Rural Income and Forest Reliance in Highland Guatemala

This paper estimates rural household-level forest reliance in the western highlands of Guatemala using quantitative methods. Data were generated by the way of an in-depth household income survey, repeated quarterly between November 2005 and November 2006, in 11 villages (n = 149 randomly selected households). The main sources of income proved to be small-scale agriculture (53 % of total household income), wages (19 %) and environmental resources (14 %). The latter came primarily from forests (11 % on average). In the poorest quintile the forest income share was as high as 28 %. All households harvest and consume environmental products. In absolute terms, environmental income in the top quintile was 24 times higher than in the lowest. Timber and poles, seeds, firewood and leaf litter were the most important forest products. Households can be described as ‘regular subsistence users’: the share of subsistence income is high, with correspondingly weak integration into regional markets. Agricultural systems furthermore use important inputs from surrounding forests, although forests and agricultural uses compete in household specialization strategies. We find the main household determinants of forest income to be household size, education and asset values, as well as closeness to markets and agricultural productivity. Understanding these common but spatially differentiated patterns of environmental reliance may inform policies aimed at improving livelihoods and conserving forests.     

Value of arsenic-free drinking water to rural households in Bangladesh

Using contingent valuation survey data for about 2700 households in rural Bangladesh, and applying a multinomial logit model, the paper estimates the value of arsenic-free drinking water to the rural people. The estimates indicate that the rural people in arsenic-affected areas of Bangladesh place a low value on arsenic-free drinking water. It is about 10-14 percent of the amount they are willing to pay for piped water and only about 0.2-0.3 percent of the average household income. The implication of the result is that robust but costly arsenic reduction technologies such as activated alumina technology may find little social acceptance, unless heavily subsidized.     

Mining development,income growth and poverty alleviation: A multiplier decomposition technique applied to China

Mining has grown rapidly and is expected to continue to develop solidly in the future with the economic development in China. Based on this trend, how an increase in the outputs of mining sectors affects household income and poverty alleviation is an issue worthy of study. A multiplier decomposition method within a social accounting matrix (SAM) framework shows the linkages through which a mining sector's output contributes to household income growth and poverty alleviation. The decomposition applied to China reveals that mining development has more significantly positive impacts on the high and middle income household than low income household. Moreover, the decomposition incorporated with the Foster, Greer and Thoerbecke (FGT) poverty measure shows that the ‘coal’ sector contributes most to poverty alleviation and the low income household group, which has the biggest poverty rate, is the smallest beneficiary from the mining development. Thus, the policy implication is proposed that the government should give appropriate adjustment on the distribution of income between rich and poor households and help the unskilled human capital from the household group at a low income level to handle advanced technology of mining through education and training to reduce poverty more effectively.     

An Estimation of the Effects of China’s Priority Forestry Programs on Farmers’ Income

In the late 1990s, the Chinese government initiated some new programs and consolidated other existing ones of ecological restoration and resource development in its forest sector, and renamed them as “Priority Forestry Programs,” or PFPs. They include the Natural Forest Protection Program (NFPP), the Sloping Land Conversion Program (SLCP), the Desertification Combating Program around Beijing and Tianjin (DCBT), the Shelterbelt Development Program (SBDP), and the Wildlife Conservation and Nature Reserve Development Program (WCNR). In addition to improving the environmental and resource conditions, a frequently reiterated goal of these PFPs is to increase rural households’ income, therefore discussing why looking at rural household income impacts might be an important part of forest program evaluation. Thus, an interesting and important question is: How has implementing the PFPs affected the farmers’ income and poverty status? This article addresses this question using a fixed-effects model and a panel dataset that covers 1968 households in four provinces for ten consecutive years (1995–2004). The empirical evidence indicates that their effects are mixed. The SLCP, the SBDP, and the NFPP have made positive impact and, by far, the SLCP has the largest effect. But the WCNR and the DCBT still have not had a pronounced overall effect due to their short time span of execution, even though they may have exerted certain influence at the margin. Notably, the impact of the WCNR, if any, is negative.     

