Implications of Livelihood Dependence on Non-Timber Products in Peruvian Amazonia

The present and future well-being of the world’s forest dwelling populations depends on their ability to gain livelihood resources from their immediate environment. Sustainable extraction of non-timber forest products has been promoted by conservationists and development agencies as a feasible strategy for forest dwellers that does not compromise the resource base. Yet surveys of actual resource use suggest that for poorer resource-dependent communities without access to markets, non-timber forest products can only ever represent a safety-net activity and a supplementary income source. Others argue that resource availability, in terms of the diversity and productivity of the forest, is the key parameter in realizing a contribution of forest products to well-being. This paper examines the scope and heterogeneity of forest product use to reveal whether resource availability necessarily provides the context for significant contributions to well-being of forest dwellers. We present data from an area of tropical rainforest, close to Iquitos in Peru, which was previously shown to have high potential value. We find, through a census survey of households within a forest reserve area, that non-timber forest products provide only a relatively small portion of income and that only a small proportion of available products are actually commercialized, despite apparent market availability. We show that the low rates of commercialization can be explained by unequal access capital assets used for extraction, to natural resources themselves, and to product markets. They are also explained by the concentration of capital-poor households on subsistence gathering activities. The value of destructive uses of forests, both logging and agriculture, remain higher than returns from non-timber products. This research demonstrates that although non-timber forest products are an important livelihood source, market integration and commercialization is not everywhere an appropriate or realistic strategy.     

Role of non-timber forest products in the economy of peripheral communities of knuckles national wilderness area of Sri Lanka: A farming systems approach

The Knuckles range of forests has been identified as a unique biological resource in Sri Lanka with much biodiversity. It is also important as a watershed which feeds the Mahaweli reservoir system. Having considered the present hazardous land-use practices such as cardamum production and shifting cultivation, the Knuckles range has been declared a national wilderness area. The Forest Department is in the process of preparing the management plan for the area. There are about 48 villages in the vicinity of the forest. This study attempts to estimate the composition of income in the peripheral communities, ticularly the extraction of non-timber forest products (NTFP) from this range of forests. Data were collected using structured questionnaires from 60 households in three villages in the vicinity of the forest. The rural economy is described using a farming systems approach and the net income contributed by each activity in the farming system was estimated. Results show that nine components of the farming system use resources from the village and the forest, with at least 47 plant species used by the villagers for different purposes. Cardamum production and shifting cultivation contribute significantly to the total income of the household, but the majority of households in the study depend upon forest resources to supply some portion of their income. Nevertheless, the monetary value of the annual income generated by NTFP is much lower than income from either cardamum production or shifting cultivation. If cardamum production and shifting cultivation are to be restricted under the conservation program, there could be additional pressure put on NTFP. Therefore, we suggest a study of the natural regen-eration capacity of selected NTFP; such information should be used in finalizing the management plan in the Knuckles range of forests.     

Valuing the rain forest: Economic strategies by small-scale forest extractivists in the Amazon estuary

The current interest in non-timber forest products as an economic option for the Brazilian Amazon represents a radical departure from the policies that have guided development in the region during recent decades. Despite this interest, little is currently known about the forms of resource management or economic strategies practiced by populations dependent on such resources. In this study, we measured the annual income and expenditures of ten households on Combu Island, located in the Amazon estuary near the major port city of Belém; in addition, we documented local uses and management of natural resources on the island Average annual income per household was found to be over U.S. $4000, derived primarily from the harvest and sale of non-timber forest products. The results of this study show that the combination of proximity to a major market and appropriate resource management can lead to high and apparently sustainable economic returns.Formerly Senior Researcher at the Museu Paraense Emílio GoeldiFormerly Student Fellow at the Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi     

Transaction costs of community-based forest management: empirical evidence from Tanzania

Levels of transaction costs in community‐based forest management (CBFM) in four communities adjacent to the Ambangulu mountain forests of the north‐east of Tanzania were assessed through questionnaire responses from 120 households. Costs and benefits of CBFM to the rich, medium and poor groups of forest users were estimated. Costs of CBFM were participation in forest monitoring and time spent in meetings. Benefits included forest products consumed at household level. Transaction costs relative to benefits for CBFM were found to be higher for poorer households compared with medium income and richer households. Higher income groups obtained the most net benefits followed by medium and poorer households. Community involvement in forest management may lower the transaction costs incurred by government, but a large proportion of these costs are borne by poorer members of the community. Transaction costs are critical factors in the success or failure of CBFM and need to be incorporated into policies and legislation related to community‐based natural resource management.     

