Relationship between wood fuel energy consumption and forest degradation at regional and sub-regional levels of sub-Saharan Africa: the role of control of corruption and government effectiveness.

Abstract

This paper examines the effect of wood fuel energy consumption on forest degradation at regional and sub-regional levels of sub-Saharan Africa by taking into consideration the role of control of corruption and government effectiveness. To achieve the objective of the study, system generalized method of moments was used on a sample of 45 sub-Saharan African countries over the 2005-2013 period. The estimated results of the study revealed that wood fuel consumption impact positively on forest degradation at sub-Saharan Africa's level. In other words, the finding indicated that wood fuel consumption is a significant driver of forest degradation at the regional level of sub-Saharan Africa. While at sub-regional levels of sub-Saharan Africa, the result revealed that wood fuel consumption impact positively on forest degradation in southern, western, and central Africa only. In summary, the finding showed that forest degradation is increased by wood fuel consumption at both regional and sub-regional levels of sub-Saharan Africa with the exception of east Africa where the impact of wood fuel consumption on forest degradation is insignificant. On the other hand, control of corruption and government effectiveness were found to have negative effect on forest degradation at both regional and sub-regional levels of sub-Saharan Africa. Therefore, intensifying fight against corruption and ensuring effective governance can assist to reduce degradation of forests in the region. As such, policy makers should focus on improving these institutional quality indicators to fight degradation of forests in the region.