, their ultimate and proximate analysis, and physico-thermal and emission properties were evaluated. Beema bamboo and O. abyssinica have high Hydrogen, organic and fixed Carbon contents and low quantities of ash, moisture content, volatile matter, Oxygen, Nitrogen and Sulphur. This will contribute to their heating values and low oxide emissions. Based on their High Heating Values (Beema bamboo = 23.22 MJ/kg; O. abyssinica = 23.26 MJ/kg), the species will be suitable for high energy-using applications. The Particulate Matter and Carbon Monoxide concentrations (Beema bamboo: 90 ug/m³ and 2.83 ppm respectively; O. abyssinica: 77.33 ug/m³ and 3.20 ppm respectively) are lower than the threshold (35000 ug/m³ and 9 ppm respectively) approved by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. These properties make the species good raw materials for solid biofuel which is safe for indoor use. Their use will contribute to reducing pressure on tropical forests for wood fuel and the health hazards associated with fossil fuel use.
... In some regions, local communities prefer fuel wood from shrub species that can regenerate after being cut down near ground level (Gonzalez, 2001). For many developed countries, fuel wood collected from forested areas remains a significant source of domestic energy (Heltberg et al., 2000). Furthermore, the demand for fuel wood has been steadily increasing, reaching substantial levels (FAO, 2011). ...
The rapid expansion of tobacco production in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa poses a severe threat to the diversity of natural forests in the region due to extensive use of wood for curing tobacco crops. This study employs wood market analysis and surveys to assess the impact of tobacco curing on the surrounding forest variety. Data from 92 wood retailers reveals that Virginia tobacco in the study area is primarily cured using firewood from eight tree species, with Acacia modesta being the most utilized (4,303.3 metric tons). Over-harvesting of key species like Acacia modesta and Olea ferruginea is causing a concerning decline in their availability, negatively affecting local flora and altering vegetation structures. Annual tobacco production figures indicate an increasing trend, reaching 43,000 metric tons in 2021. Insufficient alternative energy sources contribute to escalating consumption of forest products, particularly fuel wood. The study also highlights health issues prevalent among the local population involved in the tobacco industry, ranging from headaches and respiratory problems to skin allergies and vomiting. These health concerns underscore the potential dangers associated with the expanding tobacco industry in the region, urging the need for sustainable practices and alternative energy sources to mitigate environmental and health risks.
... In some regions, local communities prefer fuel wood from shrub species that can regenerate after being cut down near ground level (Gonzalez, 2001). For many developed countries, fuel wood collected from forested areas remains a significant source of domestic energy (Heltberg et al., 2000). Furthermore, the demand for fuel wood has been steadily increasing, reaching substantial levels (FAO, 2011). ...
The rapid expansion of tobacco production in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa poses a severe threat to the diversity of natural forests in the region due to extensive use of wood for curing tobacco crops. This study employs wood market analysis and surveys to assess the impact of tobacco curing on the surrounding forest variety. Data from 92 wood retailers reveals that Virginia tobacco in the study area is primarily cured using firewood from eight tree species, with Acacia modesta being the most utilized (4,303.3 metric tons). Over-harvesting of key species like Acacia modesta and Olea ferruginea is causing a concerning decline in their availability, negatively affecting local flora and altering vegetation structures. Annual tobacco production figures indicate an increasing trend, reaching 43,000 metric tons in 2021. Insufficient alternative energy sources contribute to escalating consumption of forest products, particularly fuel wood. The study also highlights health issues prevalent among the local population involved in the tobacco industry, ranging from headaches and respiratory problems to skin allergies and vomiting. These health concerns underscore the potential dangers associated with the expanding tobacco industry in the region, urging the need for sustainable practices and alternative energy sources to mitigate environmental and health risks.
... According to studies, young individuals may be more dependent on NTFPs than senior people because collecting NTFPs requires a lot of labor and is hazardous work (Cavendish, 2000;Mamo et al., 2007;McElwee, 2008). Additionally, the presence of more females in a home indicates a greater reliance on NTFPs because they are more likely to be involved in NTFP collection (Heltberg et al., 2000;Adhikari, 2005;Paumgarten and Shackleton, 2011;Dash et al., 2016;Mushi et al., 2020). Also, compared to wealthy or prosperous households, poor households generally show a stronger dependence on NTFPs (Cavendish, 2000;Escobal & Aldana, 2003;Paumgarten & Shackleton, 2011;Nerfa et al., 2020). ...
This study carried out in April, 2016 assesses the market potentiality and different factors affecting the collection of non-timber forest products (NTFPs), mainly Chiraito (Swertia chirayita), Amriso (Thysanolaena maxima), and Timur (Zanthoxylum armatum) (CAT) found in the Panchase region of western Nepal. Three communities Bagefadke (Syangja), Ramjha (Parbat), and Bhadaure Tamagi (Kaski) of Panchase region were selected as the study site. Data were collected using a structured schedule interview with 105 randomly selected households (HHs) and included information collected from key informants (KIIs) and focus group discussions (FGDs). Collection of CAT varied across the HHs; on average they collected 0.38 kg of Chiraito, 7.28 Bhari Amriso, and 0.62 kg Timur seasonally. The findings revealed that age, large family size, illiterate peoples, and near users were more likely to collect CAT. Similarly, sex was found to significantly reduce the activity of collection and trade of NTFPs. Walking distance to the resource significantly increases the favor of collection indicating that the valuable CAT collected are from near locations. While the positive relationship between family size, distance from home, and collection (p<0.1) implies that large family size and users near to the forest are more likely to collect CAT than other variables. Market potentiality of CAT is seen high (55%, 67%, and 68%, respectively), Amriso and Timur have seen more market potentiality compared to Chiraito. It may be due to the high availability of Amriso and Timur in the area.
... Energy use is integral to water extraction, desalination, and wastewater treatment processes, which are crucial for managing water resources but can also contribute to environmental degradation (Wakeel et al., 2016). In developing regions, fuelwood consumption remains a leading cause of deforestation, particularly as households rely on traditional biomass for energy (Heltberg et al., 2000;Sulaiman and Abdul-Rahim, 2022). ...
... At the local forest level, specific projects within a broader REDD+ program attempt to change local people's forest use to stem forest loss. Rural households make decisions that lead to forest degradation and deforestation decisions within the context of other household decisions, including alternative uses of labor and land within their market, ecological, agronomic, and institutional setting (Adhikari et al., 2004;Heltberg et al., 2000;Pattanayak and Sills, 2001;Robinson et al., 2002Robinson et al., , 2008Singh et al., 1986). Within jurisdictional REDD+ programs, local-level projects, including many pilot REDD+ projects, aim to improve rural well-being through various schemes, like Integrated Conservation Development Projects (ICDPs), social forestry, Joint Forest Management, and ecotourism, that may provide compensation for lost resource access from broader forest policies. ...
