ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the structure of woodfuel markets in Tanzania. It deals with physical characteristics of the woodfuel system as supply, in particular the location of the supply areas for each city. Mbeya gets half of its charcoal and nearly all of the firewood that is brought in from out of town from the Usangu area, east of the city. The transport of firewood is done primarily by headload in Shinyanga and Mbeya, since many traders collect and cut their own fuel in these cities. The supply system for woodfuels in Tanzania is relatively straightforward. The average path linking a woodfuel end user to the harvester of the tree from which the fuel originated involves three or four participants. In Dar es Salaam, the suppliers of firewood have been in the business even longer than the charcoal burners. Woodfuel users seem relatively indifferent to seller differentiation in many cases.
