Trees, Forests and People (Dec 2022)
Marketing efficiency and sales outlet choice among fuelwood harvesters in the Bono Region of Ghana
Abstract
Fuelwood continues to be the leading energy source for rural and urban dwellers, creating competition between domestic and commercial fuelwood users in Ghana. This competition has carved a market niche for people to engage in the fuelwood trade as a source of livelihood. The study aimed to describe the marketing outlets of fuelwood, determine the most efficient fuelwood marketing channel outlets, and examine the factors influencing the choice of fuelwood marketing outlets in the Dormaa Municipality of Ghana. Primary data was collected using a structured questionnaire administered to a sample of 200 fuelwood harvesters drawn from eight communities that harvest fuelwood for sale using the multistage sampling method. Descriptive statistics and multinomial logit regression were used in analysing the data. The study revealed that open forest is the main source of fuelwood for trade. Further, selling fuelwood directly to the end-users (outlet I) is the most efficient marketing outlet among the four marketing outlets identified in the study. The significant variables influencing the choice of fuelwood marketing outlets were level of education, processing of fuelwood before sales, cost of transporting fuelwood, the quantity of fuelwood harvested weekly, and the nature of the road. These findings provide immense guidance to fuelwood market actors in terms of market outlet selection decisions and the need for rural infrastructure improvement. It is recommended that fuelwood traders should endeavour to own the splitting and cutting tools to minimise processing costs and maximise profit since splitting and cutting costs constitute the highest marketing cost. The marketing of fuelwood should be formalised by the Forest Service Division (FSD) in collaboration with the Municipal Assembly and encouraged to establish woodlots for fuelwood. This will forestall any future invasion of the forest reserves for fuelwood for marketing.