... There are various categories into which proximate drivers can be divided. The main drivers of deforestation are fires, commercial logging [41,2], subsistence logging [42,2], conversion of forests to agricultural areas [3], and oil palm plantations [43]. Although it has been shown that the primary cause of deforestation in the tropics is agricultural expansion [44] , causes vary from place to place and alter over time [43,40]. ...
Relevance. Forests play a vital role in maintaining ecological balance and providing habitats, oxygen, and carbon sinks. However, deforestation resulting from mining, logging, infrastructure development, climate change, and agriculture is leading to their depletion.
This paper aims to investigate the underlying factors driving deforestation and their socioeconomic and ecological consequences.
Results and Discussion . Deforestation has resulted in the loss of 10 million hectares of global forest cover annually, with direct drivers including fires, logging, and converting forests to agricultural land. Indirect drivers encompass political elections, military conflicts, population density, and corruption. Economic growth, road expansion, and politics have exacerbated the pressure on forests, resulting in biodiversity loss. Deforestation is predicted to continue at a rate of 10 million hectares annually until 2025. To mitigate this issue, measures such as reducing emissions from deforestation, promoting sustainable forest management, and enhancing protected area management can be implemented. Furthermore, legal action should be pursued to address the issue of deforestation.
... On the other hand, female-headed households are more inclined to choice of clean cooking fuel compared to men [35]. Household size is positively associated with the use of solid fuels such as firewood due to increased demand for fuel and excess supply of labour for collecting wood in rural areas [36]. The marital status of the household head is expected to impact the fuel choice, where the decision to use cleaner fuel is expected to be influenced by the joint decision making on household purchases [18]. ...
Despite the high rate of economic growth and electrification in the last two decades in Tanzania, only 6.9 % of the nation's households have access to clean cooking fuel technology which is concentrated among the rich urban households. Analysing data from two waves of the Tanzania National Panel Survey (2014/15 and 2020/21), we estimate the economic and rural-urban inequalities in the use of clean cooking fuel. Using the concentration curve, Erreygers concentration index and non-linear Fairlie decomposition, we find an increase in economic inequality and rural-urban inequality in the use of clean cooking fuel. Based on our analysis, factors such as the household head's education, household economic status and household connection to electricity contribute to the rural-urban inequality in the use of clean cooking fuel. Policy changes are vital for ensuring both rural and urban households have equitable access to education, electricity connection and household economic status to address inequality in the use of clean cooking fuel.
... Various studies have been conducted by different authors on fuel wood consumption pattern (Bhatt et al., 1994;Samant et al., 2000;Bhatt and Sachan, 2004;Sharma et al., 2008;Rawat et al., 2009;Kumar and Sharma, 2009;Singh et al., 2010;Rana et al., 2012;Dhar and Ahmad 2016;Lipika et al., 2017;Pant et al., 2022) in Trans, North Western Himalaya of India. In addition to these, studies were also conducted on impact of unsustainable extraction of fuel wood on degradation of forests in rural areas (Bhattacharya and Joshi, 2001;Heltberg et al., 2000). Unsustainable extraction is a consequence of both demand factors-increasing population, inefficient use of fuel wood, and lack of energy alternatives for poor households and supply issues, which include low productivity of forests (MoEF, 2006). ...
... The types of fuelwood produced and used in the study were presented in table 10. 100% of the fuelwood producers produce firewood while 28.3 % of them produce charcoal. ...
... Different types of market failures can lead to inseparability, which is critical for fuel usage analyses. For example, Heltberg et al. (2000) consider the market failure of crop residues, animal waste, and labor. They studied the use of firewood to replace private non-market sales of fuel (animal manure and crop residues) in response to a shortage of wood. ...
... A study made by Naibbi [15] using Landsat satellite images found that vegetation cover in Yobe, Nigeria, has reduced drastically since the 1970s, and uncontrolled fuelwood collection activities were mentioned among the main causes. Therefore, our finding indicated a need for the development of alternative and sustainable fuelwood production systems, including dedicated energy plantations that use short-rotation coppice systems and agroforestry models, which have been found in the previous study to reduce local community's reliance on natural forests for fuelwood [50,51]. ...
The increased fuelwood demand and commercialization activities in Nigeria over the years have incurred various sustainability issues and concerns along the fuelwood value chain. This study employed value chain analysis to examine the sustainability of the fuelwood value chain in Yobe, Nigeria, in relation to economic, environmental, and social aspects. From the analysis, it was found that fuelwood business activities were conducted by registered licensed actors (formally) and informally by non-licensed actors who do not register with the government agency that controls forest-related activities. Profit was not equally distributed along the value chain, whereby 65% of the total profits were reaped by the transporters. Natural forests were the main source of fuelwood, with 18 tree species being preferred and commonly traded by both formal and informal chain actors. Women’s participation in the formal fuelwood value chain was limited and mainly concentrated in the informal chain. The findings of this study can inform policymakers to enhance the sustainability of fuelwood production and trade along the value chain, especially in terms of profit sharing, exploitation of forest resources, and gender equality.
... The most prevalent direct causes of tropical deforestation include commercial logging (Curtis et al., 2018;Hosonuma et al., 2012), subsistence logging (e.g. for firewood; Heltberg et al., 2000;Hosonuma et al., 2012), conversion of forests to agricultural lands (e.g. for oil palm plantations or cropping; Hosonuma et al., 2012;Koh and Wilcove, 2008;Laurance et al., 2014), and fires (Laurance et al., 2002). Deforestation can also be influenced by seasonality which may be lower in wet seasons, as saturated soils make logging more difficult, and higher in the dry season when flammability increases (Nolan et al., 2016;Putz et al., 2000). ...
Tropical forests support immense biodiversity and provide essential ecosystem services for billions of people. Despite this value, tropical deforestation continues at a high rate. Emerging evidence suggests that elections can play an important role in shaping deforestation, for instance by incentivising politicians to allow increased utilisation of forests in return for political support. Nevertheless, the role of elections as driver of deforestation has not yet been comprehensively tested at broad geographic scales. Here, we created an annual database from 2001 to 2018 on political elections and forest loss for 55 tropical nations and modelled the effect of elections on deforestation. In total, 1.5 million km 2 of forest was lost during this time period, especially in the Amazon, the Congo Basin and in Southeast Asia. The annual rate of deforestation increased in 37 (67 %) of the analysed countries. Deforestation was significantly lower in years with uncompetitive lower chamber elections compared to competitive election years (i.e. when the opposition can participate in elections and has a legitimate chance to gain governmental power). Our results show a pervasive loss of tropical forests and suggest that competitive elections can be potential drivers of deforestation. Future analyses at higher resolution (intra-annual deforestation and sub-national governance) and simultaneous collection of data on additional mechanisms (legislative changes, financial investments, and binding term limits) will likely provide additional insights into the impacts of elections. We therefore recommend that organisations monitoring election transparency and fairness should also monitor environmental impacts such as forest loss, habitat destruction and resource exploitation.
