Sustainable woodfuel for food security : A smart choice: green, renewable and affordable

With food insecurity, climate change and deforestation and forest degradation remaining key global issues, this paper highlights the role of sustainable woodfuel in improving food security. Food insecurity and a high dependence on woodfuel as a primary cooking fuel are characteristics common to vulnerable groups of people in developing regions of the world.With adequate policy and legal frameworks in place, woodfuel production and harvesting can be sustainable and a main source of green energy. Moreover, the widespread availability of woodfuel, and the enormous market for it, presents opportunities for employment and for sustainable value chains, providing further rationale for promoting this source of energy. This paper explains how sustainable woodfuel is closely linked to food security and provides insights in how the linkages could be strengthened at all stages of woodfuel production, trade and use.