Who Still Cooks with Fuelwood in a Charcoal-Dominated System? Household and Village Differences Around Kolwezi, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Charcoal in sub-Saharan Africa is commonly described as a fuel that villagers produce for urban consumers while they themselves cook with collected wood. We tested this view in three purposively selected villages around Kolwezi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, asking whether residual fuelwood use is associated mainly with household attributes or with the village. We surveyed 235 households and fitted nested Firth logistic regressions, adding village after household attributes. Charcoal was the main cooking fuel of 97.4% of households and, by recall, had already been so for 92.8% five years earlier. Fuelwood remained a main or secondary fuel for 24.7% of households, from 2.0% in Kawama to 51.0% in Mushima. Household attributes discriminated poorly between users and non-users (Tjur R² = 0.09), whereas village alone discriminated better (Tjur R² = 0.28). Charcoal producers had higher odds of fuelwood use before adjustment (odds ratio 2.86, 95% CI 1.56–5.31) but not within villages (Mantel–Haenszel odds ratio 0.86, 95% CI 0.38–1.92), and no clear association was detected with income or education. Villagers, producers included, are thus mainly charcoal users. Energy and forest policies should count these villages among charcoal consumers, and the village conditions behind residual fuelwood use warrant testing.