... Therefore it will lead to a number of other adverse consequences like forest degradation, including loss of biodiversity, release of carbon dioxide into atmosphere and soil erosion (Heltberg et al., 2000). Similarly, burning biomass in open-fire stoves and often with little ventilation, emits smoke containing large quantities of harmful pollutants, with serious health consequences for those exposed, particularly women involved in cooking and young children spending time around their mothers (Kumar et al., 2007). ...
The choice of domestic fuel is a matter of great concern for households and policymakers in India. This paper investigates the switching preference of the rural households from traditional fuel wood towards cleaner fuels like Biogas, LPG and Kerosene. The study is based on a survey among 60 households residing in two villages namely, Muthakadahalli and Shettyhalli of Chickballapur district, Karnataka. The cost-benefit analysis of the Biogas units in the study area yielded appreciable NPV, B-C ratio and IRR. Inspite of this there has not been any large scale adoption of the household type Biogas units, unless there is some intervention from government departments and NGO's operating in the area. Therefore Conjoint analysis was used in order to analyze this dynamic behaviour of the rural households in switching their domestic fuel preferences. Eleven attributes namely: Durability, Reliability, Sophistication, Space, Ruggedness, Cost, Interest, Subsidy, Services, Distribution and Safety were selected along with their three respective levels; LPG, Biogas and Kerosene. Using the conjoint function utility (part-worth) scores were generated which indicated the preference of fuels with respect to each attribute. Here LPG was the clear winner among other fuels as it received highest positive utility score for majority of the attributes. However, given the increasing subsidy burden, import bills, energy security concerns and long term sustainability, universal LPG coverage in the country may prove to be a sub-optimal solution to meet clean cooking energy needs. Therefore a comparative assessment of domestic fuels available in the study area comprising of Biogas, LPG and Kerosene was carried out. Even though Biogas was found to be the most capital intensive solution during the installation period, continuous fuel supply was assured based on the operational availability of the plant. On the resilience of technology front Biogas plants and Kerosene stoves fared the worst indicating that there was still some way to go before end-users viewed these solutions on par with LPG.
... As mentioned earlier, the main source of fuel in both urban and rural areas within developing countries like Tanzania is biomass (FAO, 2012;Ishengoma, 2015).Biomass in the country is available in two forms: charcoal and firewood.Charcoal is energy that is made from wood, while fuelwood is collected JGAT Volume 41, Number 1, 2021 and used directly from the field (FAO, 2012). Fuelwood gathered from forested areas is the most important source of domestic energy for the developing world (Heltberg et al., 2000).It is estimated that 60-85% of Africans use fuelwood as their primary source of fuel (FAO, 2009).However, in Tanzania, 90% of the total energy consumption (biomass, petroleum, electricity, coal) is fuelwood (SADC, 1993;NBS, 2013).The use of charcoal in many countries as a source of energy has resulted into a number of health and environmental problems. Health problems associated with charcoal use include blindness, red-eyes, coughing and TB; while environmental problems include deforestation, land degradation, air pollution, and others. ...
Reducing pressure on forest resources by promoting alternative sources of energy may significantly protect the environment and attract healthy ecosystems. This paper investigated the manner in which charcoal users can switch to alternative sources of energy in Tanzania. It draws data from a study that was conducted in Dar es Salaam region, where the use of charcoal is widely pronounced.The paper involved 108 respondents; including heads of households, officials, and charcoal users. Questionnaires, interviews, observation tools and documentary review methods were employed in data collection. Quantitative data were analysed using SPSS version 20, while qualitative data were analysed using content analysis. The results suggest that about 75.9% and 14.8% of the respondents depended on charcoal and gas, respectively. The low prices of charcoal and peoples’ perceptions on charcoal are the main reasons influencing the overdependence on charcoal. Availability, reliability and affordability of charcoal are the main reasons why people are not ready to abandon charcoal and shift to alternative energy sources.The paper recommends that urban dwellers be encouraged to use alternative energy sources such as gas and electricity. Subsidizing prices/ tariffs of alternative energy sources may encourage the use of alternative energy sources. Adoption of the use of efficient and energy saving stoves may also reduce dependence on charcoal. This can be done in different ways such as providing energy saving stoves to people for free or at subsidized prices. Thus, the government, NGOs, environmental stakeholders, and others should finance energy saving stoves.
... The greater number of women participants concurs with a study by Asfaw et al. (2013) which showed that the use of gender can be used to show the relation between people and their forest. It is assumed that females are more likely to be more dependent on forest resources when compared to their male counterparts due to their constant interaction with the environment (Heltberg et al. 2000). Generally, the knowledge shown by women on the local plants used for different purposes can be said to be greater when compared with men and can be explained based on the roles played by women in every household when comparing to gender-based roles. ...
Background: Most people who reside in rural areas have over the years benefited from the utilization of forest products obtained from forests and surrounding woodlands. Both timber and non-timber forest products are important in livelihood maintenance, provision of security, reduction of poverty and malnutrition and help generate income. The aim of the study is to evaluate and document plants that are traditionally used by community in Gokwe South District, Zimbabwe and to assess their contribution to the livelihood and sustenance of the community. Methods: Ethnobotanical data was collected from February 2022 till March 2022 through semi-structured interviews and data analysed through quantitative indices such as use value (UV) and relative frequency of citation (RFC). Field surveys were made to collect voucher specimens, which were identified, authenticated and deposited at the National Herbarium, Zimbabwe. Results: A total of 89 plant species belonging to 81 genera and 44 families are traditionally used in Gokwe South District. The Fabaceae family is the highest plant species (15 species) followed by Anacardiaceae and Euphorbiaceae (five species each). Seven use categories were identified with the food category recording the highest number of plant species used (48 species) followed by tools and handicraft (29 species). Conclusions: The study showed that the traditional use of plant is still a common practice in the district. The great diversity of plants gives the need for their conservation and sustainable use to be established and monitored. Keywords: Plant diversity, use patterns, traditional uses of plants, Gokwe South District
... Energy supply factors Affordability, availability, accessibility, reliability of energy supplies Brouwer et al., 22 Heltberg et al., 23 Heltberg, 11 Karimu, 12 Leach, 2 Malla and Timilsina, 13 Mensah and Adu, 21 Note: We adopted the categories proposed by Kowsari and Zerriffi. 1 to electricity as a cooking fuel in Korea. Instead, the Korean cooking sector is currently dominated by natural gas. ...
