GHANAIAN WOOD ENERGY VALUE

CHAIN

Beatrice Darko Obiri (PhD)

CSIR-FORESTRY RESEARCH INSTITUTE

Forest Products and Marketing Division
bdobiri@csir-forig.org.gh

Forestry Research Institute of Ghana

 INTRODUCTION
Biomass for energy including wood for energy is
in the spotlight globally
 Renewable energy
 Wood is used for heat/energy everywhere in
the world

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Forestry Research Institute of Ghana
 GHANAIAN CONTEXT
In Ghana wood is a major heat and income source
key to food and livelihood security in both urban and
rural areas

Used by 73% and 25% of rural and urban people as a heating

source for households
Food processing in the service industry
Institutions and industries

Production, trade and consumption offers employment and

livelihood for both rural and urban people (2 million+)

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 MAIN DRIVERS OF WOOD ENERGY
PRODUCTION AND DEPENDENCY
 Poor agricultural income

 Major alternative income source in most farming areas

 Poor management of wood energy resources

 Concentration on timber
 Expensive alternative energy sources??
 Hardly any effective policy to regulate exploitation and
marketing and trade in fuelwood and charcoal until
recently?
 inadequate empirical INFORMATION for understanding the
dynamics for policy planning

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OBJECTIVE OF PRESENTATION
 PROVIDE Update on the status of the
Ghanaian wood energy value chain with
emphasis on:

– Main Resources
– Transformation/Production Technologies
– Utilization Pathways

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 SOURCE OF INFORMATION

 Literature

 6 Baseline studies (2011-2018) to inform

the design of options for sustainable
wood energy production in Ghana

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 METHODS: STUDY AREA

Study sites
Producing areas
Marketing &
consuming areas

Fig 1: Ecological map showing study sites

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 DATA AND ANALYSIS

Literature
Community consultations
Questionnaire survey of over 1500 actors (resource owners, producers,
transporters, traders, associations, officials)
 DATA
 Activities in value chain, costs and returns at nodes along the chain,
 Resource characteristics, availability, governance, processing
technology and profitability, marketing and distribution, challenges
and opportunities

Quantitative and descriptive analyses

stock survey

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 Overview of the Ghana Wood
Energy Value Chain
Resources Technologies Products Utilization/
consumption
1.Solid wood-
-Farmlands Cooking
Splitting/direct burning Firewood
-Forests Heating
Carbonization Charcoal
-Logging residue
-Sawmill off-cuts Chips Export
Splitting
2. Bamboo
Sawmill
Co-generation Electricity, Heat
Community
3.Sawmill residue
•Sawdust Pyrolysis/ Cooking
Briquette
•Wood shavings Carbonization
Gasification Electricity Institution
Hydrolysis Ethanol Transport & cooking??

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 Charcoal and firewood supply chain
Natural stands Logging and milling
Plantations
Resource Farmlands, fallows, forest residues
owners/man Cassia, neem, teak
reserves
agers

District
authorities-
& FIREWOOD/CHIPS
taxes

MoT: •Customs
Road levies •Revenue
•GIPC
Municipal
authorities-
taxes

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 OVERVIEW OF CHARCOAL VALUE CHAIN
 80% men in production and transportation
90% women involved in marketing and utilization
Security agency
(Police and
District CEPS)
Assembly=toll FC = tax District and Municipal assembly = toll

charcoal value chain actors, activities & inter-connections

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 Overview of the Ghanaian fuelwood value chain for fish smoking
Harvesting/
Resource collection and Transportation Retailing Consumers
processing

Regulatory entities (policy, law enforcement, etc.): Energy Commission,

Forestry Commission, MLNR, EPA, etc.

Traditional NADMO FSD EPA MOFA District Security agency

Authority (Police and District and Municipal assembly
Wildlife Assembl
CEPS,
y
FC task force)

Community Retailers
or Harvesters/ Transporters/
Resource owner collectors and Middlemen Consumers
or processors
Land owner
or
farmer

Rural bank NGO e.g. SNV

Enabling influences
Business, finance, research, academia and development entities, etc.
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 Fuelwood fish smoking

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 Resource: Sources for charcoal and
firewood
98% of producers extract wood for fuel
from natural sources
2 million cubic meters per annum (FIP,
2012)

Forestry Research Institute of Ghana 15

Mangrove-VR Fallow -GAR

Cocoa farm-ER Farm -fallow land-WR

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 Use and management of resources

All year round production

Uncoordinated inter-sectoral efforts for resource
management
No standard management of fuelwood resources
except natural regeneration
Average regeneration age is 7 years (local
knowledge)
Erosion of traditional conservation measures

14 December 2018
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 RESOURCE GOVERNANCE
 ACCESS to WOOD FOR CHARCOAL and Firewood
– Government land: paid permit from FSD
– Communal land: fee paid to chief by gangs/ no payment by locals
– Family land & Farm land: sharing agreement for in-kind payment
with charcoal produced
– Farmland- Firewood: Pay Owner or owner harvest for sale
– Woodlots –Firewood- Pay Owner or owner harvest for sale

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 Species extracted
 70 species reported by producers being extracted
for fuel around Ghana
 Most frequently extracted are native hard wood species
– with high calorific values
• Anogeissus, Ptericarpus, Vitellaria paradoxa, Khaya, Etc-
transition and savannah
• , Celtis, Albizia- Forest Zones
• Mangroves, Neem, Cassia- Coastal
Obiri et al 2014 and 2015

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 OWNERSHIP OF FUELWOOD
RESOURCES

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Forestry Research Institute of Ghana
 IMPORTANT SPECIES
CR, GAR-Albizia (Okoro) : firewood, timber CR, GAR- Celtis (Esa) : firewood, timber
VR-Mangrove: Fuelwood, construction

WR, CR-Cocoa: chocolate and firewood

WR-Rubber: latex and firewood
GAR, CR, VR- Neem: firewood, medicines

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VEHICLES IN FUELWOOD TRANSPORT

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 Wood fuel species availability

Declining stocks of preferred fuelwood & charcoal species

Commercial producers

5-20km to harvest wood

for charcoal

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Production technologies -Firewood

Chainsaw & Machete/cutlass for harvest and cross cutting into chunks
Axe for splitting for use

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 PROCESSING TECHNOLOGIES

Metal kiln Mud brick kiln

3% 2% Earth mound

Brick kiln

Earth Mound
95%

Metal kiln

Economics: profitability

Profitability Earth Mound Brick kiln Metal kiln

NPV (GH¢) 2,400 3,240 22,290

14Forestry
December 2018
Research Institute of Ghana
 PRODUCTION CAPACITY-Earth mound
 1- 4 or more mounds set to burn for one production cycle in
10-15 days
 Average mound size: 43-76m3
 Wood volume per mound: 3-7.5
 Output per cycle (producer reported figures)

Mean (40kg bags) 116

Min 2
Max. 700
STDEV 122
N 204

*Min = subsistence producer to supplement farm income

**Max = commercial production by gangs

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DISTRIBUTION AND MARKETING

 Packaging in 40/20 kg bags

 Distribution/Transportation
– 150- over 300 (40kg) bags charcoal per truck
 Road accidents common from toppling
 75% distributed within Ghana urban markets
 Rest for regional and international markets

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 Marketing: Mangrove Wood

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 PROFITS ALONG THE CHARCOAL VALUE CHAIN

 Marginal profits per unit of bag

 Less than 1USD PER 40 KG BAG gained at each node
 Wholesaler earns highest = 16.7%

Transport
Producers Agents Wholesalers Retailers Consumers

Cost-0.5 Cost-3.5 Cost-0.20

Cost -4 Price
Price Price Price
Price received-
received- received- received-
received-6 15
7.5 13.5 15

13.2 6.7 16.7 8.7

Profit margin
% % % %

GHC 2 GHC 1 GHC 2.50 GHC 1.30

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 Profit along the firewood value chain
All regions :
BUNDLE OF
FUELWOOD Traders Consumers
Producers Transporters

Selling price (GHC) 2.5 4.8 8

Percentage share of
15.40 35.40 49.20
selling price

Value addition (GHC) 1.50 0.80 0.70

1 1.5 2.5
Net profit (GHC)

Percentage share 20 30 50
of profit

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 CONSTRIANTS ALONG THE CVC

1. 80% producers report decreasing feed

stocks
All year round production
Uncoordinated inter-sectoral efforts for resource
management
Climate threat

Creaming wood for charcoal in Ghana savannah woodlands

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 CONSTRAINTS: TECHNOLOGY

2. Inappropriate harvesting techniques leading to:

Poor coppicing or regeneration of natural stumps

Forestry Research Institute of Ghana 14 December 2018

 Constraints-Firewood VC

No storage, wood left in the open to rot at marketing

and consumption sites
Poor energy content

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Constraint-Production & Consumption
Supply-demand Surplus
Surplus may include waste
12000

