Fuelwood Problems and Solutions

Abstract

Concern over the "fuelwood crisis" facing the world's poor has been widespread since the late 1970s (Eckholm et al. 1984; Soussan 1988; Agarwal 1986). At first the problem was frequently overstated. In the extreme, analysts (foresters, economists, and others) in many countries made erroneous projections of the rapid total destruction of the biomass resource. These projections were usually based on simplistic supply and demand analysis, the so-called gap analysis that was highly influential throughout most of the 1980s (Leach and Mearns 1988). These projections often led to projects that sought to boost fuelwood supplies without regard to local needs, priorities, or resource potentials-or to the economic viability of the plans.

Citation

Mercer, D. Evan; Soussan, John. 1992. Fuelwood Problems and Solutions. {}