This study examines the determinants of modern cooking fuel choices in Korea. The ordered probit model is estimated using an extensive online survey of Korean household energy consumers. Our empirical results showed that age, gender, and education are significant determinants of modern cooking fuel choices among the socioeconomic demographic variables: females, older people, and highly educated people are more likely to prefer electricity. Also, electricity is more likely to be preferred over natural gas by people who have a higher preference for district heating. Two psychological factors significantly influence cooking fuel choices. People whose behaviors are environment-friendly and people who are more health-conscious are more likely to prefer electricity over natural gas or propane. There are three important insights into the cooking fuel transition toward electricity. First, as interest in health and climate change has significantly increased in recent years in Korea, it may stimulate the transition from natural gas or propane to electricity. Second, electrification of cooking methods will be beneficial for the environment if electricity generation becomes less carbon-intensive. Since electricity in Korea is mainly generated by fossil fuels, it is crucial to implement more aggressive policies toward renewable sources in the energy mix for electricity generation. Third, the public should better understand why this problem cannot be overlooked because the energy mix is important in mitigating climate change. The better the people understand the exact relationship between energy consumption and pollutant emissions, the more effective and environmentally sound will the energy mix policy become.
... Most existing studies confirm that energy poverty harms social and economic wellbeing [8][9][10][11], causes education and gender inequality [12][13][14][15], increases residents' health risk [16][17][18][19][20], and leads to ecological degradation [21][22][23]. Research on the influencing factors of energy poverty shows that household income, the educational level of residents, and social factors (age, ability, ethnicity) are the main causes of energy poverty [24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32]. With the continuous promotion of energy transitions, the impact of low-carbon energy transition 2 of 15 on energy poverty has also received extensive attention. ...
This study investigated the energy poverty spatiotemporal interaction characteristics and socioeconomic determinants in rural China from 2000 to 2015 using exploratory time–space data analysis and a geographical detector model. We obtained the following results. (1) The overall trend of energy poverty in China’s rural areas was “rising first and then declining”, and the evolution trend of energy poverty in the three regions formed a “central–west–east” stepwise decreasing pattern. (2) There was a dynamic local spatial dependence and unstable spatial evolution process, and the spatial agglomeration of rural energy poverty in China had a relatively higher path dependence and locked spatial characteristics. (3) The provinces with negative connections were mainly concentrated in the central and western regions. Anhui and Henan, Inner Mongolia and Jilin, Jilin and Heilongjiang, Hebei and Shanxi, and Liaoning and Jilin constituted a strong synergistic growth period. (4) From a long-term perspective, the disposable income of rural residents had the greatest determinant power on rural energy poverty, followed by per capita GDP, rural labor education level, regulatory agencies, and energy investment. In addition, our findings showed that the selected driving factors all had enhanced effects on rural energy poverty in China through interaction effects.
... ''Primitive Fuels'' in the Indian context are often traditional self-collected biofuels like cow dung, plant residues, etc., which do not have definitive, standard pricing and depend instead on the opportunity costs of collection. The shadow price of fuel collection is unobservable and unknown except to the household members' perception (Heltberg et al. 2000). Therefore, an analysis based on the relative price of modern fuels to freely gathered traditional fuels is prone to price misestimation. ...
The heterogeneity in a household’s cooking fuel basket has been explained generally by multiple determinants. However, the implication of a household’s allocation of expenses on food and non-food requirements on cooking-fuel choices has not been adequately examined. Therefore, analysing the role of such resource allocations and their impact on household fuel choice is worthwhile. This study examines the multidimensional aspect of fuel choice behaviour of households in emerging economies such as India. In addition to socio-economic, demographic and geographical factors, we have considered State Gross Domestic Products (GSDP) and State Human Development Index (HDI). Our results suggest that the monthly allocation of expenditure under a household’s food and non-food outlays does have a bearing on the choice of cooking fuel. We find that a one-unit rise in the ratio between fuel and food expenditure leads to a 4.4% increase in the probability of using primitive fuels. Our analyses also find rural uptake of modern fuels to be lower than urban areas across the Indian states, irrespective of GSDP levels. However, states with higher HDI tend to adopt cleaner energy. From a household perspective, a female head with decision-making capabilities increases the likelihood of adopting cleaner fuel to 2%. In comparison, educated heads of the households increase the possibility of cleaner fuel adoption to 15%.Graphical abstract
... These attributes make the study area susceptible to both flooding and erosion. Studies have also established some negative effects of complex deforestation on the environment such as loss of biodiversity and soil erosion etc (Heltberg et al, 2000;Yahaya 2000;de Shebinin et al, 2007;Ogbozige et al., 2018). Forest loss can also results in economic losses with several social consequences, more especially as one of the objectives of the Afaka Forest project was livelihood enhancement. ...
The study aimed to investigate the effects of human activities on the Afaka afforestation project, Kaduna State, Nigeria. Structured interview was used to evaluate the level of community involvement in the modification of the forest project, their perceived environmental effects of land-cover loss. Landsat images of 1986, 1999 and Sentinel-2 image of 2017 were applied for detection of changes in land use/land cover over the years (1986-2017). The study found that the land cover structure of the forest reserve has changed significantly. In 1986, area under crop cultivation was 19.24%, built-up areas, 0.08%, disturbed forest, 7.57%, gully, 2.60%, riparian vegetation, 2.78% and undisturbed forest, 61.49%. However, by 2017, there were significant changes as the area under crop cultivation 41.18%, built-up areas 0.17%, disturbed forest, 43.17%, gully 5.6%, riparian vegetation 4.66% and undisturbed forest, 1.66%, implying intensive human impacts on the Kaduna Afforestation project in recent time. This could be traced to the increased level of poverty in the community as 75% of the respondents who cannot afford alternative energy supplies such as kerosene and National grid-based electricity, rely on felling of trees for cooking. On the perceived effects of the afforestation project modification, reduced plantation size was 60.5%, decreased soil fertility 19.5%, reduced non-timber products, 11.1%, sheet erosion 6.1%, while flooding 2.8%. The result of the chi-square test reveals significant changes in the area coverage of the forest cover classification at P<0.05. Thus, it can be concluded that the afforestation project did not meet its objectives. There is need for sustainable programmes and policies towards alleviating poverty among the inhabitants of the study area most of which depend on the forest resources for livelihood. This should be followed up with policies to encourage tree planting initiatives to promote forest restoration and ecological integrity of the study area.
