Livelihood security of rural households in Northern Ghana: do forests matter?

Abstract

The study was conducted to analyze and ascertain the relevance of forest to the livelihood security of rural households in Northern Ghana. Primary data were collected from 240 sampled rural households from forest fringe communities in the West Gonja District and non-forest fringe communities in the Central Gonja District. Household livelihood security was measured using six security indices. The study results revealed that forest matters significantly in terms of livelihood security, with the forest livelihood zone recording higher livelihood security than the non-forest livelihood zone. The study established using Welch’s t-test a statistically and significantly higher livelihood security in the forest zone than in the non-forest zone. It is recommended that household livelihood diversification, geographical location and sustainable forest resource management are critical for policies that are aimed at alleviating rural poverty and guaranteeing rural livelihood securities.