Energy, environment and the rural poor in South Africa

Abstract

The lack of adequate energy services imposes heavy social and environmental costs on poor rural households. The rural energy‐environment interface, however, is prone to oversimplistic analyses, especially in the case of the ‘fuelwood problem’, and to a lack of research. International experience suggests that deforestation is not necessarily an ‘energy problem’ resulting from the cutting of trees for fuelwood ‐ and therefore that it may not have an energy solution, like planting more trees for firewood. Instead, wood scarcity must be understood under multiple use of wood resources, and policies need to be multifaceted if they are to succeed. South African studies show that wood is becoming increasingly scarce in many areas; here fuelwood collection may contribute to deforestation more than suggested by international experience. In addition to the environmental effects of increasing wood scarcity and its social costs, borne largely by women, another serious problem arises from indoor air pollution caused by...