... Worldwide studies have primarily focussed on the economic model analysis of forest cover change (Namaalwa et al. 2007), identification of key drivers of deforestation and forest degradation in tropical region (Geist and Lambin 2001), forest degradation due to fuelwood collection (Heltberg et al. 2000), rural livelihoods linked to forest dependency (Panta et al. 2009), impacts of forest resources extraction on vegetation ecosystem (Thapa and Chapman 2010) and livelihood of local communities (Enbakom et al. 2017), determinants of household characteristics affecting forest dependency (Garekae et al. 2017, Ali et al. 2020, for example market access/remoteness, sources of income (Belcher et al. 2015), ethnicity and cultural heritage shaping pattern and extent of resource extraction have been the important areas of focus (Baral and Heinen 2007). The importance of forest proximity and village size have been elaborated by Indian researchers (Karanth et al. 2006). ...
The dependency of local people on forest products is recognised as an essential driver of sustainable forest conservation and restoration, but empirical studies evaluating it are scant. This study aimed to examine selected household attributes as determinants of people's dependency on forest products in selected villages in Balipara Reserve Forest, Assam, India. A total of 109 households were interviewed through a questionnaire survey in Dharikati and Sopaloga villages, along with key informed interviews and focus group discussions with the villagers and government staff. A village-level logit model was used to analyse the pattern and degree of reliance on forest products in the two villages differing in socio-economic profiles. Results suggest that education level, livestock size, and distance to the forest as the key factors that are negatively and significantly associated with forest dependency in Dharikati; whereas, only landholding size was negatively and significantly associated with forest dependency in Sopaloga. On the other hand, the other two variables, family size, and age, were insignificant. The income derived from forests has been accounted second-largest share after agricultural income to the total annual household income. Fuelwood was the major forest product and was largely extracted by the local communities. Thus, the results endorse policymakers and the forest department to take initiatives towards higher education accessibility, provision of alternative livelihood portfolios, availability of efficient sources of energy, the introduction of advanced agricultural tools, and encouraging the active participation of locals in biodiversity conservation and forest management.
... Consequently, the study finds that rural women and children spend unreasonable time periods collecting cooking energy sources. This finding is supported by Heltberg [65], who finds that household responses to fuel scarcity leads to increased fuel collection times in rural India. ...
Water and energy are essential resources for all people. However, despite the availability of sufficient water and energy resources, men and women continue to be subject to unequal rights to both water and energy in terms of access, allocation, gathering, and quality of resources. Socio-economic parameters, which include gender, income, and location, are determinant factors of water and cooking energy accessibility in this study. The research aims to assess the accessibility of water and cooking fuels across female-headed households, and evaluate particular vulnerabilities and challenges faced by women and children in rural areas of Katsina State in circumstances of water and energy insecurities. A study involving a questionnaire covering 550 rural households across 11 areas in Katsina State, north-western Nigeria, was conducted. A Pearson product correlation analysis was performed to measure the strength of association between the respondents educational level and income. A chi-square test of independence was carried out to measure the degree of dependence of the households’ resources accessibility. The authors assessed the disproportionate threats and health risks linked to fetching water and gathering of fuel resources. The research findings indicate that water and energy uncertainty among women in rural households is due to unequal responsibilities associated with water- and energy-related household duties that are potentially linked to disadvantages for females, including violence, security threats, diseases, and disempowerment. To address these challenges, water and energy interventions, and important pathways for beneficial change, are proposed for rural regions in sub-Saharan Africa. This should lead to more gender equity associated with water and energy.
Improved cooking stoves (ICS) are intended to reduce indoor air pollution and the inefficient use of fuel yet there is often reticence to shift permanently to ICS. Drawing on a scoping review, this article aims to provide a comprehensive overview of factors affecting the acceptability of ICS. A scoping review was carried out using a systematic search strategy of literature. All articles identified in three major databases that included Pubmed/Medline, Scopus and Web of Science underwent screening followed by content analysis to generate major and minor themes using a structured social level analysis. The analysis identified factors at micro, meso, and macro-social levels that potentially contribute to an adoption of an improved cooking stove (ICS). The findings from the review were discussed and refined among a group of experts identified based on their prior academic or commercial contributions related to ICS. Adoption of ICS was dependent on functional outputs (e.g. cleanliness, and cooking efficiency) while meeting local social and cultural demands (e.g. cooking large meals, traditional meals, and taste). Health and cost benefits played an important role in the adoption and sustained use of ICS. The adoption of ICS was enabled by use among neighbors and other community members. Sustained use of ICS depended on fuel supply, fuel security and policies promoting its use. Policies offering subsidies in support of supply-chain garnered institutional trust among community members and resulted in the sustained use of ICS. In addition to design attributes of ICS that could meet both scientific and social demands, policies supporting promotion of clean energy, subsidies and supplies can substantially enhance the adoption of ICS.
The Chilean forestry industry oftenly appraises their alleged sustainable practices, but its extensive use of space has sparked socio-environmental concerns. The conversion of central and southern Chilean forests into agricultural areas and monocultures is one of the key issues. Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) offer a potential solution, promoting sustainable development while maintaining biodiversity. This study explores the role of NTFPs, focusing on derivatives of the endemic species Gevuina avellana, to foster eco-industrial development in Chile. Using the sustainable livelihoods approach (SLA), the study assesses the perspectives of G. avellana collectors and producers in the Biobío Region through a semi-structured survey of experts and indigenous producers. The findings reveal the cultural and economic significance of G. avellana, highlighting the unique approaches taken by different producer groups based on social and economic sustainability factors. The research underscores the role of NTFPs in environmental sustainability, particularly from an indigenous perspective, where sustainable practices help prevent over-exploitation. These insights point towards innovative strategies for environmental and cultural conservation that can encourage integration and cooperation among diverse cultures. The study also examines the potential disruption caused by “eco-industries” and suggests ways to support sustainable NTFP production.
Community forestry is a regime of forest management that engages local communities to conserve forests and improve their livelihoods. As the number of community-conserved forests grows, a growing body of evidence indicates the positive effects of community forests in reducing deforestation. However, there is little analysis encompassing the comprehensive effectiveness of community forests (CFs) in terms of deforestation, forest degradation, forest cover change and forest increase. Here, we conducted a comprehensive analysis to investigate the influence of CFs on these aspects between 2015 and 2019 in two watershed conservation forests in Myanmar. We used visual interpretation of very high-resolution satellite imagery and applied propensity score matching to ensure a balanced distribution of covariates. When compared directly, deforestation inside CFs (5.08 %) were higher than those outside CFs (3.89 %), while forest degradation (23.73 %) and forest increase (11.86 %) inside CFs were lower than those outside CFs (24.9 % and 16.34 %, respectively). However, these differences were not significant, and the matching results showed that CFs did not exhibit significant control over deforestation, forest degradation, forest cover change, and improvements in forest cover compared to areas outside CFs. We conclude that establishing community forests alone does not guarantee forest conservation in the short term. Therefore, community-based forest management practices are needed to address deforestation and forest degradation and achieve effective forest conservation aligned with local needs.
