Woodfuel Productivity of Agroforestry Systems in Asia

Conclusions

Although the available information on agroforestry land use and woodfuel supply are somewhat scattered and sometimes indirect, there are strong indications that agroforestry systems are probably already a very important woodfuel supplier and definitely have the potential to meet the woodfuel demands in most of the Asian countries. The present initial data suggest that this would be possible if farmers adopted appropriate agroforestry practices on 20-30% of their agricultural landholdings on average in humid zones and on 25%-50% in drier areas. In some countries, like Pakistan, Nepal, India and Bangladesh it is less certain whether this proportion is sufficient and even more land may have to be planted with trees. In addition, productivity must either be improved or alternative sources of wood sought. It would be very useful to get more specific data on agroforestry land use and productivity from these areas in particular, but in general more research on the subject to confirm the initial indications presented here is necessary.

In general, the extent and kind of agroforestry land use is very poorly known and national agricultural and forestry land use statistics should be adapted to this need. Remote sensing is a quick and cost effective way of obtaining some of these data. Such an improved database would enable much more reliable evaluation and planning of the supply of woodfuel, which is still the major energy source for the majority of the third world population that are living in rural areas. But remote sensing data alone can not tell us anything about land ownership and access to fuelwood, and therefore must be combined with data obtained from ground surveys.

On average most countries have enough land to ensure fuelwood supply through agroforestry practice, but because of the very uneven distribution of landholding sizes in some countries woodfuel may not become available to everybody despite sufficient average production. Policy makers and planners should take care that this weak group is ensured supply through communal tree plantings, land (re)allocation or other means.

Limitations in infrastructure may similarly hinder the distribution of wood from surplus areas to deficit areas. Here woodfuel problems could also be addressed through improvements in infrastructure.

Fuelwood issues should also be recognized and addressed by the agricultural sector, since the majority of fuelwood originates from agricultural land, but no policies or planning for its production exist at present.

As woodfuel and other biomass is the major energy supplier in many countries, the energy sector needs to incorporate it and its sources much further into energy policies and planning. Woodfuel use may be regarded as backwards by many, but as a renewable, "CO2-neutral" energy source it could also be regarded as more "modern" than fossil fuel sources.

Since woodfuel issues accordingly require the involvement of both the agricultural, energy and forestry sector these should engage in much closer cooperation regarding biomass fuels to ensure a balanced and complete woodfuel development process. At present it is normally only the forestry sector that is responsible, but this department has limited expertise in energy issues and no authority on agricultural lands, where the majority of woodfuel originates.

Encouragement of (local) charcoal production will create a product that can be economically transported over longer distances, is more convenient to use and can generate jobs in charcoal processing and trade. In many countries legislation prohibits this development, probably as a remnant of the belief that woodfuel collection is a major cause of forest destruction. This legislation should be reconsidered. A strengthening of charcoal processing and trade would also serve to bring woodfuels into the formal economy thereby increasing its "visibility".

The data on average productivity presented in this paper may serve as an initial basis for policy formulation, whereas the more system specific data may be used for initial local level planning. As the wide range of the data indicates, locally relevant information should be gathered in any case and the villagers should be involved in this process as well as in further planning.

Efficient computerized planning tools are available to combine and analyze a large amount of data and evaluate various development options before major policy decisions are made. However, the availability and accuracy of primary data is still the biggest limitation to this process and should be improved first.

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