Two approaches to the energy-efficient use of wood energy have been introduced in the project communities. 5000 efficient charcoal cookstoves and 5 mobile charcoal kilns (Adam box kiln) have been distributed for improved charcoal production and consumption. The box kiln has been proven to have an efficiency of 30% compared to traditional kilns and is easier and cheaper to construct than conventional metal kilns. The local communities have been trained in the operation of the metal box kiln. In addition, training of trainers was conducted to introduce other more efficient ways of charcoal production like e.g. the Casamance technique.
The majority of the charcoal producers in Ghana are using the earth mound technique to produce charcoal with low efficiency of mostly below 20%. With improved techniques, efficiencies can be improved by up to 35% which can half the demand for wood for producing the same amount of charcoal. In addition, carbonisation is done in fewer days and needs less work labour.
Charcoal producers welcomed the box kiln due to the faster carbonization, higher efficiency and less work (e.g. no digging of soil). As the charcoal producers work mainly individual it is important to establish producer groups so the kiln can be used continually. As the charcoal production normally takes place where the trees are logged, it is also important to arrange a transportation system for the box kiln or use it beside the established energy wood plantations where higher amounts of biomass are available.
Logging of trees in natural forests for charcoal and fire-wood production is mostly unregulated and not monitored in Ghana. This leads to overexploitation and unsustainable forest management. The implementation of an inventory and monitoring system which based on communities’ needs is key to achieve sustainable forest management.
Community forest management plans were developed which integrate the sustainable management of the project restoration and energy wood plantation sites, but also the protection of selected zones like e.g. river buffers and general management of the forest resources. Regular uncontrolled bushfires destroy upcoming natural regeneration and planted tree seedlings. A bush fire management system was therefore integrated in the plans as well and supported by the training of fire volunteers in patrolling and suppression of uncontrolled fires
Communities and charcoal producers need to be well integrated in the development of a forest monitoring and management system. Beside that it needs to be supported by the local authorities to determine, for example the sustainable volume of wood which can be annually harvested and to select zones and tree species which should be protected from logging. For a functionable bush fire management it is key that especially farmers and herdsman are aware about the risks and damages uncontrolled fires can cause and how they can control them.
The Forest Landscape Restoration project established 3 community tree nurseries in the project area and raised 1 million local tree seedlings from 2020-2022. Natural forests degraded by charcoal production, illegal logging, cattle grazing, bush fires etc. were rehabilitated and 315 ha were established with fast growing tree species to serve as wood source for charcoal production. Landowners and plantation owners were trained in ecosystem services of natural forests, forest and biodiversity monitoring, rehabilitation measures and agroforestry practices.
Activities are sustained in the long term and strengthened in their function as carbon sinks through management plans and monitoring systems for the rehabilitation of degraded natural forests and agroforest areas.
Land availability, clear land use rights, and community commitment are key for establishing and sustainable management of energy wood and agroforestry sites. Especially in very degraded areas with low woody biomass sources fast growing tree species can provide short-term fuel wood for charcoal production.
In areas with a good natural regeneration potential planting of trees is often not necessary. More important is the reduction of risks like uncontrolled bush fires which harm upcoming regeneration. Selected fast grwoing tree species need to be suitable to the site conditions and should be integrated in agroforestry systems or green fire belts as it reduces the risk of loss through bush fires or cattle grazing.
Support government strategies for a sustainable wood energy value chain
Success lies beyond the project
During the lifespan of the project, activities are usually going well. Everybody is happy. But this is normal because the system on which the project operates is injected with external expertise and resources: it is boosted.
The real efficicency of the intervention can only be measured after the end of the project.
Donors need to account for this monitoring aspect.
Measure the intervention success one, two or five uears after the end of the project.
Community processes can only emerge from individual commitment to shared interests.
An individual will only invest the required knowledge, time and energy if they perceive the process as resonating with their inner self.
The most difficult part is to provide room for this inner self to express itself in a meaningful way to build trust and agency in the transformation process and contribute to the collective objective.
Pathways to sustainable and healthy systems probably depend more on the respect of that inner self than on the level of information and capacity production.
Project, especially aiming at technical innnovation (such as agricultural production) seldom take into consideration local culture.
However local culture that includes local knowledge, systems based on specific values and worldviews is at the basis of livelihoodsn including agricultural production.
Co-designing interventions using multiple sources of knowledge
External innovations are always perceived as a threat to local practices and culture and are met with scepticism by local stakeholders, a priori.
Interventions should favour local knowledge and practices and/or promote the emergence of innovation by the local stakeholders themselves, instead of them being imposed.
A ‘local community’ represents a heterogeneous group of people, characterized by their ethnic origin, political orientation and shared history, defining (dynamic) power relationships between it`s members.
Each community possesses therefore a ‘social capital’ that can be described as its capacity to respond to an external intervention (e.g. a project).
A blue print approach would therefore not be suitable.
No ´One solution` for all approach on different sites.
From the project teams` perspective, it means that the same approach used to engage and work with different communities will not produce the same results and that a good understanding of the local power relationships and governance systems will help in adapting the approach to the local context.
Donors need to change the way they fund project and project implementers should not accept anymore 3-years projects that address complex systems.
Complex systems need time and resources to have a chance to be successful (an inception phase of 6 months is far too short to understand a new network of stakeholders).
Time & resources
Speficic skills (e.g., social sciences and humanities)
Time, specific skills and well sequenced application of mixed methodologies and dedicated means are necessary to build trust and mutual respect with local stakeholders before any concrete intervention can take place, but should not take too long to compromise stakeholders’ expectations.
Skipping the first steps, usually to respect a project timeline, is counterproductive and compromises outcomes (i.e. positive results beyond the lifetime of the project). This ‘inception phase’ is therefore necessary and needs to be negotiated with the donor, the consortium members and the final beneficiaries.
Most project aim at introducing technical innovation in the system (e.g., produciton system). If this was so simple, development projects would not be needed anymore.
More important than technicnal innovations are process innovations that target how people, institutions interact, negotiate and share a collective objective. Thoses processes are crucial for the sustainable management of natural resources.
Governance system specialists.
Particpatory approaches.
Understanding the difference between ‘technical innovation’ and ‘process innovation’ and why the former needs the latter to succeed, especially for the sustainable use of natural resources.
The project team needs to acknowledge that they may not necessarily be introducing novel technology, but just a different way of implementing existing technology involving inclusive governance systems
ProSuLi being a development project implemented by researchers, we wanted to test if a full transdisciplinary project could make sense for the benefit of TFCA.
No activities were imposed on final beneficiaries beside the participatory approach (that was flexible adapted ot each of the four sites' contexts).
The project’s hypothesis was that collective action supported by targeted capacity building and co-designed governance systems could result in a better appropriation of one’s livelihood and more sustainable use of natural resources for the benefit of the whole social-ecological system.
Strong multidisciplinary project team, many of us already knowing each others and with many social science colleagues.
Time for trust building between project members and local actors / final beneficiaires (usually a 3-years project would not have enough time for such trust building).
Resources for mulitple interventions/missions that cannot be listed at the beginning of the project as the apporach needs to adapt to the local context (e.g., power-relationships between local actors).
Such a transdisciplinary project challenges all stakeholders, including academic principles and dogmas, because it demands embracing more complexity and accepting complex courses of action that are not ‘simple solutions’.
The project team needs to be transparent and willing to learn any existing lessons from previous and ongoing development interventions and to source additional expertise along the way.
