Impacts of Fuelwood Marketing to Sustainable Development in Imo State, Nigeria

Fuelwood and charcoal produced from sawmill wastes and sold at community distribution centres can undercut the present energy cost of fuelwood by 19 to 60 percent and the energy cost of kerosene by over 50 percent. Fuelwood is the dominant energy source for most fuel-consuming jobs done by the rural population, including cooking, keeping warm, heating water for washing, smoking food, and brewing beer. The only non-wood fuels used in significant amounts in rural areas are paraffin for lighting and diesel for commercial maize milling. Secondary fuels such as crop residues, charcoal, and dung are used very little.The marketing of fuel wood in Owerri and its environs, Imo state, Nigeria wasinvestigated to assess the contribution of fuelwood marketing tosustainable development in Imo state. Data for the study were obtained from a total of 50randomly selected respondents through structured questionnairesand personal observation. Descriptive statistical tools such as frequency,percentages and tables were used to analyze variables such as age, gender,marital status, education, tribe, experience and type of institution. The results revealed that majority (86%) ofthe marketers were females, 44% had only primary education while 36% had 11 to 20 yearsof the business experience. Transportation, season and government policy are the major marketing constraints of fuelwood. It is therefore recommended that government should provide good transportationincentives such as good road networks that will reduce the transaction costs and maketransportation easy for fuel wood marketers.

Keywords: Fuel wood, Profitability, Marketing, Sustainable Development.