Implementing Agency  | Programme Lead  |
| Botswana
Overview of Biomass Sector
Fuelwood is the main source of biomass fuels used in Botswana and
in 2000, 1420,000 tons (22720 TJ) of fuelwood were consumed, 74.1%
in rural households, 33.8% by government institutions and 20.3% in
urban households (Botswana Energy Master Plan 2004). Studies and
woodland inventories conducted have shown trends of localized
depletion of fuelwood resources around major settlements and this
is resulting in energy poverty particularly for the poor households
that depend on the fuel and have to travel long distances to fetch
fuelwood. Depletion of the wood resources is also of environmental
concern.
Overview of the Demand Sector
When considering only the commercial energy sources (i.e. excluding
fuelwood), the transport sector leads with 38.0% of all energy
consumed, followed by mining (31.2%), Government (9.5%), Trade and
Hotels (7.3%) and Manufacturing (7.0%) (Botswana Energy Master Plan
2004). Household energy use drops to 5.5% of consumption as it
predominantly depends on fuelwood. The Agricultural and
Construction sectors consume less than 1.5% - whether fuelwood is
considered or not.
Fuelwood use in the towns (100-140 kg/month) is less than the urban
villages (200-240 kg/month). On average in urban areas each
household consumes 186 kg of fuelwood monthly. In comparison, each
rural household uses an average 402 kg/month of fuelwood. There is
an overall decline in quantity of fuelwood consumed in rural
villages compared to surveys done 5 to 10 years ago. The level of
use of fuelwood varies seasonally and 85% of the households
indicated that they used less fuelwood in summer than winter,
suggesting that most of the fuelwood is consumed in winter for the
combined use of cooking and space heating.
Overview of the Supply Sector
Fuelwood is perceived as the cheapest energy option available to
households and yet this may not be true when considering the time,
resources and distance involved in the collection process. Fuelwood
is traded by rural communities because of the low capital
investment involved and the income that accrues from it and yet
traders do not account for environmental degradation caused by
fuelwood harvesting. There is increasing evidence that fuelwood
traders cut live trees to augment their stock. There is also no
fuelwood pricing and tax mechanism in place to take into account
the costs resulting from unsustainable harvesting of
fuelwood.
Generally women and youth are more involved in fuelwood collection
for subsistence use and they need to be empowered to manage the
resource sustainably. They also bear the brunt of walking long
distances and spending long time fetching fuelwood.
Previous efforts to support sustainable supply of fuelwood and
poles have not been very successful. Woodlots were established in
several villages throughout Botswana but were not successful
because of lack of incentives for the communities.
The prevailing situation is that biomass activities are fragmented
in government institutions and NGOs. In the previous BEMP most of
the responsibilities of biomass energy were allocated to the
Ministry of Agriculture, and progress was limited as the Ministry
had other responsibilities to look after.
Recent rural energy and community studies conducted in 2000 and
2001 indicated that where there is shortage of fuelwood people are
willing to use fuelwood efficient stoves and to switch to other
fuels, however the cost of procuring such stoves or using these
fuels is a barrier for them.
Policy Goals
The policy goals for the biomass sub sector will be to:
- Promote sustainable use and harvesting of biomass energy,
and
- Collaborate with other key stakeholders on policies and
legislation supporting community based fuelwood management.
Strategies
The division will adopt the following strategies to achieve the
above goals:
1. Encourage use of efficient woodstoves suitable for household use
by providing resources for Research & Development, evaluating
suitable energy saving stoves that can be adapted to the Botswana
situation and disseminating information on such fuelwood
stoves,
2. Establish and maintain an information system regarding fuelwood
resource, demand, and price and to provide concrete information
that can support policy design,
3. Stop fuelwood use by Government Institutions in urban areas and
monitor fuelwood consumption in rural areas,
4. Encourage fuel switching by households to non-wood energy
sources through incentives and awareness on alternative fuels and
costs of using them,
5. Investigate alternative sources of biomass fuel e.g. through
allocation of special rights to collect fuelwood from forest and
wildlife reserves; private sector participation in afforestation
projects for fuelwood and timber, and importation of
woodfuel,
6. Promote "Community Based Fuelwood Management (CBFM)" for
fuelwood production by providing funds for seed money to
communities willing to engage in CBFM,
7. Investigate measures for sustainable harvesting of fuelwood for
commercial purposes by exploring experiences of other countries and
those measures applied to other natural resources in
Botswana,
8. Build capacity in EAD to carry out biomass work by increasing
the staff compliment and continuing to improve the skills for
development and correct interpretation of policies and legislation
that affects biomass energy,
9. Assess and strengthen current policies and legislation that can
promote Community Based Fuelwood Management,
10. Form a stakeholder working group with clear mandate to
co-ordinate policies e.g. through the Natural Resource Technical
Committee.