A Dynamic Simulation Model of Land-Use, Population, and Rural Livelihoods in the Central Rift Valley of Ethiopia

The dynamic interactions between society and land resources have to be taken into account when planning and managing natural resources. A computer model, using STELLA software, was developed through active participation of purposively selected farm households from different wealth groups, age groups and gender within a rural community and some members of Kebelle council. The aim of the modeling was to study the perceived changes in land-use, population and livelihoods over the next 30 years and to improve our understanding of the interactions among them. The modeling output is characterized by rapid population growth, declining farm size and household incomes, deteriorating woody vegetation cover and worsening land degradation if current conditions remain. However, through integrated intervention strategies (including forest increase, micro-finance, family planning, health and education) the woody vegetation cover is likely to increase in the landscape, population growth is likely to slow down and households’ income is likely to improve. A validation assessment of the simulation model based on historical data on land-use and population from 1973 to 2006 showed that the model is relatively robust. We conclude that as a supporting tool, the simulation model can contribute to the decision making process.     

Conceptualizing the human use of wild edible herbs for conservation in South African communal areas

The importance of wild edible herbaceous species to resource poor households in most rural economies within savannas has been little studied. This is because most of the herbs grow in impoverished species communities and lands, often referred to as 'marginal lands'. The aim of this paper is to conceptualize how the economics of wild edible herbs to households can be used to add value to total livelihoods and conservation within traditional communal areas of South Africa. Analysis of the economics of the consumption of wild edible herbs in Thorndale (Bushbuckridge district) of the Limpopo province is presented. The majority of households consumed wild edible herbs, averaging 15.4 kg dried weight per household per year and valued at $167 per household. The herbs were mostly harvested from uncultivated areas of farms, and rangelands. There was little correlation between household characteristics and the dependence on wild herbs for food. The local people noted a decline in the availability of the species, although not much is known about attempts to cultivate them. The only reasons attributed to the decline were nutrient poor soils and insufficient rains. With this background, developing a local strategy to sustain the species through cultivation by households was found to be feasible. A multiple-use system for the herbs, their improvement and value addition towards commercialization and increased household usage may result in wider acceptance and subsequent cultivation. Species diversity will be enhanced whilst conserving the land on which they grow. This multiple use system may include species roles in soil and water conservation.     

Understanding the factors that influence household use of clean energy in the Similipal Tiger Reserve,India

Biotic pressure in and around protected areas (PA) is the primary cause of biodiversity loss in many developing countries across the globe. The pressure comes partly from biomass energy dependency in the form of heavy extraction of fuelwood from the forests. Although biomass fuels provide easily accessible and affordable sources of domestic energy to the rural masses, their combustion results in environmental and health‐related hazards. The objectives of this paper are to assess the patterns of household energy use in a subsistence forest economy and analyze the factors that influence their energy use choice for cooking and lighting. The paper uses primary data collected randomly from 244 households located in and around the Similipal Tiger Reserve (STR), situated in the eastern Indian state of Odisha. Age of the household head, number of days in wage employment, number of adult males and females in a household, education of the household head and landholding size are found to be the major variables that determine household fuelwood collection sources inside the reserve. Considering household structure as an income indicator, the analysis clearly shows that non‐poor households prefer to use clean energy (i.e. solar) for lighting, while poor households tend to use solid fuel. Energy policies for development should be based on the realistic proposition that fuelwood will remain the major source of energy for cooking for substantial proportions of the world’s population. Promotion of public education, social forestry schemes and fuel‐efficient improved chulhas should be encouraged in order to reduce household dependence on fuelwood. Moreover, devolving sufficient property rights over forest resources to local communities may help secure their broad‐based and active participation in the decision‐making process, which may result in a positive change in the attitude of the local people towards biodiversity conservation.     

Forest resources and household welfare: Empirical evidence from North Central Vietnam

Using secondary data from a socio-economic quantitative household survey of the North Central region of Vietnam, the main aim of our study is to analyze the causal effect of forest resources on household income and poverty. Based on the observed characteristics of a forest-based livelihood and forest-related activities, we use a propensity score matching (PSM) method to control for potential bias arising from self-selection. The PSM results indicate that households with a forest-based livelihood had a higher level of income and lower poverty rates than did those without. Interestingly, our findings confirm that a forest-based livelihood offers much higher income than any other type of livelihood adopted by local households. Also, the poverty rate among households with a forest-based livelihood is lower than those earning non-labor income or engaged in wage/crop and crop livelihoods. Among households and provinces, we find varying opportunities deriving from forest resources, suggesting that there are potential barriers hindering local households from pursuing a forest livelihood or participating in some forest activities. Therefore, government policy and regulations on forest management should focus on improving the access of households to forest resources, while enhancing the sustainability of these resources.     

