Wood fuel consumption and mortality rates in Sub-Saharan Africa: evidence from a dynamic panel study

This study examined the impact of wood fuel consumption on health outcomes, specifically under-five and adult mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa, where wood usage for cooking and heating is on the increase. Generalized method of moment (GMM) estimators were used to estimate the impact of wood fuel consumption on under-five and adult mortality (and also male and female mortality) in the region. The findings revealed that wood fuel consumption had significant positive impact on under-five and adult mortality. It suggests that over the studied period, an increase in wood fuel consumption has increased the mortality of under-five and adult. Importantly, it indicated that the magnitude of the effect of wood fuel consumption was more on the under-five than the adults. Similarly, assessing the effect on a gender basis, it was revealed that the effect was more on female than male adults. This finding suggests that the resultant mortality from wood smoke related infections is more on under-five children than adults, and also are more on female adults than male adults. We, therefore, recommended that an alternative affordable, clean energy source for cooking and heating should be provided to reduce the wood fuel consumption

Cost of trans-boundary haze externalities

This paper attempts to assess the economic value of the trans-boundary 1997 haze damages on health in Malaysia. Valuing the damage will help policy makers appreciate the scale of the problem as the values can be readily compared with other losses or the merits of alternative resource use. It also facilitates the establishment of common cross-country enviromental policy framework, which will benefit the affected region as a whole. The impacts on health are especially highlighted in this paper, as there is sufficient market data for the employment of appropriate secondary valuation technique, namely the Dose-Response Function. Policy implications, based on the findings of the study are offered. This study contributes substantially to the literature on environmentalvaluation in Malaysia. The Dose-Response Function would not be made possible without the given haze episode, where all relevant health data and pollution level were collected nationwide and on a daily basis. The Malaysian Dose-Response coefficient may also be transferred to other similar studies via a Benefit Transfer Protoco

Wood fuel consumption, institutional quality, and forest degradation in sub-Saharan Africa: evidence from a dynamic panel framework

The objective of this paper is to answer an empirical question regarding whether wood fuel consumption and institutional quality affect forest degradation in sub-Saharan Africa. To accomplish this, a sample of 45 sub-Saharan African countries covering 2005–2013 was employed. Also, the dynamic generalized method of moments (GMM) approach was used to estimate the specified model. The results indicated that wood fuel consumption significantly contributed to forest degradation in the region. On the other hand, control of corruption and government effectiveness were negatively related to forest degradation. This suggests that effective control of corruption and governance can contribute to lowering forest degradation in the region. Forest degradation aided by wood fuel consumption can be lessened by effective control of corruption and governance. Thus, policy makers should (1) provide adequate and affordable (or subsidized) modern fuels to the populace, especially rural dwellers, (2) intensify the fight against corruption, and (3) ensure effective governance