Zimbabwe: Household Energy Supply
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Contents
A Household Energy Demand and UseB Household Energy Supply
C Household Energy Sector Governace
D Household Energy Information
E Household Energy Case Studies
B. Household energy supply
WOOD
Zimbabwe is moderately forested with around 22% forest cover and an additional 44 % of other wooded land. Areas of closed natural forest are rare, with the predominant vegetation being "miombo" woodland, an association of Brachystegia spiciformis and Julbernardia spp. Mopane (Colophospermum mopane) woodland occurs on the northern Zambezi depression and the Limpopo Valley on the southern border. Small remnants of subtropical high forest remain in the Eastern Highlands. Zimbabwe has established significant areas of plantation forests with the most common species being Pinus patula, Eucalyptus spp. and Acacia mearnsii. Zimbabwe has a well-established network of more than 40 protected areas, including the 1.5 million ha Hwange National Park. Around 12% of Zimbabwe's forest area is protected (FAO).There is skewed wood availability in Zimbabwe with a deficit in the overcrowded communal lands and excess on commercial land. Known areas of acute wood shortage are Zvimba and Seke communal lands. Forests are used primarily for fuelwood, which satisfies 62 % of domestic energy needs.
Wood supply follows a number of different patterns depending upon how and where the wood is obtained: distance from the source, transport and season. The size and weight of load increases as the distances increases. Wood supply is normally provided by women and children who travel long distances in fetch of wood. A head-load is about 15-20 kg and distances travalled vary up to 10 km. Men are normally involved for cutting big logs or for selling. In most cases they use scotch-carts ehere loads of 400-500 kg can be collected once a month.
While wood continues to be collected freely and virtually at no cost by the rural population, there are some areas where wood is already commercialized due to scarcity. In urban areas fuelwood is purchased through wood vendors who travel to farming and other rural areas to source the wood. Mupfuti (Brachystegia boehimiiis) the most preferred species. However, also where wood is freely accessible, its collection is time consuming and creates considerable physical strain for women and girls, who cover long distance in the collection of firewood. (Hancock 1985, ProBEC, GTZ 2002).
Around 2,163,289 (CSO 1992) Zimbabwean households consume an average of 781,280 toes of wood annually (DoE 2001) for fuel.
Wood-dependent households are mostly (around 90%) located in rural areas. While traditional stove technology is simple and does not require maintenance, it also tends to be inefficient. Improved, fuel-saving stoves may offer a long term remedy, but require some investment and continuous maintenance. The difference in performance may be significant though, with traditional stoves running at around 10 % efficiency, while modern stove models approach 30 %. Improved stoves (ceramic and metal ceramic) are mostly supplied through sales in the market, while mud stoves offer a cheap alternative (and can be self-produced by households).