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In some cases fuelwood may not be readily available for harvesting. The principal cause may be declined stocks in natural stands especially in the Eastern and Central Regions Figure 24.
50 100
150 Volta
Greater Accra Central
Western Eastern
All regions
Response
R e
gi on
Causes of decreasing supply of fuelwood
Owners unwillingness to sell trees
Scarce labour No tree planting
FSD permit and restrictions Seasonal scarcity
Long regeneration period Declined stocks
Figure 25 Producer perception of causes of decline in fuelwood resources
The long regeneration period of coppice growth especially for mangrove species in the Volta Region also reduce fuelwood availability. Obviously the frequency of cutting or harvesting is
higher than regeneration rate in most areas. Fuelwood is harvested daily without replanting in natural stand. Other causes of fuelwood unavailability include seasonal deterioration of roads
in harvesting sites during the rainy season that reduce frequency of harvesting and bureaucratic nature of permit acquisition for harvesting from the FSD.
4.2.5 Access to fuelwood resources
Seventy percent of producers interviewed do not own the fuelwood resource they harvest for sale particularly in the Western and Central Regions Figure 25.
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Figure 26 Ownership of fuelwood resource among producers
Individual harvesters with their own financial and labour resources engage in harvesting, collection and supply of fuelwood to the market or clients. Sometimes, the activity may be
pre-financed by traders or fish smokers. Access to the resource is essentially by paying a fee to the landowner or the FSD.
4.2.6 HARVESTINGcollection frequency and quantity harvested
During the major fishing season, usually from JuneJuly to SeptemberOctober when demand for fuelwood is high, producers harvest fuelwood for sale for an average of eight times across
regions with a minimum of 1 to maximum of 90 times during the period Table 11.
Table 11 Frequency of harvest during the major fish season
Region Mean
Minimum Maximum
Std. Devi
ation
Volta 8
3 20
5.3 Greater
Accra 4
2 6
2.0 Central
16 1
90 27.0
Western 16
7 80
15.0 Eastern
10 1
28 7.3
Combine 8
1 90
12.8
Fuelwood productionharvesting is most frequent in the Central and Western Regions. Frequency of harvesting for sale obviously reduces during the minor fish season, however,
this could be 4-7 times in the Eastern and Western Regions on average to a maximum of 30 times in the Western Region Table 12. The reason for the disparity in the intensity of
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harvesting among the regions is not clear. However, since the demand for fuelwood is dictated by fish availability, it may be due to higher quantities of fish smoked, particularly
frozen fish in the Western Region during the lean season than the other 3 regions.
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Table 12 Frequency of fuelwood harvest during the minor fish season
Region Mean
Minimum Maximum
Std. Devi
ation
Volta 2
1 6
1.86 Greater
Accra 2
1 2
0.71 Central
2 1
3 0.79
Western 7
1 30
7.18 Eastern
4 1
13 3.15
Combine 4
1 30
4.98
4.2.7 Land use systems exploited for fuelwood