61
10 20
30 40
50 60
70
Volta Greater
Accra Central
Western Eastern
All Region
F ue
lw oo
d tr
a ns
po rt
e r
Region
Is main economic activity fuelwood transportation?
Yes No
Figure 41 Dependency on fuelwood transportation for income
4.3.2 Fuelwood transport business operations
Fuelwood transporters could have been engaged in this enterprise for from a mean of 6-15 years Table 22. Overall, the mean number of years of experience is 9 across regions with
the maximum in the Volta Region. Sixty percent of the transporters were initiated into the business by their family members. Transporters often engage 3 people to assist in loading and
off loading of fuelwood for sale.
Table 22 Number of years experience in fuelwood transportation
Region Mean no. of years Std. Deviation
Volta 15
10.1 Greater Accra
6 5.0
Central 10
11.8 Western
6 5.7
Eastern 10
7.7
All Region 9
8.5
Fuelwood transportation is either done for producers who harvest within local areas close to fishing communities or over long distances and sometimes across regions, for instance from
Eastern to Greater Accra or Central Regions. Transporters also sometimes act as middlemen buying from producers to deliver to traders and fish smokers. In total 60 percent of the
fuelwood transporters operate both locally and over long distance while 34 operate only locally especially in the Central and Western Regions. Six percent would usually buy andor
transport over long distances only particularly for those who deliver in the Tema and LEKMA areas of Greater Accra Region Figure 41. These often operate from remote areas
of the region e.g. Dodowa and beyond or from areas in the Eastern Region including Akuse.
62
10 20
30 40
50 60
70 80
90 100
Western Central
Greater Accra Eastern
Volta All regions
Fu e
lw ood
tr ans
por te
rs
Region
Fuelwood transport operation types
Operate locally Buy andor transport
fuelwood long distance Both local and long
distance
Figure 42 Transport systems operated
Sixty percent of the fuelwood transporters do not own the vehicles they operate Figure 42. The vehicles they use range from canoes for mangrove wood on the waters in the Volta
estuary to tricycles, KIA trucks of various capacities to pick-ups for overland operations Plate 6. Tricycles and Pick-ups may be used for local deliveries while the KIA is usually
used over long distances. Several trips are usually made per season. In the major fishing season, the mean frequency of trips range about 10 in the Eastern to 102 in the Western
Region and an average of 56 across the regions in total Table 23. Overall 57 of fuelwood transporters do not keep written records of their operations, especially for those in Volta,
Western and Eastern whereas over 60 in Greater Accra and Central Regions do keep records on business operations Figure 43. Further, over 80 of transporters are not
members of any association, although there may an association in some communities Figure 44.
10 20
30 40
50 60
70 80
Volta Greater Accra
Central Western
Eastern All Region
F u
e lw
o o
d t
ra n
sp o
rt e
rs
Region Transport ownership
Yes No
63
Figure 43 Vehicle ownership among fuelwood transporters
Plate 7 Vehicles used in transporting fuelwood Table 23 Frequency of trips made transporting fuelwood to clients
Mean Std. Deviation
Mean Std. Deviation
Volta 17.69
15.82 27.87
103.57 Greater Accra
55.45 54.45
16.87 14.87
Central 29.13
32.41 19.73
21.58 Western
102.14 110.5
38.64 39.94
Eastern 9.65
7.08 3.3
2.95
All Region 56.44
85.34 25.48
