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Les ligneux à usage de bois d’énergie en région sahélienne du Burkina Faso : préférence des groupes ethniques Volume 9, issue 4, Décembre 1998

Authors
Département Productions forestières, INERA, CRREA du Sahel, BP 80 Dori, Burkina Faso, Département Productions forestières, INERA, CRREAF de Kamboinsé, 03 BP 7047, Ouagadougou 03, Burkina Faso.
  • Page(s) : 261-8
  • Published in: 1999

Household fuelwood and charcoal needs (for the preparation of meals and tea) are fulfilled by women in Oudalan, children in Séno and men in Yagha. These products are mainly transported by cart and mule in Oudalan and Séno, and bicycle in Yagha. This unique allocation of duties in the three geographical regions studied differs with respect to the situation in the central plateau region, where women generally collect fuelwood and charcoal after their work in the fields. In contrast, Sahelian women are not at all involved in these activities. Fuelwood is the main source of domestic energy in the Sahelian zone. Usage patterns are related to the more or less extended shifts in household locations and the availability of dead wood. These patterns also vary for different ethnie groups, depending on their religious beliefs and traditions and the distance from available wood supplies. Balanites aegyptiaca, Grewia bicolor, Acacia nilotica and Acacia seyal are the preferred fuelwood species of Sahelians in Burkina Faso. Other species are not utilized for various reasons, for intance : the sacred nature of Ziziphus mauritiana ; the bad smell of Boscia angustifolia, B. salicifolia, B. senegalensis, and Combretum aculeatum, which could make people delirious ; the poor burning quality of Calotropis procera, Euphorbia balsamifera, Commiphora africana and Sterculia setigera ; the haunted réputation of Acacia albida and Azadirachta indica, which grow in graveyards ; the fruit-bearing potential of Vitellaria paradoxa, Lannea microcarpa, and Sclerocarya birrea ; and the fact that some are simply forbidden by tradition, e.g. Adansonia digitata. These religious and traditional beliefs are, however, being abandoned because of the scarcity of fuelwood, marketing and urban influences.