Forest Products, Livelihoods and Conservation

230 Fuelwood in the Maroua area of the Far North Province of Cameroon

of the United Nations illustrated the increasing annual trade in fuelwood around

the world, while documenting increased pressures on local resource bases

(FAO 1998). For example, Indonesia has emerged as a principal producer and

exporter of fuelwood, while others such as Germany have become importers.

These same trends are shown in Cameroon. Table 1 shows the steady increase

in fuelwood production between 1992 and 1996 in Cameroon and the world.

For centuries fuelwood has remained an affordable and reliable source of

domestic energy for the rural populations of the developing countries (FAO

1990). In Cameroon it constitutes 60.5% of the total energy consumed in all

sectors and 85.5% of the energy consumed in households (FAO 1990). Assan

(unublished) wrote that fuelwood made up 67% of the total energy consumed

by urban households, and 100% of that consumed in the villages of the Maroua

area. In 1999, Tata (1999) estimated that consumption stood at 586 kg/person/

year in Maroua, with an annual per person cost of CFA13,300, or US$22.17

(exchange rate US$1 = CFA600). In comparison, Sow (1990) found that fuelwood

consumption stood at 637 kg/person/year in Mali and 230 kg/person/year in

Niger. Costs per person per year were estimated at CFA4,600 (US$7.67) in

Niger, and CFA12,100 (US$20.17) in Mali.

In the past wood harvesting in the Maroua area was mainly for home

consumption, and it was mostly women who gathered the dry branches and

trunks of trees and shrubs for fuelwood (Awah 1995). Today the situation has

changed, as increased commercialization of the sector has led to the

widespread harvest of both dead and live branches and trunks by men and

women (Awah 1995). Factors determining the quality of good fuelwood include

a high level of heat generation, little smoke, the production of good charcoal

and little wood ash. Apart from its increasing commercial value, factors

encouraging the use of fuelwood include cooking habits, purpose of cooking,

family size, social rank and food type (Montalembert and Clement 1983;

Munslow et al. 1989; Robin and Leach 1989; Musa unpublished).

THE PRODUCTION-TO-CONSUMPTION SYSTEM

Resource base

This chapter addresses the woodlands of the Maroua region of the Far North

Province of Cameroon, where the increasing amount of fuelwood being removed

Year Cameroon (000 cubic meters) World (000 cubic meters)

1992 4,264 1,471,897

1993 4,342 1,484,632

1994 4,426 1,505,966

1995 4,526 1,519,972

1996 4,910 1,552,866

Table 1. Fuelwood production in Cameroon and the world between 1992 and

1996

Source: FAO 1998.

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