Natural Resource Dependency and Decentralized Conservation Within Kanchenjunga Conservation Area Project,Nepal

Kanchenjunga Conservation Area Project (KCAP) in Nepal is among the first protected areas in the world to institute a completely decentralized system of conservation and development. Proponents of decentralized conservation claim that it increases management efficiency, enhances the responsiveness to local needs, and promotes greater equity among local residents. This study assessed local equity by evaluating the levels of dependencies on natural resources among households and the factors affecting that dependency. Data were collected via detailed surveys among 205 randomly selected households within the KCAP. Natural resource dependency was evaluated by comparing the ratio of total household income to income derived from access to natural resources. Economic, social, and access-related variables were employed to determine potential significant predictors of dependency. Overall, households were heavily dependent on natural resources for their income, especially households at higher elevations and those with more adult members. The households that received remittances were most able to supplement their income and, therefore, drastically reduced their reliance on the access to natural resources. Socio-economic variables, such as land holdings, education, caste, and ethnicity, failed to predict dependency. Household participation in KCAP-sponsored training programs also failed to affect household dependency; however, fewer than 20% of the households had any form of direct contact with KCAP personnel within the past year. The success of the KCAP as a decentralized conservation program is contingent on project capacity-building via social mobilization, training programs, and participatory inclusion in decision making to help alleviate the dependency on natural resources.     

Fishing Farmers or Farming Fishers? Fishing Typology of Inland Small-Scale Fishing Households and Fisheries Management in Singkarak Lake, West Sumatra, Indonesia

Technical and socio-economic characteristics are known to determine different types of fishers and their livelihood strategies. Faced with declining fish and water resources, small-scale fisheries engage into transformations in livelihood and fishing practices. The paper is an attempt to understand these changes and their socio-economic patterns, in the case of Singkarak Lake in West Sumatra, Indonesia. Based upon the hypothesis that riparian communities have diverse, complex yet structured and dynamic livelihood systems, the paper’s main objective is to study, document and model the actual diversity in livelihood, practices and performance of inland small-scale fisheries along the Singkarak Lake, to picture how households are adapted to the situation, and propose an updated, workable model (typology) of those for policy. Principal component analysis and cluster analysis were used to develop a typology of fishing households. The results show that small-scale fishers can be classified into different types characterized by distinct livelihood strategies. Three household types are identified, namely “farming fishers” households (type I, 30 %), “fishing farmers” households (type II, 30 %), and “mainly fishers” households (type III, 40 %). There are significant differences among these groups in the number of boats owned, annual fishing income, agriculture income and farming experience. Type I consists of farming fishers, well equipped, with high fishing costs and income, yet with the lowest return on fishing assets. They are also landowners with farming income, showing the lowest return on land capital. Type II includes poor fishing farmers, landowners with higher farming income; they show the highest return on land asset. They have less fishing equipment, costs and income. Type III (mainly fishers) consists of poorer, younger fishers, with highest return on fishing assets and on fishing costs. They have little land, low farming income, and diversified livelihood sources. The nature of their livelihood strategies is discussed for each identified group. This helps to understand the complexity and diversity of small-scale fishers, particularly in the study area which is still poorly known. This paper concludes with policy implication and possible management initiatives for environmentally prudent policy aiming at improvement of fishers’ livelihood.     

Rural Households’ Attitude and Economic Strategies Toward the Conversion of Cropland to Forest and Grassland Program (CCFG): A Case Study in Qira,China

The Conversion of Cropland to Forest and Grassland Program (CCFG), which was initiated by the Chinese government in 1999, is a cropland retirement program with integrated objectives for ecological preservation and local development. The purpose of this article was to study the influencing factors of attitude and economic strategies in rural households toward the CCFG. Rural households’ knowledge, attitude and economic strategies toward the CCFG were investigated through a questionnaire survey in Qira, China. Influencing factors of attitude and strategies of households were analyzed using a logit model technique. The analysis indicated that household’s income level, environmental knowledge of the program, and program implementation were significant influencing factors in a household’s attitude toward the CCFG, while major influencing factors of household strategies were their regional background and availability of income generation sources. Meaningful association was not found between attitude and strategy choices. Rich households had more strategy choices, while poor households were usually confined to low input strategies with uncertain income. To sustain their livelihood, the poor need extra assistances in marketing, loan granting, employment training, information, and technical services.     