Using suitable projects in adding value to nonwood forest products in The Philippines: The Copal (Agathis Philippinensis) trade in Palawan

Using Suitable Projects in Adding Value to Nonwood Forest Products in the Philippines: The Copal (Agathis philippinensis)Trade in Palawan. Economic Botany 58(3):476-485, 2004. The Philippines is a country that has little low-forest cover left, but it still has many useful forest species. Despite the decline of forest area and the degradation of forests, many of the poorest households, both indigenous and migrant, are pushed into the remaining forest area and depend on forest goods for their subsistence and monetary income. These goods are inevitably nonwood forest products (NWFPs) because timber extraction is now illegal in many parts of the country. The extraction of nonwood forest products, such as resin and rattan, is the only source of a cash income for many households. However, despite the long tradition of NWFP extraction in forest-edge villages, the income that collectors get from these products is still minimal. The impediments to a more equitable and efficient trade in NWFPs are examined, and possible ways of adding value locally to NWFPs are presented, using almaciga (Agathis philippinensis) resin extraction as a case study.     

Influence of diversity and road access on palm extraction at landscape scale in SE Ecuador

The relationship between biodiversity and the activities of small-scale farmers remains poorly understood despite its importance for conservation. In tropical forest areas farmers often include extraction of forest products in their subsistence strategies, and it has been suggested that factors such as market access and diversity levels influence people’s use of forest products. To investigate these relationships, we studied the use of palms in five villages inhabited by colonists and indigenous Shuar in the lower montane forest in south-eastern Ecuador by means of interviews and line transects around the villages. We found that use of palms was not driven by the diversity of palms available in the forest surrounding each village. Instead, the most important factor seemed to be lack of market access so in villages furthest away from the nearest road people used more palm products for their subsistence life compared to villages closer to the road. Forests around more remote villages had higher utility levels when evaluated on the basis of the villagers’ use of palms, despite lower levels of palm diversity and richness in these forests. The lower diversity levels may reflect past human activity or ecological factors, or a combination of both. In either case, our results show that forests with higher diversity levels are not necessarily more valuable to local people compared to less diverse forests. Instead, socio-economic factors such as market access may be more important in shaping people’s relationship with the natural environment.     

Garden Money Buys Grain: Food Procurement Patterns in a Malian Village

This study of a rural Malian community in West Africa investigates food procurement patterns that combine subsistence grain production with a variety of income generating activities. It finds dependence on food purchases widespread and revenue from the own-account activities of nonhousehold heads essential to food security. Gender and the wealth of households are found to influence some, but not all, income generating activities and expenditures. Three household food procurement profiles are identified: investment in cattle, market gardens and bush extraction, and remittances. The case study village has agroecological characteristics and market proximity, which set it and other urban hinterland villages apart from the more cotton- and cattle-based zones of southern Mali. Own-account income generating activities may be able to increase revenue for women and junior men through a reallocation of household resources without entirely undermining the basis for a larger subsistence-oriented household.     

The faint promise of a distant market: a survey of Belém's trade in non-timber forest products

Increased trade in non-timber forest products (NTFPs) has been promoted as one possible means to slow tropical deforestation by increasing the economic value of intact forest. A market survey of NTFPs occurring in the Capim River basin in eastern Amazonia, Brazil demonstrated that the reality for many smallholder communities in frontier and remote regions includes chronic transportation difficulties, high variability in fruit production, perishable products and lack of market expertise. In some communities, declining abundance of NTFPs due to logging and fire has resulted in a lack of forest products to even meet subsistence needs. In areas close to cities where transportation is assured and where forest clearing has eroded the natural occurrence of some valuable native NTFPs, smallholders who manage and successfully market native fruit and medicinal species are overcoming these obstacles. In frontier regions undergoing rapid transformation, however, decline in locally used and regionally marketed NTFPs currently pose detrimental consequences for communities. Findings suggest that an overemphasis on NTFP marketing has diverted attention from local livelihood, resource access and subsistence issues.     