Indian Himalayan region has a vast area of forest resources. Different types of forests are available in the lap of the Himalayas which differs with other mountain systems in the world. Kinnaur is one of the most forest-covered districts of Himachal Pradesh in the western Himalayan order. Rich forest area is the source of abundant forest products which leads to sustain the livelihood of tribal community and associated rural economy. This study shows the availability of forest products in the valley of Nichar, Kalpa and Poo and impact of availability of forest resources on the livelihood security of Kinnauras, the main tribal community of Kinnaur. It includes the local traditional knowledge and practices of the tribal people to sustain their livelihood practices. This study has been based on primary as well as secondary data sources. Different statistical techniques have been used in STATA 16.0 software to analyze the data. This study develops a result that rapid developmental activities in the valley have changed the local environment which affects the sustainable livelihood of the local people and role of local governments in the well-being of the study area.
The domestic usage of fuelwood as the primary energy source has created considerable deforestation in North East India. The extraction of most fuel wood from wood is one of the principal causes of disturbance to the native forest flora of north east India. In this study, scientific journals, edited books, and other scientific databases were studied to examine fuelwood consumption trends in the North East India. A total of 162 plant species from 53 families were utilized as fuel by the natives of the region of seven sister states, along with Sikkim, according to a review of the relevant literature. Depending on their local availability, different plant species have been used as fuels in diverse locations. Schima wallichi, A. procera, and Toona ciliata were the most profound species reported in scientific literature. The FVI ranges from 22678 to 2.43 in the listed species. The accumulated data on fuelwood consumption patterns and fuelwood species utilized in the NEH could serve as a baseline for future studies and policy formulation, thus aiding in conserving the region's forest resources.
Clarifying the principles governing the transition to cleaner household energy is crucial for enhancing households’ access to clean and efficient energy, thereby enhancing households’ welfare and overall societal well-being. However, most existing energy transition theories are grounded in assumptions of perfect market functionality. This paradigm deviates from the reality of market failure and needs to comprehensively elucidate the process of transitioning to cleaner household energy. This study develops a framework for understanding the transition to cleaner household energy within the context of market failure. It investigates the effects and mechanisms of government funding and energy endowment on this transition, considering the accessibility and affordability of clean energy. The analysis is based on 20 years of data on rural energy consumption across 29 provinces in China. The findings reveal that government funding inputs significantly enhance the transition to cleaner household energy, facilitated by the clean energy supply effect, clean technology promotion effect, clean knowledge dissemination effect, and financial constraint alleviation effect. Heterogeneity analysis indicates that in regions abundant in renewable energy, government funding inputs can effectively stimulate the development and utilization of renewable energy sources, thereby enhancing the accessibility of clean energy and driving the transition to cleaner household energy. Finally, it is recommended that the market play a constructive role in the energy transition process in addition to increased government investment in energy infrastructure, extension services, and public education.
Global efforts to accomplish net zero carbon emission are implausible without attaining Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7, which pertains to facilitating access to clean energy sources. Despite numerous initiatives, 2.9 billion people, mostly from South Asia and Africa, are without access to clean cooking fuel. The current study uses Demographic and Household Survey (DHS) Data from 46 developing countries and employs probit regression and decision trees to examine access to clean cooking energy and its determinants. The result shows that clean cooking fuel usage is low in Sub-Saharan Africa and a few countries in Asia. The study also finds that education, wealth, urban residency, and gender are crucial determinants of clean cooking fuel usage. As is the case, global efforts to provide clean fuel access to all and achieve net zero carbon emission require large-scale investment; the clean energy transition policy requires accentuating the improvement of access through supplies and the enhancement of the education and income of the household, especially in rural areas.
The Caucasus Mountains harbor high concentrations of endemic species and provide an abundance of ecosystem services yet are significantly understudied compared to other ecosystems in Eurasia. In the country of Georgia, at the heart of the Caucasus region, forest degradation has been the largest land change process over the last thirty years. The prevailing narrative is that legal and illegal cutting of trees for fuelwood is primarily responsible for this process. Yet, since independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, the country has undergone rapid socioeconomic and institutional changes which have not been explored as drivers of forest change. We combine newly available land-cover change estimates, Georgian statistical data, and historical institutional change data to examine socioeconomic drivers of forest degradation. Our analysis controls for concurrent changes in climate that would affect degradation and examines variation at the regional (state) level from 2011 to 2019, as well as at the national level from 1987 to 2019. We find that higher winter temperature and drought are associated with higher degradation at the regional scale, while major institutional changes and drought are associated with higher forest degradation at the national level. Access to natural gas, the major energy alternative to fuelwood, had no significant association with degradation. Our results challenge the narrative that poverty and a lack of alternative energy infrastructure drive forest degradation and suggest that government policies banning household fuelwood cutting, including the new Forest Code of 2020, may not reduce forest degradation. Given these results, improved data on wood harvesting and more research on the commercial drivers of degradation and their links to economic and political reforms is needed to better inform forest policy in the region, especially given ongoing risks from climate change.
ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT This study investigates households' in Tigray: the case of Maichew Traditional fuel was the town. were th findings of the study also provide support to the energy ladder hypothesis that household income is a major determinant of household like household head's education, sex of the household head, age of the household head, house type, and occupancy status and responsibility of cooking were demand. The researcher, improve move majority of households towards the upper levels of move away strategic policy of Ethiopia, to more efficient, clean and
Climate change and global warming are amplified by pollution and deforestation. For this reason, governments around the world meet every year to find ways to reduce pollution and deforestation and ensure sustainable development. The use of clean energy, particularly ecological charcoal, appears to be an appropriate solution in developing countries. The main objective of this research is to assess the motivations for the consumption of ecological charcoal in Cameroon, using a quantitative approach based on Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). Data were collected from 525 households in the cities of Yaoundé and Douala, Cameroon. The results show that the desire to protect the environment (ecological sensibility), the desire to reduce the energy costs of cooking (economic sensibility), the need to improve health and security, and the desire to enhance the quality of meals and to preserve the cleanliness of pots are all determinants in the consumers’ choice to use ecological charcoal. These results are refreshing. In Cameroon, in addition to its economic value, the massive consumption of ecological charcoal will contribute to a reduction in household waste management problems in cities and municipalities, while preserving the environment.