Controlling urban air pollution caused by households: uncertainty, prices, and income

We examine the control of air pollution caused by households burning wood for heating and cooking in the developing world. Since the problem is one of controlling emissions from nonpoint sources, regulations are likely to be directed at household choices of wood consumption and combustion technologies. Moreover, these choices are subtractions from, or contributions to, the pure public good of air quality. Consequently, the efficient policy design is not independent of the distribution of household income. Since it is unrealistic to assume that environmental authorities can make lump sum income transfers part of control policies, efficient control of air pollution caused by wood consumption entails a higher tax on wood consumption and a higher subsidy for more efficient combustion technologies for higher income households. Among other difficulties, implementing a policy to promote the adoption of cleaner combustion technologies must overcome the seemingly paradoxical result that efficient control calls for higher technology subsidies for higher income households.     

资源、环境、生态的关系探讨及对自然资源管理的建议

资源、环境和生态是我国生态文明建设的三个关键词,也是地球系统科学的重要组成,但目前学术研究和政策制定上仍存在模棱两可的问题,给自然资源领域的科学发展和贯彻落实生态文明发展理念带来了潜在不利影响,明晰其各自概念边界具有重要理论价值和现实意义。本文在分析自然资源、自然环境和生态环境三者内涵的基础上,对比了国内外关注视角、问题和需求的差异,并根据各自特征属性尝试构建了三者关系及判别图解模型。主要结论为:(1)国内外对自然资源、自然环境和生态环境的关注视角、问题和需求存在显著差异,其关注视角分别为数量、质量和平衡状态,关注问题分别为枯竭、退化和破坏,而关注需求分别为节约、保护和恢复;(2)三个概念的相互关系可通过是否自然、是否有价值和是否生物相关三个属性进行判别,自然资源的本质为有价值的自然环境,与自然环境是包含与被包含的关系,生物相关的自然资源即是生态环境;(3)对自然资源管理提出了拓展调查研究内容、采用"资源环境"表述和对生态治理工程进行以生物多样性为重点的负面影响评价三方面的建议。     

北京清洁取暖政策实施效果及成本收益量化分析

我国北方农村地区居民普遍采用的散煤分户取暖是当地污染物排放和温室气体排放的重要来源。为加大散煤治理、推进清洁取暖,北京率先推行了清洁取暖政策。本研究基于北京市约4000户农村家庭的入户调查数据,对清洁取暖政策的实施效果进行系统性分析,并对"煤改电""煤改气"和"清洁燃煤替代"三种主要清洁取暖措施的成本和收益进行量化与对比分析。结果显示,"煤改电""煤改气"和"清洁燃煤替代"均增加了居民的取暖成本,但也普遍改善了居民取暖的主观感受;政策实施减少污染物排放所带来的环境和人体健康方面的收益均大于实施成本,增进了社会福利。其中,"煤改气"户均收益最高,而"清洁燃煤替代"户均成本最低。最后,本文在研究结果的基础上,对取暖政策的推行提出相应的政策建议。     

Connecting environmental management and farm household livelihoods: The Rural Environment Protection Scheme in Ireland

This paper presents the relationship between an environmental protection scheme, established in Ireland in 1994 under EU Regulation No. 2078/92, and the livelihoods of Irish farm households. It explores this relationship within the framework of the new policy environment for EU agriculture and rural areas as set out in Agenda 2000. At the centre of this new policy environment is the European model for agriculture, embodying the concept of multifunctionality, which recognizes the pivotal position of an evolving agricultural sector in enhancing the viability of rural areas through broadening the assets of farm families. Research undertaken with farm households in the west of Ireland indicates a positive relationship between the Rural Environmental Protection Scheme and the economic and natural assets upon which they build their livelihoods. The case of a small-scale dairy farm household is presented, showing clearly the positive impact of the scheme, while also highlighting the vulnerability of these improvements. A major challenge facing policy-makers is the extent to which acceptable levels of income and an enhanced natural environment on such farms can be sustained. The position of advisory and research institutions in strengthening human capacities on farms is highlighted and their enhanced role is suggested in order to give meaning to multifunctional and sustainable agriculture within the context of rural area viability. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Household-level preferences for mitigation of Prosopis juliflora invasion in the Afar region of Ethiopia: a contingent valuation

