Wood has been used as fuel for millennia, meeting humanity’s basic needs for cook - ing, boiling water, lighting and heating [111]. Today wood fuel, namely firewood and charcoal, accounts for approximately 10% of global energy supply, but wood fuels domi - nate energy provision in many parts of the developing world. Especially, the inhabitants of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) benefit significantly from wood fuel [112]. The per capita wood fuel consumption of 0.69 m 3 /year in SSA in 2011 was 2.5 times higher than the global average of 0.27 m 3 /year (own calculation). Over 90% of the overall population of 852 million and virtually 100% of the 535 million rural residents rely on wood fuel for energy [113]. 66 There are distinctive geographic and sectoral demand and supply patterns for firewood and charcoal in SSA. (a) Firewood serves mostly rural subsistence needs on one hand and (b) commercial/institutional demand on the other hand, while (c) charcoal demand is highly associated with urbanization primarily met by unsustainable supply from dry - lands. Although officially discouraged under national law and the UN Security Council, charcoal export to Gulf countries is the biggest source of foreign exchange for Somalia [114]. This should reflect the different scenarios where in some countries it is illegal while in others like Kenya, Sudan and Namibia it is legal. In Sudan (North) it is sustain - ably produced while in many other countries it is unsustainably produced.