5.1 Income levels and energy use
5.2 Prices of different forms of energy
5.3 Changes in energy use
5.4 Urbanisation
5.5 Traditional uses of wood energy
5.6 Income generation in the rural areas
The Kingdom of Cambodia is a poor country due to over 2 decades of war and therefore the living standards of the majority of the population are low. The majority of the rural population use firewood and charcoal as their energy sources for daily cooking because alternate energy forms such as LPG and electricity are generally unavailable. In urban areas, a wider selection of energy forms is usually available, but access to these is limited by financial and spatial constraints.
Since the opening of a free economy by the Royal Government of Cambodia there have been many developments. Public services, factories and enterprises are operating and are rapidly increasing and these employ huge numbers of Cambodian people.
Household incomes vary depending on the type of employment obtained, and three main categories of income level are apparent. High-income families can select energy forms such as LPG or electricity which are more convenient and cleaner than woodfuels. These families continue to use woodfuels for roasting and grilling meat and fish.
Middle-income families are more likely to use a mixture of woodfuels and more conventional fuels. In this case, LPG is used for cooking rice and boiling water, but woodfuels are used for food needing long cooking times such as soups. Levels of income within this category allow bulk purchases of woodfuels, i.e. charcoal by the sack or firewood by the stere, and this may work out cheaper than buying in small quantities.
Most low-income households use woodfuels for cooking, but some use sawdust and agricultural residues such as coconut shells and rice husks. Woodfuels are bought by the bundle or kilogram depending on the daily income earned by each household.
In 1994, the NIS (1995) illustrated that the average income was only attained by 30% of households, with the highest 10% of households earning almost 52 times the income of the lowest 10%. This is a major factor determining access to certain fuel types.
Table 23 shows the prices and uses of different forms of energy.
Table 23: Prices of Different Forms of Energy
|
Energy Type |
Unit |
Energy Use per Person |
Expenditure per Person (Riel) |
||||
|
Day |
Month |
Year |
Day |
Month |
Year |
||
|
Firewood |
Stere |
0.0009 |
0.028 |
0.34 |
125.7 |
3,823 |
45,877 |
|
Charcoal |
Kg |
0.36 |
10.9 |
131 |
100.8 |
3,065 |
36,783 |
|
LPG |
Kg |
0.09 |
2.6 |
32 |
173.1 |
5,266 |
63,189 |
|
Kerosene |
Litre |
0.2 |
7.1 |
85 |
233.0 |
7,087 |
85,000 |
Note: Kerosene consumption is based on the Energy Demand Scenario (MIME, 1996b).
The LPG price shown in the table represents 15 kg cylinders. The costs of using energies such as LPG include more than the price of the fuel itself. For instance, if LPG is used extra expenditures for stoves and LPG cylinder deposits are required, which involve large, lump sum payments. Smaller cylinders are now available in Phnom Penh, but the extra cost of the stove is likely to mean that this remains prohibitive for a large section of the population of Phnom Penh. In comparison, purchases of firewood and charcoal can be made in small, low cost quantities, more affordable to low-income families.
During the study, some traders were of the opinion that their sales are declining due to increased incomes leading households to switch to conventional energy forms. Although this was observed during the study, and confirmed by the surveys conducted by the NIS (1995 and 1997), it was also noted that the amount of wood energy traders in Phnom Penh has increased over the past few years, suggesting that some of the decreased sales could be due more to increased competition.
A comparison of energy use in 1994 and 1996 can be seen in Table 24. The table shows that wood energy consumption is decreasing in terms of the percentage of households using woodfuels as their main energy source for cooking, but the number of households is actually increasing. However, in terms of the number of people consuming woodfuels, the statistics do not show a great change due to a decreasing household size from 5.9 in 1994 to 5.3 in 1996.
Table 24: Changes in Energy Use, 1994 -1996
|
Energy Type |
1994 |
1996 |
||||
|
Percentage of Households |
Number of Households |
Number of People |
Percentage of Households |
Number of Households |
Number of People |
|
|
Firewood |
54.2 |
65,636 |
387,252 |
46.5 |
69,880 |
370,575 |
|
Charcoal |
40.5 |
49,045 |
289,365 |
37.5 |
56,355 |
298,851 |
|
LPG |
2.7 |
3,269 |
19,287 |
9.6 |
14,427 |
76,506 |
|
Kerosene |
1.8 |
2,179 |
12,856 |
5.3 |
7,965 |
42,238 |
|
Electricity |
0.1 |
121 |
713 |
0.1 |
150 |
797 |
|
None |
0.3 |
484 |
2,855 |
0.0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Other |
0.4 |
3,633 |
21,434 |
0.9 |
1,503 |
7,969 |
Source: NIS 1994 and 1996
There has clearly been a big increase in LPG use over the 2 year period, but woodfuels remain popular for traditional dishes. At present, all LPG is imported into the country and therefore any disruption of the imports will increase the demand for indigenous energy forms, particularly firewood and charcoal.
There has been a gradual increase in the population of Phnom Penh since 1979. In comparison with the national population growth rate of 4.8% over the 2 year period of 1994 -1996, the growth in Phnom Penh was 11.1% (NIS, 1997).
As the country's economic centre, Phnom Penh is attractive to migrants in search of trading or other employment opportunities. In 1996, 17% of all migration within Cambodia was for this reason (NIS 1997). In rural areas there is often a lack of employment during the dry season, after the crops have been harvested. In this period, temporary migration is often undertaken to find work in urban areas. During 1996, the NIS (1997) found 25,000 temporary migrants in Phnom Penh. Some of the migrants live with family and friends in the city, but others are accommodated in new settlements which develop within and around the city on land such as riverbanks, public parks, roadsides, railway lines, rooftops, derelict land and privately owned land, and are therefore often classed as illegal settlements. The Urban Sector Group report 20 such settlements housing over 20,000 families, a figure rapidly increasing and often excluded from local authorities population registers.
People living in illegal settlements or marginal areas have considerations other than financial in deciding which type of energy to use. In these areas people have to be mobile as there is the constant threat of eviction (in illegal settlements), or flooding (marginal settlements along riverbanks). Therefore, those in a position to cook with LPG are unlikely to want the extra burden of carrying LPG cylinders and cookers if they have to move quickly. This is also an important consideration for temporary migrants. LPG may also be considered as unsafe in the case of the taps being left on, or turned on by children, or the stove falling over.
The majority of the households in Phnom Penh are of low income households, and so are expected to account for the highest rate of population growth. Population growth is, however, not balanced with the rising incomes and the need for firewood and charcoal is, therefore, unlikely to decrease for some time.
Buddhism is the dominant religion in the Kingdom of Cambodia. Ceremonies are respected and initiated by the population of each area. It was found that wholesale traders in Phnom Penh sell not only for daily domestic needs, but also for use in ceremonies such as marriages and cremations, in addition to cooking for the monks and nuns and for other uses at the pagoda. Marriage ceremonies typically use 0.5-1.5 steres of firewood and 1-3 sacks of charcoal, and cremations require 0.5-0.75 steres of firewood.
The wood energy trade was observed to be a major source of income generation in the rural areas. The study in the supply areas and of corresponding traders showed that firewood and charcoal was produced not only for domestic use, but also to supply brick kilns and other industries and services. People living in rural areas are mainly farmers, and the sale of firewood and charcoal supplements their incomes. Temporary migrants also join the trade during the dry season to supplement their incomes.
