Abstract

Although international actors have intervened to improve the management of the Cameroonian woodfuel sector, the impacts of these interventions have been little explored. This study investigated the influence of international interventions on policy processes and their impacts on the woodfuel actors and resources in Cameroon. Based on a systematically conducted review of English literature and five interviews, and using the international influence pathway framework as a conceptual lens, international norms and discourses, rules, and direct access were found to have influenced woodfuel governance in Cameroon, while direct access to formal laws and policies and by programmes on the ground had more positive but also negative impacts. Due to the nature of the laws and policies which were influenced, the complex national woodfuel context, and the short-term and small-scale characteristics of programmes, positive impacts on actors and resources created by international interventions were limited. These findings lead to recommendations to increase the scale and continuity of the programmes by ensuring more synergies with informal, local and international market-based `rules', such as REDD+ and forest certification; to focus on increasing woodfuel supply and decreasing demand; and to focus more attention on involving and empowering local people in these policy processes.

Keywords

woodfuel; governance; international interventions; rules; policy impact evaluation

Published in

International Forestry Review
2023, Volume: 25, number: 1, pages: 39-54
Publisher: COMMONWEALTH FORESTRY ASSOC

SLU Authors

• Kim, Dohun

  • Department of Forest Economics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    
  • Wageningen University & Research Centre (Wageningen UR)

UKÄ Subject classification

Globalization Studies
Economics


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1505/146554823836838718

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/122308