Land-Use Management and Carbon Sequestering in Sub-Saharan Africa

R. D. Perlack
R. L. Graham
A. M. G. Prasad

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DOI: 10.2190/552Y-AD1T-NMXQ-N536

Abstract

We estimate the magnitude of carbon emissions and the potential for sequestering carbon from alternative land-use management options in Sub-Saharan Africa. Our results indicate that current land-based emissions are of the order of 152 million tons each year. Reducing forestation by 50 percent could lower emissions to twenty-one million tons. With regard to specific land use policies, we estimate that agroforestry, if adopted at a rate of 2 to 4 percent annually, could reduce annual carbon emissions by about thirty-eight to sixty-six million tons. Offsetting industrial roundwood removals or converting 0.1 percent of high and medium productivity land back to forest each year could result in the sequestration of about eleven to eighteen million tons annually. The direct costs of carbon sequestration are estimated at $3 to $22 per ton depending on the land use policy.

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.