The livelihood potential of non-wood forest products: The case of Mbooni Division in Makueni District, Kenya |
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Authors: | Dorcas Mbuvi Emmanuel Boon |
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Institution: | (1) Maastricht Graduate School of Governance, Universiteit Maastricht, Maastricht, The Netherlands;(2) Human Ecology Department, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Laarbeeklaan 103, 1090 Brussels, Belgium |
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Abstract: | Forestry is a productive sector with significant effects on meeting national socio-economic and environmental functions as
well as the improvement of rural livelihoods. Non-wood forest products (NWFPs) in particular have been widely advocated by
conservation and development organisations as potential alternative livelihood strategies, particularly among vulnerable forest
dependant households. Like in most tropical countries, NWFPs are relevant in the sustainable development of Kenya that is
particularly endowed with important forest resources. Kenya hosts about 17 million ha of forested land (about 3.51% of the
total Sub-Saharan Africa forest cover by 2000), of which about 16,865,000 ha is under natural forest (EarthTrends: Forests,
grasslands and drylands, 2003). Outside the gazetted forests, there are other large tracks of forests in trust lands, including
national parks and reserves, hill forest reserves and privately owned lands covering about 0.5 million ha (Kenya’s forest
resource assessment in the EC-FAO Partnership Programme Report, 2000; The Kenya Forests Act, 2005). Woodlands, bushlands and
wooded grasslands, mainly found in the arid and semi-arid lands cover 37.6 million ha, while forest plantations (started in
1946) cover about 170,000 ha of land (The Kenya forestry master plan, 1994–2020, 1994). In most NWFPs endowed regions of the
country however, this socio-economic and environmental potential is still unrealized. We illustrate the latter by a case study
of NWFPs use and management in four villages in Mbooni Division of Makueni District, Kenya. The division was chosen because
of its relatively high NWFPs availability, particularly from South Mbooni forest that is located at a distance less than 5 km
for an estimated 80% of the interviewed households. Data used for the analysis was collected through a fieldwork survey carried
out on women (35+ years) in August, 2005. One hundred and sixty (160) NWFPs are harvested (from plant and animal species)
and used mainly for food, income generation (supplemental) and medicinal purposes. A number of challenges limit women’s enjoyment
of the full benefits from NWFPs exploitation, the overriding problem being their inadequacy (in quantity and/or quality).
In this paper we discuss these commonly utilized and managed NWFPs plant species in Mbooni and their potential contribution
to improved livelihoods and sustainable development in Mbooni, Kenya and Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) in general. |
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