Institutional Issues
Biomass activities are fragmented in government institutions and
NGOs. In the previous BEMP most of the responsibilities of the
biomass energy were relegated to the Ministry of Agriculture, but
progress was very minimal because implementation depended entirely
on their plans. The new Ministry of Environment, Wildlife and
Tourism should probably take a strong co-ordinating role in this
regard. However, EAD? still needs to be proactive and aggressive
about implementation of their interests by the other
departments.
Studies by different consultancies since 1992 (e.g. BEMP, 1996)
have identified the need for EAD�s capacity to be upgraded and its
authority increased accordingly to meet its mandate of formulating
and directing the energy policy. These studies include the Reuter
mission report (1992) and the previous BEMP (1996). Upgrading EAD
would be in keeping with practices in other countries of comparable
complexity, where the energy sector is recognized as having a key
role in economic productivity, welfare of the population, as well
as strong environmental and sustainability implications.
In assessing the capacity requirements to direct the energy sector
in an effective and efficient manner - which is the core objective
of IEP - the need for additional expertise is evident.
Biomass-related capacity of EAD staff needs to be developed. The
fields of policy analysis and legislation need to be strengthened.
They should be in a position to influence the policy-making
processes to incorporate fuelwood issues.
Develop a research agenda around key themes in coordination with
key organisations. R & D needs to direct and inform
policies and programmes through strategic partnerships with
research institutions. Such collaboration will ensure efficient use
of resources. Currently communal open countryside is the major
sources of fuelwood. However, excess wood resources exist in forest
and wildlife reserves and access could be extended to nearby
communities. Other sources may also include importing fuelwood from
countries where management has reached a sustainable level. This
measure is dependent on the Forest Act being revised to incorporate
bulk fuelwood in the importation legislature. This measure would
open up investigations on plantation establishment by the private
sector to provide fuelwood and other wood resources.
Annually Report on assessments of current and projected
pollution to local, regional and global environments Data
collection on fuelwood resource status was started in NDP 8 but
needs to be continued in NDP 9 to cover the whole country. It is
important that EAD should be able to manage the database and to
appropriately synthesize such data. Regular cyclic data collection
needs to be undertaken to update the database so that adequate
monitoring can take place.
Past and Current Projects
- Several studies have been commissioned by the EAD to establish
the current situation. These still need to continue but they are
already giving some of the baseline data needed. These studies and
some of their findings included:
- Fuelwood Flow Paths Study in Francistown- This study
concluded that in the Francistown area the Mopane woodlands have
high resilience so heavy harvesting does not necessarily cause
environmental degradation. However, this conclusion cannot be
extrapolated to the rest of the country without further
investigations.
- Investigation of Fuelwood Management Practices in
Botswana- Community participation in the form of community based
fuel wood management needs to be incorporated in fuelwood
management in Botswana.
- Study on Fuelwood/ woody Biomass Assessment around Mochudi
and Bobonong - There are good woodland stands in these two
areas; however fuelwood is collected far, thus monitoring woody
cover does not directly translate to fuelwood availability
monitoring.
- Expansion of the Fuelwood/ woody Biomass Inventory and
Monitoring Programme (FIMP) - Eastern Botswana - There are good
woodland stands in the areas investigated but an instrument needs
to be developed for fuelwood monitoring.
- Rural energy needs and Requirements in Botswana- In
rural areas 90% of households use fuelwood but it is becoming
scarce.
- Fuelwood use patterns and future strategies in urban
Botswana - Fuelwood is the second most widely used fuel
especially to the low-income group. Government institutions also
still use fuelwood.
The National Development Plan 9 energy policy will be to:
- Ensure a sustainable use of fuelwood
- Inventories and monitor woody biomass resource
- Establishment of a biomass database
- Monitoring and controlling use by government institutions
- Introduction of efficient fuelwood stoves
- Promotion of community based natural resource management.
Data Collection:
Data on fuelwood is very scanty and most of the time outdated.
Collection of data is mainly done through socio-economic surveys
and data capturing through imagery. There is need for harmonization
of data collection methods so that methodology is common for the
region (Southern Africa) and hence making it possible to compare
data within the region.
| |
|
