The current ways in which the human population continues to utilise natural resources in
order to satisfy their lifestyle remains unsustainable. One such activity is the use of biomass
resources mainly for cooking, heating and boiling water which sustains an estimated 2.4
billion people living in developing countries. Biomass not only is the fourth largest energy
source after coal, oil and natural gas, but it is currently the largest renewable energy option
and yet it has received minimal attention especially from current energy debates in
developing countries. Literature shows cases of cities that remain ‘uncertain’ of their
development agendas (regarding energy). The uncertainty is a result of most cities relying
heavily on fossil fuel which is in most cases imported which minimises the possibilities of
cities to come up with sustainable energy projects. As cities continue to grow the supply of
this unsustainable energy puts cities in an uncertain position regarding the future energy
sources of their cities. There are cities that have now realised the importance of
understanding the flow of wood fuels in order to put in measures that can help manage the
resource better. Most of them use a GIS-based tool, Wood fuel Integrated Supply Demand
Overview Mapping Model (WISDOM) which was developed to analyse the wood fuel supply
and demand spatial patterns. Tsumeb is currently also moving in an ‘uncertain’ direction
especially when it comes to the energy needs of the town characterised by high electricity
tariffs, increased population leading to clearing of land, high unemployment rate and
distorted priorities (of the municipality).
The Material Flow Analysis (MFA) of wood fuels in Tsumeb is highly dominated by the
informal sector. It remains unregulated and no attempt has been made to determine the
household energy flow. This study is the first attempt to determine the flow of this very
important household energy resource used more especially in winter. The survey revealed
that firewood is used to prepare one to two meals a day especially in the townships where
the households opt to consume one meal a day. Some consumers collect their own
firewood and often have to purchase wood fuels to meet their individual needs. The wood
fuel retailers that were surveyed in the study obtain their wood fuels from local commercial
farmers and use charcoal produced both in Namibia and South African. The commercial
farmers also form part of the informal sector as they supply some of the informal suppliers
and consumers. Some informal suppliers resort to open forests located far from their
homes, putting a lot of strain on the transport mechanisms. In order to ensure a sustainable
supply of household energy in Tsumeb, It is inevitable that a new paradigm is needed in the
current planning and development process of the town.
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Therefore for an effective implementation of policies aimed at developing wood fuels, local
conditions as well as the local wood fuel flows must be understood, grassroots initiatives
need to be built and community participation should be encouraged in order to get a
collective approach to issues that concerns and threatens their livelihoods.