Determinants of Forest Based Livelihood Strategy Choice by Farm Households’: The Case of Jello-Muktar Forest, Chiro District, West Hararghe, Ethiopia.

Abstract

Forest resource provides home and livelihood for people living in and around them, and serves as vital safety nets for the rural poor.  Thus, this study initiated to investigate ‘Determinants of Forest Based Livelihood Strategy Choice by Farm Households’  A Case of Jello-Muktar Forest, Chiro District; West Hararghe, Ethiopia. A total of 150 sampled households were selected randomly and used for an interview.  Descriptive statistics and multinomial logit model were used for data analysis. Accordingly, 13.50%, 18.74%, 30.56%, and 37.10% of the households choose fuel wood sell, beekeeping, animal fattening, and multiple livelihoods respectively. A multinomial logit result showed that family size and on-farm income, negatively affecting the choice of beekeeping while frequency of honey production in a year, and number of beehives owned affecting positively. On the other hand, land covered by Catha edulis (khat), size of livestock, distance from the forest, and on-farm income negatively affecting the probability choice of fuel wood sell. Contrary to this, land covered by Catha edulis, number of livestock, access to extension services, number of tree on own land, and on-farm income positively affecting households’ choice of animal fattening as livelihood. In general the study had identified the role of Jello-Muktar forest in livelihood diversification for adjacent farmers’ which contribute to household food security and calls to empower the integration of rural livelihood to forest resource in reducing rural poverty.

Keywords: Forest, Household, Jello-Muktar, Livelihood, Multinomial logit