EXPLORING THE OPTIONS FOR FUELWOOD POLICIES TO SUPPORT POVERTY ALLEVIATION POLICIES: EVOLVING DIMENSIONS IN SOUTH AFRICA

ABSTRACT Access to secure and affordable energy supplies is widely acknowledged as a critical foundation for sustainable development; inadequate access exacerbates household poverty. In the developing world poor households are frequently reliant upon fuel wood for all or most of their energy needs. However, national poverty alleviation policies commonly do not consider fuelwood within their strategies, and similarly, energy policies rarely consider the poverty alleviation potential of a comprehensive fuelwood strategy. Consequently, synergies between poverty alleviation and energy policies—with fuelwood (and its derivates) as the bridge—are needed. This paper discusses this potential using South Africa as a case example. The current policy environment that either favours or hinders a linkage between the poverty and energy sectors and policy options and strategies available to develop such links, are discussed.

[1]  C. Shackleton,et al.  Household wealth status and natural resource use in the Kat River valley, South Africa , 2006 .

[2]  Charlie M. Shackleton,et al.  Changing energy profiles and consumption patterns following electrification in five rural villages, South Africa , 2006 .

[3]  Charlie M. Shackleton,et al.  Fuel wood use in South Africa: Where to in the 21st Century? , 2002 .

[4]  Phil O'Keefe,et al.  The fuelwood trap : a study of the SADCC region , 1988 .

[5]  R. H. Williams,et al.  The contribution of biomass in the future global energy supply : a review of 17 studies , 2003 .

[6]  Woodfuel Integrated Supply/Demand Overview Mapping - WISDOM: a geographical representation of woodfuel priority areas. , 2002 .

[7]  Mark Howells,et al.  Beyond free electricity: The costs of electric cooking in poor households and a market-friendly alternative , 2006 .

[8]  Göran Berndes,et al.  The contribution of biomass in the future global energy supply: a review of 17 studies , 2003 .

[9]  M. Thring.  World Energy Outlook , 1977 .

[10]  C. Shackleton,et al.  Growing of trees in home-gardens by rural households in the Eastern Cape and Limpopo Provinces, South Africa , 2005 .

[11]  S. Scherr.  Building opportunities for small-farm agroforestry to supply domestic wood markets in developing countries , 2004, Agroforestry Systems.

[12]  Hans Kastenholz,et al.  Transdisciplinarity in sustainability research: Diffusion conditions of an institutional innovation , 2005 .

[13]  C. Shackleton,et al.  Urban-rural contrasts in Arbor Week in South Africa , 2006 .

[14]  S. Guyot.  Political dimensions of environmental conflicts in Kosi Bay, South Africa: significance of the new post-apartheid governance system , 2005 .

[15]  Semereab Habtetsion,et al.  The energy sector in Eritrea-institutional and policy options for improving rural energy services , 2002 .

[16]  S. Karekezi.  Poverty and energy in Africa--A brief review , 2002 .

[17]  V. Tikunov,et al.  How to measure sustainable development: A view from Russia , 2006 .

[18]  S. Karekezi.  Renewables in Africa—meeting the energy needs of the poor , 2002 .

[19]  Mark Davis,et al.  Rural household energy consumption: The effects of access to electricity--evidence from South Africa , 1998 .

[20]  J. Arnold,et al.  Farms Trees and Farmers: Responses to Agricultural Intensification , 1997 .

[21]  Robert J van der Plas,et al.  Can the woodfuel supply in sub-Saharan Africa be sustainable? The case of N’Djaména, Chad , 2005 .

[22]  C. Shackleton.  Stump size and the number of coppice shoots for selected savanna tree species , 2000 .

[23]  Alessandro Giua,et al.  Guest Editorial , 2001, Discrete event dynamic systems.

[24]  B. Campbell,et al.  Forests, Poverty and Equity in Africa: New Perspectives on Policy and Practice , 2006 .

[25]  Kirk R. Smith,et al.  Implications of changes in household stoves and fuel use in China , 2004 .

[26]  S. Scherr,et al.  Forest carbon and local livelihoods: assessment of opportunities and policy recommendations , 2002 .

[27]  Julian May,et al.  Poverty, livelihood and class in rural South Africa , 1997 .

[28]  W. Twine,et al.  Harvesting of communal resources by ‘outsiders’ in rural South Africa: a case of xenophobia or a real threat to sustainability? , 2003 .

[29]  Christopher F. L. Saarnak,et al.  Australian wattle species in the Drakensberg region of South Africa - An invasive alien or a natural resource? , 2005 .

[30]  Satoshi Ito,et al.  Spatial analysis of woodfuel supply and demand in Kampong Thom Province, Cambodia , 2004 .

[31]  E. Nel,et al.  Water shortage, deforestation and development: South Africa's working for water programme , 2001 .

[32]  Charlie M. Shackleton,et al.  The importance of dry woodlands and forests in rural livelihoods and poverty alleviation in South Africa , 2007 .

[33]  Gunnar Köhlin,et al.  Woodfuels, livelihoods, and policy interventions: changing perspectives , 2006 .

[34]  Subhes C. Bhattacharyya,et al.  Energy access problem of the poor in India: Is rural electrification a remedy? , 2006 .

[35]  Charlie M. Shackleton,et al.  Wood supply and demand around two rural settlements in a semi-arid Savanna, South Africa , 1996 .

[36]  C. Shackleton.  Managing regrowth of an indigenous savanna tree species (Terminalia sericea) for fuelwood: the influence of stump dimensions and post-harvest coppice pruning , 2001 .

[37]  M. I. Howellsa,et al.  A model of household energy services in a low-income rural African village , 2005 .

[38]  J. Dargavel.  Indigenous forests and woodlands in South Africa : Policy, people and practice, M.J. Lawes, H.A.C. Eeeley, C.M. Shackleton and B.G.S. Geach, eds. : book review , 2006 .

[39]  Kevin Balkwill,et al.  Regeneration by coppicing (resprouting) of miombo (African savanna) trees in relation to land use , 2004 .

[40]  I. Macdonald.  Recent research on alien plant invasions and their management in South Africa : a review of the inaugural research symposium of the Working for Water programme : working for water , 2004 .

[41]  Charlie M. Shackleton,et al.  Urban fuelwood demand and markets in a small town in South Africa: Livelihood vulnerability and alien plant control , 2006 .

[42]  C. Shackleton,et al.  Changes in fuelwood use and selection following electrification in the Bushbuckridge lowveld, South Africa. , 2007, Journal of environmental management.

[43]  J. Hampton.  Poverty and power , 1974 .