Fuelwood in South Africa Revisited: Widespread Use in a Policy Vacuum

Shackleton, Charlie M; Sinasson, Gisele; Adeyemi, Opeyemi; Martins, Vusumzi

Title: Fuelwood in South Africa Revisited: Widespread Use in a Policy Vacuum
Creator: Shackleton, Charlie M
Creator: Sinasson, Gisele
Creator: Adeyemi, Opeyemi
Creator: Martins, Vusumzi
Subject: To be catalogued
Date Issued: 2022
Date: 2022
Type: text
Type: article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/402275
Identifier: vital:69837
Identifier: xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.3390/su141711018"
Description: South Africa has experienced massive urbanisation and socioeconomic development over the past two decades. Concomitantly, the national energy policy focuses on the provision of modern fuels, notably electricity, for domestic use. Given this policy environment and socioeconomic development, we examine pertinent literature and policies from South Africa on fuelwood use, value, and sustainability to understand how it might have changed in tandem with the national shifts in urbanisation and socioeconomic development over the last 20 years. Recent literature shows that fuelwood is still used to some extent by 96% of rural households and 69% of low-income urban ones. We also estimate that the use of fuelwood by rural households alone is valued at approximately ZAR 10.5 billion (approx. USD 700 million) annually, with the probability of an equally high value to low-income urban households. However, despite the extensive use and high value, our analysis of cognate national policies related to energy, forestry, environment, and social development, show that fuelwood and its use is hardly considered, indicating a policy vacuum. This policy vacuum means that there is no strategic or apposite support or interventions in any localised areas where fuelwood demand might exceed supply, thereby undermining the livelihoods and energy security of affected citizens, most notably the poor.
Format: computer
Format: online resource
Format: application/pdf
Format: 1 online resource (14 pages)
Format: pdf
Publisher: MDPI
Language: English
Relation: Sustainability
Relation: Shackleton, C., Sinasson, G., Adeyemi, O. and Martins, V., 2022. Fuelwood in South Africa Revisited: Widespread Use in a Policy Vacuum. Sustainability, 14(17), p.11018
Relation: Sustainability volume 14 number 17 p. 11018 2022 2071-1050
Rights: Publisher
Rights: Use of this resource is governed by the terms and conditions of the MDPI Open Access Statement (https://www.int-res.com/journals/terms-of-use/)
Rights: Open Access

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RU DST/NRF SARChI for Interdisciplinary Science in Land and Natural Resource Use for Sustainable Livelihoods

RU Department of Environmental Science

Shackleton, Charles Michael (Distinguished Prof)

SDG 11. Sustainable Cities and Communities

SDG 16. Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

SDG 15. Life On Land

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