Adoption of Modern Agricultural Technologies by Lowland Indigenous Groups in Bolivia: The Role of Households, Villages, Ethnicity, and Markets

A survey of 102 Mojeno and 62 Yuracare Amerindian households in the department of Beni in the Bolivian rain forest was done to measure the effects of household and village attributes, ethnicity, and markets on the adoption of chemical herbicides and insecticides for farming. We hypothesized: i) that village attributes would matter more among households with weak links to the market, ii) that education and income would matter more in households integrated to the market, and iii) that ethnic membership would not matter because, as a null hypothesis, we assume all cultures are equally adept at processing information about technological innovations. The results of a probit model with Huber robust standard errors did not confirm any of the hypotheses. Village variables were statistically significant at all levels of integration to the market. Contrary to human capital theory, income and education played a more prominent role in relatively autarkic villages. Ethnicity was statistically significant in the pooled sample and at different levels of integration. Results suggest that conventional determinants of adoption of new farm technologies may need reappraisal in more autarkic settings.     

Socioeconomic determinants of cultivation of non-wood forest products in southern Nigeria

Cultivation of non-wood forest products (NWFP), although a veritable means of ecosystem and biodiversity conservation and improved natural resource management, has not been sustained in southern Nigeria (Nigeria’s major forest region) notwithstanding the unprecedented rate of depletion of the resource in the wild. For example, efforts in the past to support cultivation of NWFP in southern Nigeria under a USAID funded Cross River State forestry project, especially through nursery establishment for some rural communities, was not sustained as the initiative was abandoned by the participants. Hence to promote cultivation of NWFP, this study ascertained socioeconomic factors that influence cultivation of NWFPs. Multi stage sampling technique was used in selection of respondents (households) from two States: Cross River and Enugu States of southern Nigeria. A sample size of 400 households was used for the study. Probit and multinomial logistic regressions were used in estimating NWFP cultivation. The findings show that cultivation of NWFP was positively determined by gender, farming occupation (especially of women farmers) distance to forests where NWFP was collected, proportion of household food from NWFP, and medium wealth category. Age had a negative effect on cultivation until the age of 46 after which the effect became positive. In addition, household size, gender and farming occupation of household heads positively influenced cultivation of NWFP in plantations as against home gardens while gender and farming occupation had positive effect on cultivation of some stands of NWFP as against home gardens. Incorporating the findings of this study in future intervention project for NWFP cultivation will help sustain the initiative.     

Bearing the Burden: Portage Labor as an Adaptive Response to Predictable Food Deficits in Eastern Nepal

Wage work such as portage labor is one of several adaptive strategies by which rural households in Nepal supplement their subsistence agriculture. This study, conducted in the hills of eastern Nepal in 1997, surveyed the landholdings and household subsistence base of 50 commercial porters hired to transport loads from Jiri to various destinations in Solu Khumbu. A major goal was to test the hypothesis that porter households tend to have smaller landholdings than the average household in this region. An unexpected result was that porter households in this study owned nearly as much arable land (1.07 ha) as the mean of 1.15 ha for all hill families in eastern Nepal. Household grain sufficiency correlated significantly (P < 0.01) with farm size (r = 0.53). The majority of the porters lived in villages located at either the origin or the endpoint of their portage work. The study also examined several variables that might explain why portage labor is a full-time occupation for some Nepalis, but a part-time “casual” occupation for others. The most significant difference between households of full-time and part-time porters was the availability of workers at home for managing the household’s land and livestock resources. Households of full-time porters were better able to spare a family member for full-time wage labor because they had significantly more adult workers of either gender (P < 0.05) than households of part-time porters. Full-time and part-time porter households did not differ significantly with regard to family size, land ownership, or number of food-deficit months.     

Conservation and human livelihoods at the crossroads: Local needs and knowledge in the management of Arabuko Sokoke Forest

Arabuko Sokoke Forest is the largest remaining single block of indigenous dry coastal tropical forest in Eastern Africa. Households within a 5 km buffer zone depend heavily on the forest for their livelihood needs, and the pressure on forest resources is on the increase. In May 2015, 109 households were interviewed on resources they obtain from the forest, in terms of the self‐reported level of monthly income. We found household income and farm size significantly positively correlated with benefits from the forest, highlighting the possible influence of household wealth in exploiting forest resources. A large proportion of households (32%) had limited knowledge of local birds, while human–bird conflict was reported by 44% of the households. While many households were keen to participate in conservation projects that maintain the forest, 44% had no knowledge of the forest management plan, and 60% of those interviewed had no idea of how forest zones were designated for particular activities. Drivers for local community participation in conservation projects appear to be sustainable income and fulfilment of basic household needs.     

