Fuelwood collection and children's school attendance in the Kassena-Nankana Districts of Northern Ghana
Written by: Rex Alirigia
Edited by: Alicia Oberholzer & Thomas Klug
Ghana is estimated to have one of the highest deforestation rates in Africa. The country’s forest has been depleted due in part to the cutting down of trees for fuelwood and charcoal production. Biomass energy use is high in many rural communities, contributing to deforestation and indoor air pollution. Cooking over open flames on inefficient stoves is particularly high in rural communities where the incident of energy poverty is high with few alternative energy sources. It is estimated that about 75% of households in the country rely on biomass as a main source of energy for cooking, with only 18.2% using liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). According to Bonjour et al (2013), household air pollution is estimated to cause about 4 million deaths annually. A 2012 report by the Navrongo Health Research Centre in Ghana’s Kassena-Nankana Districts, where this study was conducted, estimated that about 80% of households in the district are located in rural areas, while 20% live in areas classified as urban. Among rural households, 88% used fuelwood or agricultural waste as their main cooking fuel, while 9% relied primarily on charcoal, and only about 3% of households cooked primarily with gas or electricity.
A common policy suggestion to reduce the effects of biomass energy use is the introduction of clean cookstoves. Many cookstoves studies are focused on stove use and efficiency, along with air pollution and health effects. Few studies have tried to quantify the effects of time spent on fuelwood collection and school attendance for children. The primary aim of this study is to explore this relationship. Using both qualitative and quantitative data collection tools, we collected data on how fuelwood collection varied across households and within households, fuelwood collection differences among children’s gender and age, and school attendance records. Four focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted in four communities across the district to better understand fuel collection patterns and factors that influence school attendance, and household surveys are underway with about 300 rural households.
Data from the focus group discussions (FGDs) shows a general segregation of household work among age and gender. Women’s/girls’ responsibilities are mostly tied to cooking, fetching water, and cleaning. Men/boys take care of animals and farming. Most of these activities were done during school days, especially in the morning, leading to either a child going to school late or missed school days. These results are similar to the findings of a study by Nankhuni and Findeis (2004) who found that the ‘burden of household work was particularly felt by girls, who are ‘traditionally’ responsible for domestic work, contributing in part to gender disparities in children’s education’. The FGDs further showed that household members spent long hours on fuel collection trips, often spending almost the whole day to go out to the ‘bush’ to collect fuelwood that will last them for 2-4 weeks.
This study will contribute to the existing body of knowledge on the challenges and opportunities of biomass dependent communities, and provide a clear view of the magnitude of the effects of domestic work, especially fuel collection, on children’s school education.
Anticipated next steps for this study include writing a report on the FGD data for presentation and publication, collection of school attendance data, endline survey data, GPS data, using a GPS enabled watch to map and time fuelwood collection to accurately measure time, data analysis, and final reports.