Biofuel availability and domestic use patterns in Kenya

The annual domestic consumption levels and patterns of various common biofu els in Kenya were surveyed. The main fuelwood sources were farmland trees, indigenous forests, woodlands and timber off-cuts from plantations. In 1997 , about 15.4 million tonnes of firewood (air-dried) were consumed and an eq uivalent of 17.1 million tonnes round wood wet weight (w/w) was converted t o charcoal. In the same year, 1.4 million tonnes of a variety of crop resid ues were also consumed as domestic fuel. Biofuel availability was the major factor influencing the reported annual spatial species use and consumption patterns. Competing demand for the commonly-used tree species (mainly euca lyptus trees) for commercial and other purposes accounts, to a large extent , for the reported dwindling amounts. Communities in various regions have r esponded by gradually shifting to other available types including those in gazetted forests. Such a response strategy has implications on the long-ter m spatial and temporal biofuel use patterns. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.