Abstract            Volume:14  Issue-9  Year-2026         Original Research Articles

Online ISSN : 2347 - 3215 Issues : 12 per year Publisher : Excellent Publishers Email : editorijcret@gmail.com

Charcoal production supplies urban energy and rural income across sub-Saharan Africa, but its climate, forest and social consequences are seldom examined together. We mapped evidence on greenhouse gas emissions, forest change, livelihoods and household expenditure on schooling. Four Crossref search strings covering 2000–2026 were supplemented by institutional searches. Of 1,100 records, 15 duplicates were removed; 1,085 titles and abstracts were screened, 71 full texts or structured records were assessed, and 57 studies were included following PRISMA 2020. Livelihoods were addressed in 32 studies, forests in 26, emissions and technologies in 23, governance in six and education in five. Traditional earth kilns had variable yields and generated products of incomplete combustion. Charcoal provided essential liquidity, although returns and risks were unevenly distributed. Forest outcomes depended on wood harvesting, subsequent agricultural conversion, access rights and regeneration. Direct evidence on school expenditure remained scarce. A coherent transition requires improved conversion, resource governance, spatial monitoring and protection of livelihoods. Linked household, kiln and forest-plot observations would be particularly valuable in Benin.

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