Wood fuel, crucial for household energy in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), faces escalating demand and resource challenges. The increasing urbanization driven by rapid population growth, coupled with limited access to electricity and non-renewable energy sources, contributes to the rising demand for wood fuel. Moreover, global concerns about energy independence and a policy shift towards renewable energy further emphasize wood fuel's relevance as a domestic energy source in SSA. This paper presents a comprehensive review of both country-level and regional studies, investigating the drivers of wood fuel and charcoal demand, with a particular focus on the urban preference for charcoal and the obstacles preventing the establishment of well-functioning charcoal markets. It sheds light on the shifting perspectives regarding wood fuel supply shortages, emphasizing the importance of sustainability. By synthesizing insights from country-specific and regional research, this study contributes to a thorough overview of the wood fuel landscape in SSA, offering insights into meeting the region's energy needs while preserving the environment. Solutions like agroforestry, decentralized management, and regulation are discussed to ensure a reliable wood fuel supply, fostering a balance between energy requirements and forest conservation.

India's energy use dinamics. Review of sampling designs and methodologies for assessing consumption. Results of fuelwood studies: review and analysis.Trends. Identification of fuelwood hot spots. Policy responses to fuelwood issues. An approach to make fuelwood statistics reliable.

Successful woodfuel value chain governance is dependent on the existence of known policies that are implemented, rules and regulations that are enforced and complied with by value chain actors and institutions with capacity to regulate and render support. Kenya has formulated policies nd enacted legislation for guiding, managing and supporting woodfuel value chains. These policies and legal frameworks have evolved over the years, integrating provisions for sustainable production, distribution and use of woodfuel. However, even with well-developed policies and legislative frameworks, charcoal value chains are inadequately governed, beset by illegality, weak institutional arrangements, overlapping mandates and limited coordination and cooperation. Nonetheless, charcoal value chains have remained resilient despite the bans and moratoria throughout the decades and likely to continue in the foreseeable future. Limited knowledge, lack of incentives for sustainable production and limited support for organized efforts to manage woodfuel resources are contributing to low compliance with rules and regulations. Therefore, the development and implementation of interventions coupled with appropriate investments to incentivize and catalyze sustainable woodfuel production and trade cannot be over emphasized.

The dry forests and woodlands of Sub-Saharan Africa are major ecosystems, with a broad range of strong economic and cultural incentives for keeping them intact. However, few people are aware of their importance, compared to tropical rainforests, despite them being home to more than half of the continent's population. This unique book brings together scientific knowledge on this topic from East, West, and Southern Africa and describes the relationships between forests, woodlands, people and their livelihoods. Dry forest is defined as vegetation dominated by woody plants, primarily trees, the canopy of which covers more than 10 per cent of the ground surface, occurring in climates with a dry season of three months or more. This broad definition - wider than those used by many authors - incorporates vegetation types commonly termed woodland, shrubland, thicket, savanna, wooded grassland, as well as dry forest in its strict sense. The book provides a comparative analysis of management experiences from the different geographic regions, emphasizing the need to balance the utilization of dry forests and woodland products between current and future human needs. Further, the book explores the techniques and strategies that can be deployed to improve the management of African dry forests and woodlands for the benefit of all, but more importantly, the communities that live off these vegetation formations. Thus, the book lays a foundation for improving the management of dry forests and woodlands for the wide range of products and services they provide.