Charcoal is an important source of energy for cooking in urban households and constitutes a major source of income for rural households in many sub-Sahara African countries. Rigorous and comprehensive studies on the livelihood and political economy of the charcoal sector are however, lacking in Ghana and many other charcoalproducing countries. This study applies an analytical framework that combines the Sustainable Livelihood Framework with the revised property rights scheme of Sikor et al. (2017) and “A Theory of Access” by Ribot and Peluso (2003) to investigate the role of charcoal in the livelihoods of rural households, and the social, economic and political contexts within which its production and trade take place in a key charcoal-producing area in Ghana. Mixed method approaches involving survey in 400 randomly selected charcoal- and non-charcoal-producing households, participatory rural appraisal techniques, interviews, stakeholder meetings and document reviews were used to collect data for the study at the Kintampo Forest District. The findings empirically demonstrate that charcoal is the second-most important source of household income after crops. Charcoal production and trade are not associated with any income group, but contrarily to previous studies, high-income households gain higher income from both charcoal production and trade than low-income households. The findings also show that charcoal production is the dominant strategy used by rural households to mitigate economic shocks. Charcoal production is also used to fill seasonal income shortfalls during lean agriculture seasons, but the motivation to use charcoal to fill income-gaps depends on the income status of households. The results further reveal that charcoal production is dominated by young and male-headed households, while young and female-headed households dominate charcoal trade. Participation and income from charcoal production and trade are associated with membership in charcoal associations, ethnicity, payment of traditional charcoal levies and owning physical assets such as bicycle, motor bikes and chainsaw machines. The results further illustrate that property is the main mechanism social actors along the charcoal commodity chain use to benefit from charcoal, and both customary and statutory institutions are involved in mediating access to charcoal in the study area. Charcoal production and trade have been largely informal in Ghana, but the state has initiated policies to formalise the charcoal sector. The dynamics of access in the charcoal sector have been driven by the realisation of the economic benefits of the commodity and scarcity and concerns over sustainability of its resource base. The study shows that charcoal production is an important rural livelihood strategy for a majority of households in the study area as same may hold true for similar charcoal-producing hotspots in the country. Thereforethe government’s attempt to formalise the charcoal sector should be devoid of directives that would make charcoal production and trade prohibitive for low-income households, but should rather promote the livelihood aspects of these economic activities. Further studies should investigate the factors that make charcoal trade attractive to women in Ghana, and policy makers should use this as a possible pathway to reduce rural poverty among women.