Fuelwood Consumption and Tree Species Extinction, a Case Study of Kartala Forest in Western Mbadjini of Region of Comoros

• Authors: Azhar Moussa , Martins Onuorah , Suzan Luyiga
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

Woodfuel has been the most dominant fuel for cooking in households in developing countries where more than half of the world's population resides. High fuelwood consumption contributes to deforestation and forest degradation. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the rate of fuelwood consumption of households in the western Mbadjini region of Comoros. The study's approach is a quantitative/qualitative survey. Specifically, we use the weight-survey method to measure the daily fuelwood consumption per household and capita per day. The instrument for data collection was a questionnaire. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The result revealed an average rate of 15.1 kg of fuelwood consumed daily per household (15.1 kg/household/day) given an average per capita per day of 2.0 kg and 732 kg per capita per year (2.0 kg/person/day, 732 kg/capita/year). However, different rates of fuelwood consumption were obtained in different family sizes. Minimum, maximum, and large Family sizes consumed 9.9 kg, 17.4 kg, and 18.0 kg per day. Further, the results indicated that all the respondents were using fuelwood energy sources for cooking and all of them depend on this energy source for survival. Women were the leading fuelwood collectors (53.3%), followed by children (23.7%). Further, the study revealed that most respondents (96%) preferred using fuelwood for cooking their meals. The free collection of fuelwood from the forest (60%), the rapid cooking of meals due to the use of fuelwood (25%), and the belief that the meal tastes perfect when using fuelwood (15%) were the main reasons why respondents preferred using fuelwood energy. The most preferred tree species for fuelwood were Nuxia pseudodentata, Gyrostipula comarensis, Psidium catleanum, and Mangifera indica.

Keywords

EN

Alternative energy; Deforestation; Developing countries; Environmental issues; Forest degradation; Fuelwood; Fuelwood consumption

Discipline

• FORESTRY: FORESTRY

• Publisher: Scientific Publishing House „DARWIN”
• Journal: World News of Natural Sciences
• Year: 2022
• Volume: 43
• Pages: 138-150

Contributors

author

Azhar Moussa

• Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Kampala International University, Box 20000, Ggaba Road, Kansanga, Uganda

author

Martins Onuorah

• Department of Mathematics & Statistics, School of Mathematics and Computing, Kampala International University, Box 20000, Ggaba Road, Kansanga, Uganda

author

Suzan Luyiga

• Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Kampala International University, Box 20000, Ggaba Road, Kansanga, Uganda

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• Document Type: article