Firewood yield and profitability of a traditional Daniellia oliveri short-rotation coppice on fallow lands in Benin T. Hermane Avohou a,b, *, Remy Houehounha a , Romain Glele-Kakai a , Achille Ephrem Assogbadjo a , Brice Sinsin a a Laboratory of Applied Ecology, University of Abomey Calavi, 01 BP 526 Cotonou, Benin b Bioversity International, West and Central Africa Office, 08 BP 0932 Cotonou, Benin article info Article history: Received 30 January 2010 Received in revised form 25 September 2010 Accepted 18 October 2010 Available online 13 November 2010 Keywords: Short-rotation coppice Weeding Fallow management Firewood yield Profitability Daniellia oliveri abstract Sub-Saharan Africa has a great diversity of local coppicing species which are exploited in traditional short coppice systems for firewood. Biomass yield and profitability of these systems as well as their responses to silvicultural improvement are little known. This study evaluated the firewood yield and the profitability of a traditional Daniellia oliveri short-rotation coppice on fallow lands in central Benin. Two weed management options were considered: (1) the weedy option, usually practiced by locals, which experienced grass competition and bushfires, and (2) the weed-free option, which consisted in periodic removal of grasses and other species. Destructive measurements and allometric equations were used to estimate biomass yield in 12 plots over 42 months. A cost-benefit analysis model based on the net present value and the benefit-cost ratio was used to compare the profitability of the two management options. Biomass accumulation rate averaged 1.08  0.20 tonnes of dry matter ha 1 year 1 (t DM ha 1 year 1 ) in weedy conditions. Weed removal improved 3.5 times this rate in weed-free plots (3.83  0.47 t DM ha 1 year 1 ). After 42 months, total biomass reached 3.67  0.65 t DM ha 1 in weedy plots and 11.63  0.76 t DM ha 1 in weed-free plots. Most of the biomass (88%) was marketable in local markets. Coppice exploitation was profitable after 24 months for both management options. Weed removal improved the profits three times. A sensitivity analysis showed that both options were still profitable with up to 25% increase of labour and transport costs, 25% decrease of biomass price and 12% increase of the discount rate. ª 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Short-rotation coppice on agricultural lands is a promising option to increase firewood supply in the context of the search for alternatives of sustainable energy sources in Sub-Saharan Africa [1,2]. Firewood is the major source of energy in the region and its demand is expected to increase in the next decades [3,4]. Firewood resources from natural forests are decreasing. Today firewood harvesting practice consists in cutting green coppices of a wide range of indigenous species while the productivity of fallow lands which supply the bulk of the coppices is decreasing [1,5e8]. At present, long-rotation management of forests and available lands with slow-growing indigenous species to meet firewood demand would not be accepted by farmers and local communities [8,9]. Short-rota- tion coppice with high use potential indigenous coppicing species has been proposed as an alternative to improve fire- wood supply and livelihoods of smallholder farmers [1,9]. * Corresponding author. University of Abomey Calavi, 08 BP 0932 Cotonou, Benin. Tel.: þ(229) 21350188; fax: þ(229) 21350556. E-mail address: avoher@gmail.com (T.H. Avohou). Available at www.sciencedirect.com http://www.elsevier.com/locate/biombioe biomass and bioenergy 35 (2011) 562 e571 0961-9534/$ e see front matter ª 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.biombioe.2010.10.030