Soil fertility depletion is considered the main biophysical limiting factor to increasing per capita food production for most smallholder farmers in Africa. The adoption and diffusion of sustainable agricultural practices (SAPs), as a way to tackle this impediment, has become an important issue in the development policy agenda for sub-Saharan Africa.

This study uses survey data from randomly selected rural households in Ethiopia to examine the coping mechanisms employed by rural households to deal with fuelwood scarcity. The determinants of collecting other biomass energy sources were also examined.

Lack of access to energy services is one of the main constraints to economic development in Africa. Only about 31% of the population of Sub-Saharan Africa has access to electricity, with 14% access rate in rural areas. Compounding the challenge, traditional biomass supplies up to 85% of primary energy supply, and accounts for 80% of energy consumption. With limited energy efficiency, installed generation capacity and weak institutions and energy sector governance, energy security in Africa has become a critical concern.

We use survey data to investigate how urban households in Ethiopia coped with the food price shock in 2008. Qualitative data indicate that the high food price inflation was by far the most adverse economic shock between 2004 and 2008, and that a significant proportion of households had to adjust food consumption in response. Regression results indicate that households with low asset levels, and casual workers, were particularly adversely affected by high food prices.

Africa has considerable reserves of fossil fuels of all kinds: oil, coal and natural gas. Much of this resource is either utilised outside of Africa or some of the resource is not developed at all for use within the continent. Meanwhile, there are concerns that the future of fossil fuel use will need to take place in the context of a low carbon development pathway.