The role of forests and forest products in poverty reduction in sub-Saharan Africa in the 21st century

Abstract

This study briefly examines the role of forest in poverty reduction in sub-Saharan Africa in the 21st century despite the effect of deforestation and degradation. This sub region is rated as the second region with the highest proportion of poor people globally, i.e., 325 million people. Income in the sub region has fallen below the World Bank poverty line of $1.25 per day for developing countries. In fact 45% of the population live on less than $1 per day, with two thirds of the population living in rural areas and small-holder farmers accounting for 80% of the poor. Although about 1.6 billion people live on $1–2 per day, signifying improvement in living standards, it is incomparable to income levels in developed countries. The region is therefore characterized by hunger and starvation, diseases, illnesses and under development. In the sub region, the Gini coefficient is 0.44, indicating a high incidence of poverty. Countries worst hit by absolute poverty in the sub region are Nigeria, Mali and the Central African Republic. Consequently, there is an urgent need to improve the welfare of the population of this sub region through available natural resources, such as forests, where modern technology also still lags far behind. It is therefore recommended that forest policy in the sub region be focused on forestry initiatives that will encourage access to forest resources and in turn increase the well-being of the poor through the natural bounty of the goods and services from the forest. Furthermore, forest food consumption must be encouraged among the rural poor through appropriate agroforestry practices, along with enhanced literacy, as well as education for processing and marketing of forest products in regional markets.