Tata Precillia Ijang 241to some extent, the tastes and preferences of the consumers. Retailers in
urban centers employed workers for splitting, bundling and selling of the
product in wood markets. Although there were no formal associations of wood
marketers, the markets were well organized, and sellers knew each other by
name and by the quantity of wood they traded.
The short marketing chain ended in large part with the urban households
who are the main consumers of this product. Little transformation occurred
between harvest and the final consumer. The only way in which value was
added to the product was by splitting it into smaller pieces, which are most
desired by consumers. The consumers were mainly price receivers and had
very little say in the fixing of prices. The final sales prices were at least twice
the farm gate prices in all cases. The difficulties posed by a decreasing resource
base have driven suppliers ever farther into the countryside to buy wood from
rural villagers, in spite of the attendant difficulties and costs associated with
transport and storage of the fuelwood. The wood can be stored for three to
five months, after which time insects begin to damage the product.
The government of Cameroon and others are working to maintain both the
sustainability and availability of fuelwood as a resource. Their influence in
this area has been quite positive, and the many successes and failures provide
ample opportunity for ‘lessons learned’. The failures have arisen mostly from
egoistic behavior, financial shortcomings and lack of understanding by the
village population as well as to some extent from poor identification and
implementation of certain projects related to this issue. Despite these issues,
much work and research is still being done to ensure the longevity of the
fuelwood resource in a healthy natural environment.
The various agents involved in this production-to-consumption supply chain
should be encouraged to form legal associations within their localities.
Formalized associations could channel aid and assistance to their members to
help develop the local fuelwood sector and, importantly, represent the members
in communications among other associations and institutions involved with
environmental protection or developmental actions and programs. Successful
implementation of most strategies developed to fight environmental
degradation will require some redistribution of land and clarification of both
land ownership and property and usufruct rights. This task will be undertaken
in collaboration with the statutory and traditional governments of the area.ENDNOTES
- Ministry of Scientific and Technical Research in Cameroon. Institute of
Agricultural Research for Development, Dschang. c/o Presbyterian Church
Dschang. PO Box 353 Dschang - Cameroon. E-mail: [email protected]
REFERENCES
Agroforestry Project. 1995 Garoua.
Assan, G. 1991 La problématique du bois de feu à Maroua. Student end of
course memoir. ENSA, Dschang University Centre, Cameroon.13fuelwood.p65 241 22/12/2004, 11:05