Fuelwood is a basic need for rural households in Malawi. However,
deforestation has reduced the quantity of forest products such as fuelwood
available to households. This has negatively affected rural Malawian quality of life,
especially for women who are forced to walk long distances to collect fuelwood,
prepare foods with short cooking times, or reduce the number of meals.
The Malawi government has encouraged the establishment of household
owned woodlots, as a part of reforestation programs, to address the supply side of
the forest product scarcity. However, fuelwood supply and use is also a gender-based
issue; men plant trees and make decisions over harvesting, while women
gather and use fuelwood. Within the household, woodlot products also have
multiple and competing uses between men and women. It is critical to examine
how gender dynamics affect women's fuelwood procurement and use from the
woodlot.
This study investigated how gender of the household head and women's
access to woodlots affects fuelwood shortage, controlling for number of trees,
household size, and use of other fuels. Fifty-one female and sixty-three male-headed
households with household owned woodlots were interviewed, using
questionnaire and focus group interviews.
Results show that one-third of both household types reported experiencing
fuelwood shortages in the past year. Logistic regression indicates that gender of
household head is an important factor, along with number of trees in the woodlot,
in determining fuelwood sufficiency. Female-headed households were less likely to
experience fuelwood shortage than male-headed households when the interaction
with number of trees was included. Whether a woman in male-headed households
must seek permission to harvest fuelwood, number of trees, and cooking with
maize stalk were factors that predicted fuelwood shortage.
Suggestions for several interventions to address fuelwood supply and
access were included. Planting more trees in woodlots and use of fuelwood
efficient stoves are two important strategies. It is important to address gender-specific
priorities as they relate to woodlot use. This can be done through gender
sensitizations that target program planners and male household heads. For
successful programs, men and women should participate in both program planning
and implementation. / Graduation date: 2003
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/31163 |
| Date | 22 July 2002 |
| Creators | Chikoko, Mercy Gwazeni |
| Contributors | Olson, Geraldine I. |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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