Excessive fuelwood harvest is a major cause of deforestation in developing countries. To mitigate this, various preventive measures have been introduced in different countries. The availability of affordable substitutes to the community dependent on the forest for domestic energy consumption may prevent further forest degradation. A stock-dependent optimal control model of fuelwood harvest from a natural forest is presented here and comparative statics has been used to show that the presence of a fuelwood substitute will reduce its harvest and increase the forest stock. The model indicates that the availability of cheaper and high-energy content alternatives for fuelwood can substantially reduce fuelwood extraction from a forest. Also, a lower discount rate and higher cultural and spiritual values (CSV) will keep the optimal forest stock close to its carrying capacity and reduce fuelwood harvest. The model reveals that the maximum sustainable yield of forest stock and the ratio of energy content per unit mass of fuel plays a central role in the fate of forest stock and the level of fuelwood harvest. An empirical example of the Southeast Asian Forest growth model along with Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) as a substitute has been used to illustrate the results. The outcomes of this study can be incorporated into forest conservation policies.
Based on the Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey (PDHS) 2017-18 data, the study intends to present the relative status of a particular fuel (type) in terms of its level of use in different regions of Pakistan. At the same time, the study investigates the determinants of the household type of fuel used for cooking in Pakistan. Socioeconomic characteristics of the households and household heads are taken as determinants of the main type of fuel (clean or dirty) used for cooking by the households. Binary logistic regression is applied as an estimation technique. Over the country, wood stands first as the most widely used type of fuel followed by natural gas followed by LPG. Animal dung and charcoal are respectively ranked as the fourth and fifth most commonly used types of fuel for cooking by households in Pakistan. In comparison amongst the four provinces of Pakistan, the use of wood as well as charcoal as the fuel type for cooking (in relative terms) is the most common in Balochistan province. Likewise, Punjab province is the most frequent user of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), crop residues, and animal dung, while Sindh province is the most frequent user of natural gas. Households possessing agricultural land and livestock and with large household sizes had more probability to use dirty sources of fuel for cooking. Households with better wealth status and residing in urban areas were more likely to use clean sources of fuel for cooking. Household head's higher educational status and male-gender had more likelihood to use clean sources of fuel for cooking.
The contribution of Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) have been acknowledged globally by the rural people for their role in collection of essential NTFPs, income generation, livelihood improvement and rural development. The potential of NTFP based bioeconomy has given new dimensions to forest dwellers, significantly affecting the economies of forest dwellers. Therefore present study investigates the livelihood contribution, quantity inequality and determinant socio-economic factors of NTFPs extraction in the Kinnaur district. A multistage random sampling technique was employed to collect data through participatory household-based surveys from different households. Compare to other income sources, such as crop production, livestock breeding, and off-farm activities, NTFPs accounted for the second largest income share of total household income. Despite the fact that wealthier households generated more NTFP income overall, our research shows that poorer households rely more on this source of income than do wealthy households. To assess and mitigate the inequality in the quantity of NTFPs collected by the forest dwellers, the Lorenz curve and Gini index were used. The Tobit model was also used to pinpoint the crucial variables influencing the collection of NTFPs.
Forest degradation is attributed to the excessive use of forest resources and extraction, whether for subsistence or commercial purposes. With an increase in human population pressure on forests, forest degradation is becoming a concern for the conservation of biodiversity. The high human dependence on tropical dry forests underscores the need for a complete understanding of the interaction of humans and these forests to ensure their persistence and the wellbeing of the people who depend on these resources. This chapter examines forest resource use and degradation to provide a nuanced understanding of forest degradation and the impact of forest resource use.
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the role of off-farm work in the rural residential energy transition in China.
Design/methodology/approach
To guide this empirical work, the authors present a simple farm-household model to explain rural energy consumption. The authors then empirically assess three main mechanisms through which off-farm work can speed up energy transition in rural China using panel data methods.
Findings
The study shows that income growth from off-farm work can reduce the consumption of traditional biomass energy and facilitate a shift to commercial energy. The losses of labor available for on-farm production raise the shadow price of non-tradable biomass energy and further dampen the demand for traditional biomass energy. More importantly, the authors find that working in service sectors can significantly promote the consumption of commercial energy by rural households. The sectoral exposure effect indicates that a new working environment may influence rural households' energy preferences and thus accelerate the transition away from traditional biomass energy.
Originality/value
Previous studies focus mainly on the income effect of off-farm work on rural energy consumption. The authors first identify three related but essentially different effects of off-farm work on rural energy transition in China. This study provides new insights into the process of energy consumption transition in rural China.
Many analyses of the “woodfuel crisis” in developing economies take little account of the significant difference between physical and economic woodfuel scarcities. Even when woodfuels have become physically scarce, households have a great deal of latitude in changing their consumption patterns in response. This paper questions whether the usually understood impacts of the woodfuel crisis are clearly the outcome of physical scarcities, or instead are an outcome of much more fundamental features of the socioeconomy involving labor use, land tenure and usufruct, the transition from subsistence to market economies, and cultural practices. It suggests that the singular focus on woodfuel production in many forestry project interventions has obscured more fundamental issues related to household resource allocation and factor endowments.
This paper considers the problem of specifying and estimating demand systems for samples which contain a significant proportion of observation with zero consumption of one or more goods. Our approach uses virtual prices, which are dual to the Kuhn-Tucker conditions, to select the set of goods consumed--the demand regime--and to transform binding nonnegativity constraints into nonbinding constraints. It has the advantage of permitting the use of indirect cost and utility functions such as the translog, and the analytic decomposition of demand effects for goods at the nonnegativity limit.
Forest conversion by agricultural households is the leading cause of deforestation. Yet we know little about agricultural household use of forest and tree products. This article measures household production of and demand for fuelwood and fuel substitutes in two districts in Nepal. Women play a larger role in collection in the district dependant on production from common forestlands. Men and agricultural capital are more important inputs in the district dependant on production from private lands. The article also measures demand elasticities for fuelwood, combustible agricultural residues, and improved stoves (a technological substitute), each by household income group. All price and income demand elasticities are less than one. The substitution elasticities between residues and fuelwood are less than one. Residues are more important substitutes for low income households and improved stoves are more important substitutes for high income households.
Subsistence households are a leading source of deforestation and their consumption of fuelwood, in particular, is important in many developing countries. Yet the empirical economic examinations of fuelwood consumption are sparse, particularly for rural areas where the deforestation occurs, and we would argue that forest policy is often designed without a good understanding of the potential responses of subsistence households to the new policy. This paper addresses these issues with household evidence from the two major populated regions of Nepal. Market prices, labor opportunities, the availability of substitutes, and measure of access to the basic resource are the most reliable predictive variables for fuelwood consumption and production. There are, however, regional differences and important distinctions between the elasticities of fuelwood collecting or purchasing households with respect to these predictive variables. The difference between collecting and purchasing households is notable. It recommends forestry policies that target the labor opportunity and the physical resource in regions where collecting households dominate, and policies that affect the fuelwood market itself in regions where purchasing households are important. A second interesting finding is that fuelwood is relatively scarcer (prices are higher) in the mid-hills, and both collecting and purchasing households in this region are beginning to respond to deforestation by using their own land for fuelwood production.
