Kwa ufupi:
SUMMARY
• Wood fuel is the principal source of energy, accounting for 91 per cent of the total energy
consumed in Tanzania.
• The dependency on wood fuel is expected to continue for the foreseeable future but the
supply of wood fuel is dwindling in all regions.
• The Government has accorded high priority to the production of wood fuel and to
environmental protection.
• Evidence suggests a number of factors influencing overwhelming dependence on wood
fuel: poor availability of alternative sources of energy and escalating prices of the
available non-wood fuels.
• Effects of these factors are exacerbated by poverty among the community.
• NAFORMA (2015) reported the consumption of wood exceeds the sustainable supply,
causing an annual wood deficit of 19.5 million m3 (MNRT, 2015).
• Lusambo (2009) found that 36% of the wood fuel (round wood equivalent) consumption
was in the form of charcoal, while 64% was in the form of firewood.
• Household fuel consumption in the study areas was found to be unsustainable: heavy
dependency on wood fuel was found to be responsible for net deforestation rate of 12.48
ha/day, translating to 45% of total deforestation in Tanzania (Lusambo, 2009).
• Several technologies for tree planting for wood fuel exist: establishment of communal
woodlots, combination of land reclamation with wood fuel production, central and
individual nurseries, use of cuttings and self-germinating seedlings, individual tree-
planting based on agro-forestry and intensification of women involvement in tree
planting programmes.
• This presentation focuses on extent of wood fuel consumption, tree planting, constraints
and opportunities for engaging in tree planting
