Sustainable Utilization Of Woodfuel In Selected Rural Sites Of Mwala Sub-County, Machakos County, Kenya

ABSTRACT

Many of the rural households use traditional stoves which have low energy efficiency

leading to wastage of wood fuel. This study focused on understanding the sustainable

utilization of wood fuel in two (2) sub-locations namely Mwala and Kibauni. The

primary objective of this study was to establish if wood fuel utilization styles by the

households in the study areas is sustainable. The specific objectives of the study were to:

document the types of cooking stoves used by households in the study areas, establish

the level of adoption of the energy saving measures and explore other alternative energy

sources which the residents use to complement wood fuel. This study used survey

methodology and observation to collect data. The total household sample size was 160

respondents. Data collection instrument for this research was questionnaires. Data was

analyzed using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics and the software was

Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23. From the findings of the

research the traditional three stone stoves was the most popular stove, in Mwala having

93% of the respondents using it and Kibauni 96%. There was significant relationship

between the type of stove and the number of days taken to consume one 20kg bundle of

dry wood (df=1 and 158, F=8.187, p=0.005).The study revealed low adoption of

rationing of wood with majority of the respondents, i.e 84% in Kibauni and 65% in

Mwala not practicing it. There was significant relationship between rationing of

woodfuel and the number of days taken to consume a bundle of 20 kg of dry wood (df=1

and 158, F=462.898, p=0.00). The study also revealed low adoption of splitting of wood

with 70% of respondents in Mwala and 88% in Kibauni not doing the splitting. There

was low adoption of putting off fire after use with 66% of respondents in Mwala and

81% in Kibauni not practicing it. The study revealed a significant relationship between

putting off fire after use and the number of days taken to consume one bundle of 20 kg of

dry wood (df=3 and 156, F=57.292, p=0.00). In alternative energy sources like biogas,

solar and electricity majority of the households did not have any with 67% of households

in Mwala and 57% in Kibauni reporting to have none of the mentioned alternative

energy sources. The study recommended that aggressive campaign in dissemination of

improved stoves and related technology in order to reduce pressure on forests and

embrace energy saving measures like rationing wood, splitting wood and putting off fire

after use. It also recommended