Firewood or Hydropower: A Case Study of Rural Energy Markets in Tanzania

Abstract

This article examines the energy requirements of a subsistence economy population in Kigoma Region, in north-west Tanzania. It is based on socio-economic fieldwork carried out by the author in 1981. A Regional energy budget is constructed and this shows that over 90 per cent of the population's energy requirements are derived from traditional non-commercial fuels, i.e. firewood, charcoal, grass and animal manure. At the same time the supplies of alternative energy forms, i.e. electricity, oil, diesel and kerosene are actually contracting because of Tanzania's difficult foreign exchange problems and increases in oil prices. This situation is putting increasing pressure on the Region's forest resources, leading to deforestation in populated areas and related flooding and soil erosion problems. It is contended that the energy requirements of subsistence economy populations have previously been underestimated. There is thus an urgent need to find aiternatives to firewood and the author suggests that hydropower resources could be developed more cheaply than thermal power options. Hydroelectric power for a rural electrification programme could save scarce resources of imported oil for essential purposes and relieve pressures on forest reserves.