Abstract
Amid growing emphasis on community-based approaches to natural resource management, there are concerns about the lack of women participation in communal decision-making. We analyze the association between participation of women in decision-making of forest user groups in Ethiopia and several forest management outcomes. We combine longitudinal survey, administrative and forest inventory data and find that participation of women in executive committees (i.e., formal decision-making) is associated with greater forest benefits, and an improved (perceived and actual) condition of the forest. Alternatively, the association between women participation in group-level meetings and outcomes is not robust. This implies that women participation in formal decision-making is required to reach forest conservation and livelihood gains.
Highlights
Policy makers increasingly delegate responsibility for natural resource management to local communities
Concerns are growing about leader ship capacity constraints, elite capture and the lack of women participation in decision-making
We combine two panel data sources and several fixed effects models to conclude that: (i) women representation in group leadership is associated with increased forest benefits and forest cover; and (ii) active participation is necessary, women should be formally endowed with a position of authority to steer group performance in a more sustainable direction
Summary
Policy makers increasingly delegate responsibility for natural resource management to local communities. There are concerns about governance aspects of these groups, including leadership capacity and elite capture (e.g., Agrawal and Gupta, 2005; Persha and Andersson, 2014; García-Lopez, 2019; Kahsay and Medhin, 2020) and lack of women participation in decision-making (e.g., Agarwal, 2001; Mai et al, 2011; Coleman and Mwangi, 2013; Leisher et al, 2016) These concerns are important in the generation and distribution of forest benefits, and the promotion of forest conservation (Persha and Andersson, 2014; Leisher et al, 2016; García-Lopez, 2019). They should pay an annual rent based on total forest extraction
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