Contribution of “Women’s Gold” to West African Livelihoods: The Case of Shea (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Vitellaria paradoxa</Emphasis>) in Burkina Faso

Contribution of “Women’s Gold” to West African Livelihoods: The Case of Shea ( Vitellaria paradoxa ) in Burkina Faso. This paper (i) quantifies the contribution that Vitellaria paradoxa makes to the total income of rural households belonging to different economic groups in two areas of Burkina Faso; (ii) quantifies the involvement of women in shea nuts and fruits collection and processing; and (iii) empirically verifies the “gap filling” function of shea products in Burkina Faso by quantifying the commercialization and subsistence use of shea fruits, nuts, and butter between agricultural seasons. Based on data collected from structured household surveys used on a quarterly basis during a one-year period on 536 households, we demonstrate that the reliance on shea is generally high in the sampled populations, and is at its highest for the poorest households, for which it contributes 12 % of total household income. Moreover, shea nut collection and processing was found to provide a valuable source of cash income to female household members who otherwise have very few income possibilities. Finally, due to its ecology, shea fills in an income gap during a period where human activities are at their highest while income is at its lowest. Although shea is crucial for poor people’s livelihoods and for the generation of income for women, its harvesting and processing are time-consuming activities that generate low returns per unit of labor. We argue that shea collection and processing should therefore not be considered as a remedy to poverty but instead as a way for households to diversify their livelihood strategy and decrease their vulnerability to food insecurity and climate variability.     

The effect of income on the extraction of non-timber tropical forest products: Model,hypotheses, and preliminary findings from the Sumu Indians of Nicaragua

We use microeconomic theory to frame hypotheses about the effects of income on the use of non-timber rain forest products. We hypothesize that an increase in income: (a) encourages foraging specialization, resulting in the extraction of fewer goods; (b) increases the share of household income from occupations besides foraging; (c) produces a yearly value from the extraction of nontimber forest goods of about $50 per hectare; and (d) produces depletion of forest goods entering commercial channels and sustainable extraction of goods facing cheaper industrial substitutes. To examine these hypotheses we present worldwide ethnographic information and preliminary findings from field work carried out among the Sumu Indians of Nicaragua. Field work suggests that higher income produces: (a) foraging specialization with animals rather than with plants; (b) a decline in the economic importance of forest goods in household income; (c) and a rise in the value of non-timber goods removed from the forest to about $35/ha/year. We did not have time to test hypothesis d.     

Nontimber forest product extraction, utilization and valuation: A case study from the Nilgiri Biosphere reserve, southern India

We evaluated the diversity, social, and economic aspects of nontimber forest product (NTFP) collection in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve (NBR), in southern India. The NBR is a region known for its floral andfaunal diversity, as well as an area with increasing human pressure. Fifty to 75% of the households (HH) in rural areas gather a diversity of forest products. Dominant NTFPs contributed 25–60% of the average annual per capita household income from NTFPs. The mean annual per capita household income from NTFPs ranges between Rs. 134 and Rs. 4955. The mean annual income per hectare ranges from Rs. 93 in the montane zone to Rs. 3780 in the moist deciduous. NTFPs contribute 15–50% of the annual per capita income of rural households. Ethnicity plays an important role in the collection of NTFPs and ethnic tribes derive a large proportion of their annual per capita income from NTFPs.     

农户薪柴消费的理论模型及实证研究

农户薪柴消费变化对室内空气质量、农村生态环境建设影响重大,论文构建了山区农户薪柴消费的理论模型,以重庆市典型区1015份农户调查数据为例,运用Tobit模型分析了农户人均薪柴消费量的影响因素。研究表明:农户家庭能源消费中,商品能源和新能源的比重逐步增大,但薪柴依旧是农户普遍使用的能源类型,且消费量占总能源消费量的比重高;通过降低农业劳动力比重和提高非农工资水平两种途径,非农就业能显著降低农户人均薪柴消费量;家庭电器数量增多、其他收入(政府补贴、亲戚帮扶等)增加、及替代能源(液化气、沼气、煤炭等)可获得性增强也能显著降低农户人均薪柴消费量,而户主年龄大、人均牲畜数量多及房屋离集市距离远的农户家庭的人均薪柴消费量高。提出了加快薪柴替代的措施。     

Nutritional status of Ribeirinhos in Brazil and the nutrition transition

Anthropometric and household data (size, composition, economic activity) were collected from a population of Ribeirinhos living in a rural setting in the eastern Amazon. Data are compared to international reference standards and to other Amazonian populations with the goals of increasing our understanding of the Amazon's largest ethnic group and identifying the relationship between changes in subsistence strategies and nutritional status. Data on height, weight, skinfolds, and circumferences were collected from 471 adults and subadults. The population showed a high degree of stunting with an average HAZ below -2.0 for all age groups over 3 years, and 60% of adult men and 70% of adult women were stunted. Wasting was rare. Average skinfold thicknesses and upper-arm muscle area were near or below average but within the normal range compared to the reference standard, indicating adequate energy and protein stores. Thirty-one percent of males and 29% of females were overweight/obese, and the highest average BMIs were found among men and women in their 40s. Adult males who participated in wage labor had higher weights, BMIs, and UMA values, and were more likely to be overweight and obese compared with those who did not work in wage-labor jobs. Children of fathers who worked in wage labor had higher BMI and UMA values, but there was no significant effect on the nutritional status of other adults in these same households. Signs of the nutrition transition were most noticeable among adult males involved in wage labor because of changes in their diet and activity patterns.     

Collection and Use of Wild Edible Fungi in Nepal

Collection and Use of Wild Edible Fungi in Nepal. The significance of the contribution of wild edible mushrooms to rural livelihoods is acknowledged, but remains largely unexplored. This study investigates the collection of wild edible Nepalese fungi, which species are used, and what are the specific characteristics of the collectors and the collection. Data were collected using 282 structured questionnaires, interviews, and forest walks in 17 districts, environmental household accounts from 413 households in two communities, and a review of literature. A total of 228 species of wild fungi are confirmed to be used for food, and collection is most widespread among the high-mountain Tibeto-Nepalese ethnic groups, which collect an average of 18.1 kilograms (kg) fresh mushrooms per year per household, with some households collecting as much as 160 kg. We found no relation between wealth status and subsistence collection, although the commercial collectors are predominantly the poor earning up to six months of unskilled labor salary per season. Given the limited local trade and occurrence of globally marketed species, the scope for increasing contributions to rural livelihoods from collection of mushrooms, and risks in relation to this are briefly discussed.     

Subsistence hunting and conservation issues in the game reserve of Gile, Mozambique

Ethnozoological research was conducted to gather information on the hunting activities and their relevance for the subsistence of local people in 8 villages around the game reserve of Gile, Mozambique. Two series of data were gathered by questionnaires to: (a) 510 householders from eight villages located in the outskirts of the Reserve; (b) 10 hunters from the village of Gile, the main centre of the study area. Several hunting techniques were recorded: spears, nets, traps (including gin-traps) and wildfires, while the use of guns did not appear relevant. The importance of subsistence hunting for local people was underlined by the high percentage of respondents who declared that they usually conduct this activity and sell bushmeat. The proportion of hunters per village was related to the village size but not to its geographical location of villages and the household composition. A positive relationship existed between the proportion of hunters, crop production and fishing activities, indicating that hunting is part of an integrated system of subsistence activities. Most animals harvested were mammals (89.5%, of which 46.7% were ungulates) and most were captured within the Reserve (96%). A higher percentage of animals was sold (56%), representing a relevant income source for the villagers. Small animals were mainly captured by traps during solitary hunting, medium-sized animals in collective net hunting; larger prey were captured by gin-traps adopted by both solitary and collective hunting. In the diet of the local people wild animals represented a higher protein source than domestic animals.     

The origins of monetary income inequality: Patience,human capital,and division of labor

We present an explanation about the origins of monetary income inequality when an economically self-sufficient society opens to a market economy. The chain of associations runs from patience, to the accumulation of different forms of human capital, to self-selection into different occupations, and to the division of labor, which contributes to monetary income inequality. In a self-sufficient society, patience is exogenously determined and people rely on folk knowledge as the only form of human capital. With the establishment of schools, patient and impatient people sort themselves out by the type of human capital they begin to accumulate. Impatient people do not acquire folk knowledge because return to schooling takes many years to bear fruit. Schooling opens opportunities in occupations outside the village, whereas folk knowledge enhances employment opportunities that draw on farming or foraging. Self-selection into different occupations with different earnings potential spawns monetary income inequality. To test the explanation, we draw on data from a foraging–farming society in the Bolivian Amazon, the Tsimane'. We collected data during four consecutive quarters in 1999–2000 and a follow-up interview (2004). Data came from 151 adults (age, 16 years or more) from all households (n=48) in two villages with different levels of market exposure. During 1999–2000, impatience was associated with (a) greater folk knowledge and fewer years of schooling, (b) lower likelihood of working in wage labor, and (c) greater likelihood of working in rural subsistence occupations. People who had been patient in 1999–2000 had greater wage earnings and more modern physical assets in 2004.