The production and use of woodfuel – firewood and charcoal – is an important socioeconomic activity in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), as over 90% of the population rely on it as primary energy source (Schure et al., 2014a; Iiyama et al., 2014a). It is also responsible for most of total household energy-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in SSA (Kammen & Lew, 2005). Population growth and urbanization during last few decades has seen a surge in commercial demand for charcoal, as a popular and convenient fuel in urban settlements. Charcoal is perceived to be cleaner and more usable compared with firewood, and more affordable in comparison with modern alternatives such as kerosene and liquid petroleum gas (LPG; Ellegård, 1996; Girard, 2002). Currently charcoal production and use results in serious tradeoffs between socio-economic and environmental outcomes. Charcoal helps to meet urban energy demands and supports livelihoods of people across the value chain, but at the cost of many functions of rural landscapes. Charcoal is mainly sourced from rural landscapes where alternative economic opportunities are limited. Thus urban charcoal demand has significantly contributed to rural livelihoods through providing income and employment (Schure et al., 2014a). In 2011, the charcoal sector in Africa was estimated to produce income of over US$10 billion, against the firewood’s US$ 3.7 billion (World Bank, 2011; FAO, 2014). At the same time, as charcoal requires more wood per unit of energy than firewood, it has driven rural land use changes, which depending on the intensity of harvest, either shapes or degrades productive multifunctional landscapes (Chidumayo & Gumbo, 2012; Iiyama et al., 2014a). In 2009, wood extraction for firewood and charcoal combined was reported to be one of the major contributors of degradation emissions from African landscapes, accounting for 57% of forest emissions in SSA (Griscom et al., 2009). With further growing demand for charcoal projected in coming decades (Bailis et al., 2005; Brew-Hammond & Kemausuor, 2009; Iiyama et al., 2014a), depletion of suitable wood species in landscapes will lead to the shifting of charcoal production frontiers with increasing distances between rural-supply and urban-demand zones thus increasing emissions further (Schure et al., 2014b).