Economic Implications of Non-Timber Forest Products/Benefits/ to Livelihood Improvement in Terms of Income and Determinants of Household Participation in NTFPS Collection: A Case Study of Mecha Woreda, Amhara Region

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis was studying the “economic implications of non-timber forest products/benefits/ to livelihood improvement in terms of income and determinants of household participation in NTFPs collection: a case study of Mecha Woreda, Amhara region”. The major sources of data for the study were a well-organized questionnaire distributed over the study site. The secondary data have been gained from the Woreda office of agriculture and rural development and used mainly for description of the study area. Moreover, the study tried to investigate the major NTFPs extracted, their contribution in the form of income, and major determinants of household’s decision in participation of NTFPs collection as an objective, via the tool of both descriptive and econometric model analysis in particular. Honey and beeswax, charcoal, fuel wood, and ‘Gesho’ /Rhamnus prionides/ are most important source of income from among the non-timber forest products. From the descriptive part even if the Woreda is one of the surplus producer area of crop production, households around forests in the study area are considerably dependent on NTFPs by generating nearly 20.17% of their total income from NTFPs during the study period. Charcoal extraction mainly from plantation forests is primary income producer by contributing around 37.52% of total income from NTFPs. Honey and bees wax, fuel wood, and Gesho were also contributing 32.68%, 25.17%, and 4.31% of aggregate income from non-timber forest products during the study period respectively. On the other hand, most wild edible plant products including plantation coffee are importantly provides subsistence especially for the children in the study area. The study also found that age, family size, distance to forest, and number of livestock a household possess were the major determining factor in the participation of NTFPs extraction.  Households who are far from the forest, own large amount of livestock, and being aged were less likely to participate in the collection of non-timber forest products, while those who have relatively large amount of family member were more likely to participate in NTFPs collection. Even if it needs further investigation, it seems reasonable that the likelihood of household’s participation decrements and increments as amount of livestock owned increases and number of family member increases is due to the availability of alternative source of income from livestock and labor from family members for NTFPs collection respectively.

Keywords: NTFPs, livelihood improvement, income, Mecha Woreda

DOI: 10.7176/JESD/10-1-06