REAL INCOMES AND THE CONSUMPTION OF WOODFUELS IN GHANA - AN ANALYSIS OF RECENT TRENDS

As in most developing countries, woodfuels account for a major share of the energy consumption in Ghana. The overdependence on woodfuels has grave potential environmental and health hazards, so efforts are being made to popularize efficient energy devices, namely cookstoves. The paper establishes the linkage between the quantity of woodfuels consumed, and the level of real incomes and inflation respectively in the country using time series data from 1974 to 1987. A regression analysis indicates that the quantity of woodfuels consumed in the country is negatively and positively correlated to real incomes and inflation levels respectively. It is therefore concluded that the impact of real incomes and inflation and the continued overdependence on woodfuels should not be discounted. In light of this, efforts to introduce and popularize the utilization of efficient energy devices in the country ought to be facilitated by increases in real incomes, inflation control measures and improvement in the standard of living of the populace. © 1990.