Growing wood for fuel

The World Bank estimates that existing rates of tree planting in sub-Saharan Africa would have to be increased 15 times to meet fuelwood demands by the year 2000.

There is a great demand for firewood in Yemen, and the local supply is very limited. The establishment of a tree-farming industry would seem like an excellent idea, but is is not clear whether the local people would be receptive to such a plan. Rural Yemenites tend to be rather self-reliant, cynical people who distrust outsiders and their own government. An FOA team instituted a three-phase investigation of the potential for agroforestry in Yemen. Phase I involved conducting an ecological study of the area and winning the cooperation of the local people. Phase II involved the construction of a statistical model of the region's ecology and the formation of a community-based agroforestry program. Phase III is currently ongoing, and involves the establishment of specific projects (erosion control, dune stabilizing, fuelwood plantations, etc.).