Prosopis juliflora, which is an alien tree species in Ethiopia, has invaded over 360,500 ha of land in the Afar region of the country and is threatening pastoral livelihoods. We conducted a contingent valuation study to assess rural households’ willingness to contribute in cash and labor to mitigate P. juliflora invasion in three districts of Afar. Results show that about 84% of the respondents prefer an intervention involving complete eradication of P. juliflora. The lower and upper bound median willingness to contribute to this intervention were 9.97 and 13.42 USD/household/year in cash and 30 and 43 days/household/year in labor. Off-farm income and P. juliflora invasion levels on pasturelands are among the factors affecting willingness to contribute to the mitigation of P. juliflora invasion. Incentives to local people and having a proper institutional setup that involves local culture and institutions are important for mobilizing people on a voluntary basis for mitigation of P. juliflora invasion.     

Energy transition in South and South-East Asia

Energy transition is the process whereby the volume and proportion of commercial energy increases so as to replace traditional fuels as the main energy source. In South and South-East Asia the extent to which this transition has taken place varies within and between countries. In general, in the urban areas, the process is more advanced than in rural areas. It is also more advanced in the larger towns than the smaller ones and more advanced within higher income groups. In rural areas industry is a large consumer of traditional energy and many rural peoples earn their livelihoods as suppliers of traditional energy to industry. For both economic and social reasons the transition process has been slower in rural households than in urban households. This must change as for much of the rural areas of South and South-East Asia, increasing population and increasing energy demand are creating pressures on the biomass which cannot be sustained.     

An Empirical Analysis of the Effects of China’s Land Conversion Program on Farmers’ Income Growth and Labor Transfer

In this article, we hypothesize that in addition to participation status and household characteristics, the impact of China’s Sloping Land Conversion Program on income growth and labor transfer is determined by local economic conditions, program range, and political leadership, and the degree of impact on income may vary among different economic sectors. To test these propositions, we have compiled a panel data set of 600 households in three counties in the Loess Plateau region, with observations for times both prior to and after the program’s inception (1999 and 2006), for both aggregate and categorical incomes, and for both participating and non-participating households. Using a difference in differences model and repeated cross-sectional data, we find that participation status, local economic conditions, program extent, and political leadership indeed have significant impacts on household income and off-farm employment. Moreover, the effects of participation on crop production income, animal husbandry income, and off-farm income vary substantially. These results carry major policy implications in terms of how to improve the effectiveness and impact of ecological restoration efforts in and outside of China.     

Key factors that influence households’ tree planting behaviour

Despite a decrease in indigenous forests and a growing demand for tree products in developing countries, tree planting activities are not considerably expanding in Tanzania. In this paper, we analyse factors that influence households’ tree planting behaviour, as well as the number of trees planted. Coast and Morogoro regions in the east of Tanzania were selected as the case, and data was gathered from 202 households in 11 villages in these regions where tree planting programmes have been or still are active. A Heckman model is used to analyse the factors that drive tree planting behaviour. Results indicate that households get wood energy from forest reserves (57%), in addition to their own planted trees (9.1%). Emperical findings show that the most important factors have significantly positive effects on households’ tree planting behaviour, as well as the extent to which it was implemented. These factors include households’ land sizes, households’ awareness of tree planting programmes, tree planting for wood energy, and the age of the head of the household. The right/freedom to harvest and transport tree products, households’ attitudes towards tree planting, and family size have significantly negative effects on households’ tree planting behaviour. This paper is perhaps the first comprehensive study to analyse the factors that influence households’ tree planting behaviour in Tanzania, and it uncovers results that are useful, even for other developing countries with similar conditions.     

The role of economic invisibility in development: veiling women's work in rural Pakistan

The thesis in this article is that both women's work and its invisibility are essential to development, and at two levels: to the economy of rural households and to the wider development process. For rural households, the case of Pakistan suggests that the veils that conceal women's work shield a portion of household production from the risks and extractions inherent in their involvement with development. This shielded production depends on off-farm natural resources of which the use is also veiled. For States and other development interests, the author suggests that women's work constitutes a subsidy which is intentionally invisible. The subsidy of women's labour is linked to a forest-to-farm subsidy. Women's invisible work, in other words, is not invisible because it is not seen, but because the process of economic development—for both rural households and States and other development actors—requires that it be hidden.