Property, access and exclusion along the charcoal commodity chain in Ghana – the AX project
Charcoal is an important source of energy in Ghana and constitutes a major source of livelihood for people in rural areas endowed with woodlands suitable for charcoal production. Its production is predominant in the northern and transitional zones of Ghana and serves as the primary and secondary energy sources for most Ghanaians. It is readily available and can be purchased in small quantities. With this, the annual consumption of charcoal is estimated to increase rapidly in the coming decade. Taxes and levies on the charcoal trade are important sources of revenue for District Assemblies and traditional authorities (chiefs) in production areas.
The charcoal commodity chain is complex. It involves producers (woodcutters and charcoal producers), transporters, traders (wholesalers, retailers, roadside sellers, mobile sellers, homestead sellers) and commercial and household end users. Although charcoal production has economic benefits it is believed to be harmful to the environment because it is produced from standing trees (natural trees and planted woodlots) which can lead to forest degradation, deforestation and desertification. The charcoal commodity chain is affected by a lot of issues ranging from land and tree tenure (rights and access), environmental and health impacts from combustion, mode of transportation, taxation and marketing. The charcoal commodity chain has however not received much attention in Ghana.
To help give attention to the charcoal commodity chain in Ghana and its associated complex issues, the University of Copenhagen (UC) Denmark, University of Ghana (UG), Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and Tropenbos International Ghana (TBI Ghana) are collaborating to implement a project titled “Property, access and exclusion along the charcoal commodity chain in Ghana” simply called the AX project. The project is funded by the Danish government (DANIDA).
The AX project investigates and analyzes both in time and space, the processes of access, exclusion and property to natural resources. This includes the means applied by actors to gain or maintain access to property and the processes whereby the authority of different politico-legal institutions are formed and challenged by way of authorizing rights. Access is defined as “the ability to benefit from things” and point to the broader range of processes by which actors are able to benefit from natural resources than rights (property). Understanding these processes is a prerequisite to suggest ways for equitable sharing of benefits from natural resources, considering rural poor in particular. AX aims at understanding these processes in the charcoal commodity chain in Ghana from the production site to the end user. In addition, AX investigates the environmental sustainability of the production and its links to access.
AX strengthens research capacity through three (3) embedded PhD studies, closely coordinated with senior staff from Ghana and Denmark. To link research, policy and practice, AX establishes local national charcoal stakeholders’ forum to share and discuss research findings and influence policy formulation. AX investigates access, exclusion and property within the charcoal commodity chain in Ghana. The study covers the entire commodity chain from production site (upstream) to end user (downstream) because it is the totality of access-exclusion-property processes along the entire chain that determines where and to whom benefits accrue and also because the various nodes are interlinked.
Duration
2015-2019
Objective
Objective:
The AX Project aims at pro-poor and environmentally sustainable charcoal production in Ghana
The Specific objectives are:
1. Processes of access-exclusion-property in the charcoal commodity chain in Ghana and their dynamics in time and space understood;
2. Environmental sustainability of charcoal production in Ghana analyzed;
3. Enhanced capacity for research and dissemination on access/exclusion/property and commodity chain analysis and the link to environmental sustainability;
4. Project’s results and implications disseminated to, and discussed with: (i) international scientific community, (ii) policy-makers and stakeholders at national level; and (iii) actors in the commodity chain.