Forest incomes and poverty alleviation under participatory forest management in the Bale Highlands, Southern Ethiopia

T Yemiru,F Bohlin,B.M Campbell,A Roos

doi:10.1505/ifor.12.1.66

Abstract

There is an increasing interest in understanding the role forest products and forest resource management in rural livelihoods and poverty reduction strategies. This study investigates the contribution of forest resources to the livelihoods of rural households under a participatory management arrangement in southern Ethiopia. Data were collected through key informant interviews, group discussion, and household surveys from a total of 350 households. Income data were collected in four separate seasons at intervals of three months. The result indicates that forest products are the most important sources of income contributing to 34% and 53% of household per capita income and per capita cash income, respectively. Forest income also helps 20% of the population to remain above the poverty line. Forest income reduces inequality (Gini coefficient) by 15.5%. In general, the result confirms the importance of forest income in poverty alleviation and as safety nets in times of income crisis.

Highlights

The importance of forest resources to the livelihoods of people living in and around forests has increasingly been recognised during the last three decades
The underlying arguments linking forest management and poverty alleviation include the correlation between chronic poverty and natural forests (Sunderlin et al 2005), the role of forest products in filling seasonal shortfalls and as safety nets in times of emergency (Byron and Arnold 1999, Fisher and Shively 2005, McSweeney 2004, Pattanayak and Sills 2001, Shackleton et al 2007, Sunderlin et al 2005)
This study aims at evaluating and explaining the contribution of forest resources to the livelihoods of local households in the context of participatory forest management arrangement in Ethiopia

Summary

Introduction

The importance of forest resources to the livelihoods of people living in and around forests has increasingly been recognised during the last three decades. The income-equalizing effect of forest income among rural households has been evidenced by other studies (Cavendish and Campbell, in press, Fisher 2004, LóPez-Feldman et al 2007, Mamo et al 2007, Reddy and Chakravarty 1999) In spite of these arguments, forest resources are not adequately considered in the poverty reduction strategies of most developing countries (Oksanen and mersmann 2003) including Sub Saharan African countries(McConnell 2008). This is mainly because poverty analysis based on income or material consumption discounts the role of forests, and disregards the impact of the degradation and disappearance of forests and natural resources on the livelihoods of the poor (Oksanen and Mersmann 2003)

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion