Title: Seeing the forest for the fuel and food: Rural poverty and forest sustainability in Africa
Summary: Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) support livelihoods in rural communities around the world through the provision of food, fuel, construction materials, medicines, and income from sales. As an example, charcoal is a major source of income for rural households in areas with access to urban markets, since more than 80% of urban households in sub-Saharan Africa use charcoal as their main source of cooking energy. Many households depend on forest resources for food security, yet the use of charcoal and other forest products is seen as primitive and unhealthy. Poverty reduction strategies and forest management policies often overlook the role played by NTFPs in rural livelihoods, which underscores the need to balance welfare improvement and sustainable forest management. This paper presents a framework for conceptualizing the contribution of forests to poverty alleviation by estimating the contribution of NTFPs to rural household income in Zambia. A two-stage tobit alternative model is used to analyze the factors associated with participation in NTFP-related business activities, such as the production and sale of charcoal, wild honey, mushrooms, and insects. Results show that NTFPs accounted for 33% of household income for participating households, which was second only to agriculture. Poorer households were more likely to participate in the production and sale of forest products, but their participation is more as a safety net to supplement other income. Reducing rural household dependence on forest resources requires coordinated policies that provide alternative income opportunities for farmers, affordable alternative energy sources to urban households, and more efficient and sustainable approaches for harvesting and producing forest resources.
Biography: Robby Richardson holds a PhD in agricultural and resource economics. His teaching, research, and outreach program focuses mainly on sustainability and development. He is an applied economist with interests in the study of environment and development, particularly the contribution of ecosystem services and natural resources to socioeconomic wellbeing. His research has included assessments of the role of natural resources in poverty alleviation and food security, vulnerability to climate change, and tradeoffs in decision-making about natural resource management. He has conducted research in Zambia, Kenya, Costa Rica, and Belize, in addition to several projects in the western USA.
Dr. Richardson is an affiliate faculty member with MSU's Environmental Science and Policy Program, Center for Advanced Study of International Development, the African Studies Center, and the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies.
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