Equity in Distribution of Proceeds from Forest Products from Certified Community-Based Forest Management in Kilwa District, Tanzania

Abstract

Equity in distribution of income from forest products among producers, processors and traders is required for sustaining forests resource use. Despite many studies being undertaken on benefits of certified community forest products, distributional aspects of these benefits to the communities have not been fully examined. Employing a value chain analytical framework, this paper investigates the distribution of proceeds of forest products by assessing net revenue of roundwood equivalent and its shares among actors along the chain. A comparative study was conducted using the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified community forests and non-certified (non-FSC) forests in Kilwa District, Tanzania. Actors from certified forest communities were found to earn higher income than those from non-FSC forests, and experience significantly greater income equity. This finding suggests that forest certification is an important forest management approach in enhancing equity in income distribution among the actors. However, sustainability of equity in income for certified community forests in Kilwa is highly conditional upon the technical and managerial capacities of villagers, and their access to finance and markets of certified forest products. This study provides baseline data for future assessment of income distribution among actors for the various forest management regimes in Tanzania and the African region as a whole.