74
20 40
60 80
Volta Greater Accra
Central Western
All regions
Fuelwood traders R
e g
ion Other economic activities undertaken by fuelwood traders
Revenue collector Artisan
Food processing Fishing
Farming Petty trading
Figure 58 Other economic activities undertaken by fuelwood traders for income
4.4.2 The fuelwood trading enterprise
Operation permit, trader categories, fuelwood type sold and clientele
83 of the traders do not need permit to operate their enterprises. The remaining 17 sought permit from traditional rulers Volta and Western regions and District Assembly Greater
Accra, Central and Western Regions.
Over 70 of traders retail fuelwood across the regions. Trading on wholesale is most common in the Central Region where the trader delivers directly to the consumer in bulk or
supply retailers who then split into pieces for sale to consumers Figure 57. Fuelwood is either sold in bundles usually smaller diameter wood including tree branches or split sizes of
bigger wood chunks or in blocks larger diameter wood from bigger tree trunks common with forest supplies Plate 6. The bundle is commonly sold across regions by traders except in the
Western Region where both the bundle and block are equally sold Figure 58.
75
10 20
30 40
50 60
70 80
90 100
Volta Greater
Accra Central Western
All regions
Fue lw
ood t ra
de r
Region Category of fuelwood traders
Retail Wholesale
Both wholesale and retail
Figure 59 Fuelwood trader categories
Plate 8 Wholesaleretail fuelwood trading at Chokor fishing community-Greater Accra
76
10 20
30 40
50 60
70 80
90
Volta Greater
Accra Central Western
All regions
F ue
lw oo
d tr
ade rs
Region Fuelwood type sold by traders
Blocks Bundles
Both blocks and bundles
Figure 60 Fuelwood type sold among traders
Volta-Anyawi
Eastern-Oda Central-Apam
Central-Winneba Greater Accra-Ada, Tema
Central-Apam Central-Apam
Greater Accra-Chokor
Plate 9 Types of fuelwood for sale
Fish smokers comprise over 90 of the clientele for fuelwood traders. Food vendors 7 and households 1 also patronize fuelwood but to a lesser extent Figure 60.
77
Figure 61 Clientele of fuelwood traders
Fuelwood trade associations
Fuelwood trader associations are not common in most of the areas surveyed; consequently 97 of the fuelwood traders interviewed do not belong to any association Figure 61. Only
3 of the traders in Accra Metropolis, Ada East and Tema East Greater Accra Gomoa East Central, Jomoro Western, Keta, and Ketu South Volta Districts indicated there was an
association in their communities. Sixty-one percent of these are members of the respective associations with the majority in the Keta District of the Volta Region Figure 62.
20
40 60
80 100
120 Volta
Greater Accra Central
Western All regions
Fuelwood traders R
e g
ion Is there any fuelwood trader association?
Yes No
Figure 62 Availability of fuelwood trader association in regions surveyed
78
20
40 60
80 100
120 Volta
Greater Accra Central
Western All regions
Fuelwood traders R
e gi
on Membership of trader association
Yes No
Figure 63 Membership of fuelwood trader association
Dependency on fuelwood trading for livelihood
Fuelwo od trading could be a household’s succession job. Fuelwood traders have been
engaged in this enterprise from 9 to 14 years on the average Table 29. Overall, the number of years of experience is 11 across regions with the maximum of 14years in the Central
Region. Eighty-five percent of the producers were initiated into the business by their relatives and friends. Fuelwood traders often engage 2-3 additional people to assist in splitting and
packing or arranging fuelwood for sale.
Table 29 Number of years experience in fuelwood trading
Region Mean Yrs Standard Deviation
Volta Region 12
10.87 Greater Accra Region
9 8.42
Central Region 14
14.78 Western Region
11 14.78
All regions 11
11.05
4.4.3 Constraints in trading of fuelwood and remedial measures