10000

8000
Biomass (Ktonnes)

6000

4000

2000

0
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Year

Biomass Supply Biomass Consumption

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3. RUDIMENTARY PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY

90% producers report drudgery and health

hazards
Smoke, heat and dust from traditional earth mound
charcoal production

 95% producers lack knowledge on improved kilns

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 4. Constraints -Transportation

 75% Poor road network –road accidents

 60% high transport cost

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5. Constraint marketing and utlization
98% traders report Poor Quality charcoal and
packaging produces charcoal dust on markets

90% consumers report poor quality, burns quickly

with lots of ash
– Species of low calorific wood values being burnt for
charcoal due to scarcity of suitable hard wood species

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 CONCLUDING REMARKS
Charcoal production is viable with available technology
based on NPV values

Commodity chain is well established BUT:

 Process is very labour intensive and has health risks

 Profit margin per unit is less than a dollar. Hence,

several mounds set to burn wood from wide range of
species escalating deforestation

 Improved processing technologies may reduce health

risks and are more profitable but:
Improved kiln is expensive compared with earth mound
Raw material must be guaranteed
Possibility of briquette production from charcoal dust

14/12/2018
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 CONCLUDING REMARKS

Need for plantation wood to sustain charcoal

and firewood industry is imperative as suitable
species are declining in natural stands
Charcoal firewood production from woodlot
is viable But:
Sufficient land resources required if production is to
be sustainable throughout the year
Species used must be fast growing at least 3-5 year
rotation and of comparable energy values to
preferred species
Attention paid to soil and rainfall regimes
(Obiri et al., 2014 and 2018)

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 Dedicated Bamboo plantations for
carbonization into charcoal and briquette

Commercial plantations
Hectare and production scales unknown

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 Dedicated plantations for
energy: Miro project
Located in Ahanti Region
Production of biomass and charcoal for domestic and
international market
Better packaging

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 Dedicated plantations for
energy: Neem woodlot
Located in Ashanti Region
Producing charcoal from Neem using Japanese retort kiln

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 Dedicated plantations for
energy-APSD-Project
Located in Atebubu in BA
Plans of 21,000 ha of energy plantations
9,000 planted

APSD tree nursery APSD Eucalyptus plantation

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Dedicated plantations for energy:
Cassia and Neem for charcoal and food

Located in Volta Region

60 acre land for crops and wood
Charcoal production using brick kiln

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 Sources: Wunder (2016); Addo et al. (2014)

Sawdust for co-generation to heat and

electricity
In use by large scale sawmills
Obsolete and inefficient Machinery
60% sawdust not used may be burnt causing pollution

Regional estimates of annual sawdust

production from wood processing
11%

34%
Ashanti
Western region
Volta

55%

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 Essential Gaps
 Empirical information on volumes of wood energy
resources and flows
 Economics
 Strategic management of resources-models
 Efficient technology research & deployment
 Efficient use of waste and residues
 Policy – Practice linkages
 ETC

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
1. Funds
1. Danida-PEN -2007-2011 (Economics of rural forest dependency)
2. Inbar-China-2011 (Market chain analysis-Bamboo for fuel in Ghana)
3. CSIR-FORIG-Ghana government-2012-(Emerging woodfuel spp.)
4. EU & Tropenbos Ghana-2012-2014-(Charcoal value chain)
5. SNV-Ghana -2015 (Fuelwood value chain)
6. International tropical timber organization (ITTO), Japan-2013-201
7. FAO-training in rapid appraisal of Bio-energy systems-2017
8. German Research and Education Ministry-2018-2019 -RE PILOT

 Respondents in study areas for information

 Colleagues researchers-CSIR, FSD, Energy Commission, SNV, KNUST,
UNER

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 Publication
Darko Obiri. B, Owusu-Afriyie, K.,
Kwarteng E,, Nutakor E, (2015). Fuel
Wood Value Chain Report. The
USAID/Ghana Sustainable Fisheries
Management Project (SFMP).
Narragansett, RI: Coastal Resources
Center, Graduate School of
Oceanography, University of Rhode
Island and SNV Netherlands
Development Organization.
GH2014_SCI011_SNV. 157 pp.

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 THANKS

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