Fuel Wood Supply in Bamenda II Subdivision, North West Region of Cameroon

International Journal of Research and Scientific Innovation (IJRSI) | Volume VII, Issue II, February 2020 | ISSN 2321–2705

Fuel Wood Supply in Bamenda II Subdivision, North West Region of Cameroon

Sop Sop Maturin Desire, Tizih Mirabel Ngum
The University of Bamenda, Cameroon

Abstract:-The mid-1980s’ economic crisis in Cameroon led to poverty and high rates of unemployment. This phenomenon forced many people to fuel wood exploitation as a source of income and employment. More than 3/4 of the population of Bamenda II has limited access to modern energy sources such as domestic gas and so has resorted to the use of fuel wood as their major source of cooking energy. This study has as an objective to assess the role of fuel wood as an energy source in the Bamenda II Municipality. The methodology consisted of data collection from households, fuel wood vendors, public and private institutions. A random sampling of 140 households was obtained from the study area and questionnaires were administered. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, with the use of SPSS and GIS using ARGIS Software. This enabled the following results:
The fuel wood in Bamenda II is supplied more from outside the Sub- Division than local sources like Bali, Santa, amongst others. Over 128,544 tons of firewood is consumed by households per annum. The beneficial aspects of firewood consumption are manifested in its socio-economic gains by vendors such as improvement in living standards and stimulation of savings. The major negative implication noted was that of loss of resources and air pollution which can be ameliorated via afforestation and the use of improved stoves.

I. INTRODUCTION

This study presents findings of the research based on the data collected from the field study. In this chapter, issues related to sources of fuel wood trade among vendors and energy consumption patterns among households are presented and discussed in three main sections. The first section provides information on the sources of fuel wood trade in Bamenda II, both from local and distant sources and finally the daily and monthly estimations of inflow of firewood load by vehicle types. Section two discusses the types of energy used by households, the mode of acquisition by households of these energy types as well as the firewood species preferences for cooking and heating by households. The final section looks at the socio-economic factors determining energy consumption patterns by the households. Establishing this linkage is important in assessing how socio-economic factors affect energy consumption patterns at the household level in the Bamenda II Municipality.

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