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Forests, biomass use and poverty in Malawi

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  • Bandyopadhyay, Sushenjit
  • Shyamsundar, Priya
  • Baccini, Alessandro

Abstract

Malawi is one of the poorest countries in Africa and has faced significant deforestation over the years. This paper seeks to examine the nature of the relationship between poverty and forests in Malawi. We try to answer three sets of questions: a) what is the extent of biomass available for meeting the energy needs of the poor in Malawi and how is this distributed? b) To what extent does fuelwood scarcity affect the welfare of the poor? And c) do households spend more time in fuelwood collection in response to scarcity? We answer these questions by matching household surveys with remote-sensing data.

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  • Bandyopadhyay, Sushenjit & Shyamsundar, Priya & Baccini, Alessandro, 2011. "Forests, biomass use and poverty in Malawi," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(12), pages 2461-2471.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:70:y:2011:i:12:p:2461-2471
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2011.08.003
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    2. St. Clair, Priscilla Cooke, 2016. "Community forest management, gender and fuelwood collection in rural Nepal," Journal of Forest Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 52-71.
    3. Narloch, Ulf & Bangalore, Mook, 2018. "The multifaceted relationship between environmental risks and poverty: new insights from Vietnam," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 87553, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    4. Liu, Ziming & Li, Jia & Rommel, Jens & Feng, Shuyi, 2020. "Health impacts of cooking fuel choice in rural China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    5. Muuz Hadush, 2017. "Implication of Animal Feed and Water Scarcity on Labor Allocation, Food Production and Per Capita Food Consumption in Tigrai Region, Ethiopia," Journal of Economic Development, Chung-Ang Unviersity, Department of Economics, vol. 42(4), pages 59-93, December.
    6. Andrea Vaona, 2013. "Countervailing inequality effects of globalization and renewable energy generation in Argentina," Working Papers 12/2013, University of Verona, Department of Economics.
    7. Guta, Dawit Diriba, 2014. "Effect of fuelwood scarcity and socio-economic factors on household bio-based energy use and energy substitution in rural Ethiopia," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 217-227.
    8. Shu Wu, 2021. "The Health Impact of Household Cooking Fuel Choice on Women: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-18, November.
    9. Dilip Khatiwada & Pallav Purohit & Emmanuel Kofi Ackom, 2019. "Mapping Bioenergy Supply and Demand in Selected Least Developed Countries (LDCs): Exploratory Assessment of Modern Bioenergy’s Contribution to SDG7," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(24), pages 1-29, December.
    10. Zulu, Leo Charles, 2010. "The forbidden fuel: Charcoal, urban woodfuel demand and supply dynamics, community forest management and woodfuel policy in Malawi," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(7), pages 3717-3730, July.
    11. World Bank, 2007. "Poverty and Environment : Understanding Linkages at the Household Level," World Bank Publications - Reports 7744, The World Bank Group.
    12. Joshi, Janak & Bohara, Alok K., 2017. "Household preferences for cooking fuels and inter-fuel substitutions: Unlocking the modern fuels in the Nepalese household," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 507-523.
    13. Naidu, Sirisha C., 2013. "Legal exclusions, private wealth and livelihoods: An analysis of work time allocation in protected areas," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 82-91.
    14. Harold L. W. Chisale & Paxie W. Chirwa & Folaranmi D. Babalola & Samuel O. M. Manda, 2021. "Perceived Effects of Climate Change and Extreme Weather Events on Forests and Forest-Based Livelihoods in Malawi," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-15, October.
    15. Tsusaka, T. & Orr, A. & Msere, H. & Harris, D. & Rao, N. Vpr Ganga, 2018. "Fuelwood or Grain? A Conjoint Analysis of Trait Preferences for Pigeonpea among Smallholders in Southern Malawi," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277435, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    16. Muuz Hadush, 2018. "Welfare and food security response of animal feed and water resource scarcity in Northern Ethiopia," Agricultural and Food Economics, Springer;Italian Society of Agricultural Economics (SIDEA), vol. 6(1), pages 1-24, December.
    17. World Bank, 2007. "Poverty and Environment : Understanding Linkages at the Household Level," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 6924.
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    19. Gebru, Bahre & Elofsson, Katarina, 2023. "The role of forest status in households’ fuel choice in Uganda," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).

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