ABSTRACT
Our departure point for avoiding the fuelwood trap is to begin looking more closely at the factors that determine supply and demand. If we can understand these more fully, they may provide a better indication of how to tackle the problem. As we will see, such an approach can lead to a fundamental recasting of the problem. The way to deal with the fuelwood problem may not be through fuelwood solutions at all but rather, paradoxically, through finding solutions to other problems. These solutions may have a greater chance of being adopted and thereby guarantee a dissemination sufficiently widespread to ensure a meaningful impact. This is because such solutions can meet more pressing and fundamental needs, yet still indirectly provide the woody biomass needed for the hearths of the region. This means trying to examine the entire chain from the fuelwood resource through to the consumer.