We propose a new formulation of the statistical model and the use of the maximum entropy principle for recovering information when the dependent variable is censored or ordered. This approach makes use of weak sampling assumptions and performs well over a range of non Gaussian error distributions and ill-posed and well-posed problems. Analytical and illustrative Monte Carlo sampling results are presented.
In this paper we consider estimation problems based on dynamic discrete time models. The first problem involves noisy state observations, where the state equation and the observation equation are nonlinear. The objective is to estimate the unknown parameters of the state and observation equations and the unknown values of the state variable. Next we consider the problem of estimating the parameters of the objective function and of the state equation in a linear-quadratic control problem. In each case, given time series observations, we suggest a nonlinear inversion procedure that permits the unknown underlying parameters to be estimated. Examples are presented to suggest the operational nature of the results.
This research examines the deforestation behavior of smallholder agriculturalists as off-farm labor market conditions change. A model of a representative village is proposed, which incorporates dependence on open access forests for fuelwood and animal raising. Dynamic simulations are then presented, which compare time paths of forest stocks, deforestation levels, and household labor supply under a variety of conditions. Despite the open access regime assumed in the model, with a perfect, albeit low-wage, off-farm labor market, the agro-forestry system in Nepal is basically stable. An alternative model where there is no off-farm labor market eliminates the important features of adjustment to deforestation which generate forest stability, suggesting that the availability of off-farm opportunities is an important determinant of deforesting behavior and equilibrium forest stock levels.
This paper examines two arguments used to justify the subsidy provided kerosine, the primary commercial fuel of Indonesian households. One argument holds that the subsidy reduces deforestation externalities resulting from wood gathering. Econometric analysis of a large cross-section of households finds that firewood/kerosene substitution is very limited in Java, where the deforestation problem is most severe, so that kerosene subsidy is not an effective means of alleviating the problem. The second argument holds that social equity requires the subsidization of ‘basic needs’ such as kerosene. It is found that the kerosene subsidy disproportionately benefits urban and wealthier households.
In neoclassical structural models dealing with rationing, corner solutions, or nonlinear budget constraints, utility theory is more crucial than in traditional demand systems. If in these models negativity of the Slutsky matrix is violated, the models will in general not be coherent, in the sense that endogenous variables are not unambiguously determined. We show that not imposing coherency may yield inconsistent estimators. A general framework is sketched which allows for the analysis of the relation between coherency, regularity of preferences, and the stochastic specification of the model. We discuss sufficient conditions for regularity which can be imposed in estimation.
Treatment of the predictive aspect of statistical mechanics as a form of statistical inference is extended to the density-matrix formalism and applied to a discussion of the relation between irreversibility and information loss. A principle of "statistical complementarity" is pointed out, according to which the empirically verifiable probabilities of statistical mechanics necessarily correspond to incomplete predictions. A preliminary discussion is given of the second law of thermodynamics and of a certain class of irreversible processes, in an approximation equivalent to that of the semiclassical theory of radiation. It is shown that a density matrix does not in general contain all the information about a system that is relevant for predicting its behavior. In the case of a system perturbed by random fluctuating fields, the density matrix cannot satisfy any differential equation because rho˙(t) does not depend only on rho(t), but also on past conditions The rigorous theory involves stochastic equations in the type rho(t)=G(t, 0)rho(0), where the operator G is a functional of conditions during the entire interval (0-->t). Therefore a general theory of irreversible processes cannot be based on differential rate equations corresponding to time-proportional transition probabilities. However, such equations often represent useful approximations.
Information theory provides a constructive criterion for setting up probability distributions on the basis of partial knowledge, and leads to a type of statistical inference which is called the maximum-entropy estimate. It is the least biased estimate possible on the given information; i.e., it is maximally noncommittal with regard to missing information. If one considers statistical mechanics as a form of statistical inference rather than as a physical theory, it is found that the usual computational rules, starting with the determination of the partition function, are an immediate consequence of the maximum-entropy principle. In the resulting "subjective statistical mechanics," the usual rules are thus justified independently of any physical argument, and in particular independently of experimental verification; whether or not the results agree with experiment, they still represent the best estimates that could have been made on the basis of the information available.
Semicommercial farms that produce multiple crops make up a large part of the agricultural sector in developing economies. These farms or agricultural households combine two fundamental units of microeconomic analysis: the household and the firm. Traditional economic theory has dealt with these units separately. But in developing economies in which peasant farms dominate, their interdependence is of crucial importance. Researchers at the Food Research Institute, Stanford University, and at the World Bank have developed models of agricultural households that combine producer and consumer behavior in a theoretically consistent fashion. Recent empirical applications of these models have extended them and expanded the range of policy issues which can be investigated using this general framework.
This article reports the results of empirical applications of this model in India, Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Taiwan, and Thailand. It provides a comparative analysis of the policy implications of the approach for such matters as the welfare of farm households, the size of marketed surplus, the demand for nonagricultural goods and services, and for hired labor, and the availability of budget revenues and foreign exchange.
This paper presents a Monte Carlo comparison of the small-sample performance of subsample ordinary least squares, the Heckman-Lee two-stage estimator, and the robust estimator of Lee. Each estimator is considered under bivariate normal, t, and chi-square error structures. The estimates indicate that the Heckman-Lee and Lee estimators do not provide an unequivocal mean square error improvement upon subsample ordinary least squares in small samples. While effectively controlling for selectivity bias, the two-stage estimators suffer a substantial loss of small-sample precision relative to subsample ordinary least squares. Copyright 1991 by MIT Press.
This paper simplifies and extends the theory of household behaviour under rationing, using duality and the concept of ‘virtual’ prices. Slutsky-type equations, decomposing the derivatives of the rationed demand functions into income and substitution effects, are derived, and these derivatives are related to the corresponding derivatives of the unrationed demand functions for finite as well as infinitesimal ration levels. The results imply that the Keynesian demand multiplier is more likely but the Barro Grossman supply multiplier is less likely to exceed unity the further the household is from its unconstrained equilibrium.
This paper discusses the bias that results from using nonrandomly selected samples to estimate behavioral relationships as an ordinary specification error or "omitted variables" bias. A simple consistent two stage estimator is considered that enables analysts to utilize simple regression methods to estimate behavioral functions by least squares methods. The asymptotic distribution of the estimator is derived.
This article addresses the issue of specification of econometric selectivity models and suggests approaches for the correction
of selectivity bias. Our approaches provide ways to specify selectivity models without the assumption of multinormal distribution.
Some flexible function forms for the correction of selectivity bias in the regression equation are derived. All the models
considered can be estimated by simple consistent two stage methods. Our approaches provide simple procedures for the testing
of selectivity bias without imposing restrictive distributional assumptions and also tests for the normality assumption.