Rural Households' Fuelwood Demand Determinants In Dryland Areas of Eastern Uganda

• Published in: Energy sources. Part B, Economics, planning and policy Vol. 9; no. 1; pp. 39 - 45
• Main Author: Egeru, A. S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Taylor & Francis Group 02-01-2014
• Subjects: Acacia; demand; determinants; drylands; elasticity; fuel wood; per capita; rural; Uganda
• ISSN: 1556-7249; 1556-7257
• DOI: 10.1080/15567241003716688

Fuelwood is the primary source of household energy in rural areas of Uganda. Findings show that 98.8% of the households use fuelwood for cooking and preserving food with a per capita consumption of 542.32 kg with a preference for acacia tree species. Further, expenditure on food per week, household size, expenditure on charcoal, price of fuelwood and household income are the key determinants of fuelwood demand while distance covered by the household members to collect fuelwood, age, and sex of household head were not statistically significant (P < 0.05). In terms of elasticity, price of fuelwood, distance covered to collect fuelwood, collection by adult females, and expenditure on charcoal posted negative elasticities while household size and weekly food expenditure posted positive elasticities. Therefore, household characteristics are important determinants of fuelwood demand while the elasticity coefficients in this study are stronger than those reported in other studies elsewhere.