Role of leasehold forestry in poverty alleviation: a case

of Hadikhola VDC, Makwanpur District

Advisory Committee

N. P. Gupta (Chairman)

S. N. Tiwary (Member)

N. R. Devkota, PhD. (Member)

Presenter

Kanchan Joshi

M. Sc. Ag. (Extension) 2006

IAAS, Rampur, Chitwan

“Kandaghari ka” kabuliyati ban

Introduction

Before mid 70s, people ignored in forest

management

Participatory forest management

concept developed in 1978

Community forestry policy formed

(1978)

Introduction (Contd.)

Government’s top priority CF

Limited positive impact of CF in livelihood

of poor

CBLF Policy formulated in 1991, to

address the poverty issues

NPC declared LF as a priority program for

poverty alleviation in hills in 1998

Introduction (contd.)

Concept of leasehold forestry (Contd.)

Leasing degraded forestland to poor

communities on 40-year lease basis

Group of 5-10 people having 0.5 ha of private

family land, and an annual income of US $ 45

2nd highest priority in forest policy act

DOF, DOLS, ADB/N, NARC and IFAD

Implemented in 30 hill districts

Statement of the problem

- Poverty wide spread on hills

- High dependency on forest

products

causing overexploitation

- Equity & justice aspects ignored in

CF

- Lack of adequate information –new

concept

Rationale of the study

Poverty alleviation, major issue for devt.

Leasehold forestry – tool of poverty

alleviation

In LF, forest assets redistributed to

poor

Emphasis on fodder and livestock mgmt.

HLFFDP focus on forage prod. to

increase income by livestock

Emphasis on women

Deforestation affect them more

Their involvement make devt.

sustainable

Research objectives

Determine levels of HH income generation from HLFFDP,

determine the relationship between HLFFDP, livestock

raising and forage production activities,

assess the status of poverty situation of the lessees',

analyse the impact of HLFFDP on women's overall

development (focusing on household decision-making),

assess the role of HLFFDP in reducing work burden of

men and women in line with livestock management, and

identify problems and benefits of LF

Map of Nepal-study area

Study Area

Map of study site

MethodologyStudy site: Hadikhola VDC, Makwanpur district

Number of LFUGs (population): 31 groups (204 HHs)

Sample size: 100 lessee + 37 non lessee = 137 respondents

Sampling technique – purposive sampling

Data collection procedures

Secondary information

PRA

Household survey

Data analysis

simple descriptive statistics (mean/percentage),

regression analysis, lorenz curve and Gini ratio

Paired & independent sample mean test

Major findings

Socio-demographic characteristics

Avg. family size – 6.51 (lessee) & 4.86 (non lessee)

Major occupation – Agriculture (84.67 %)

Major caste group – Brahmin and Chhetri

Economically active population – 62.09 %

Avg. land size – 0.49 ha (lessee), 0.40 ha (non lessee)

Major findings (Contd.)

Average income of the lessees

increased

Before project: NRs. 10,609.00

After project: NRs. 46818.25**

(t = -10.626, df = 99, ** = Significant at 1 % p-levels)

Major findings (Contd.)

However, income inequality do exist

Gini coefficient = 0.39

(where, 0=perfect equity, 1= max.

inequality)

Lorenz curve for distribution of gross income per HH of the lessees

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100cumulative percent of the households

cum

ulat

ive

perc

ent

of in

com

e

Income Line of equality

Major findings (Contd.)

Livestock

type

Lessees Non lessees

Before project During survey During

survey

Avg. LSU

(S.d.) 3.96 (3.28) 5.23** (3.18) 3.87 (2.06)** Highly significant at 1 percent p-levels (t-test)

LSU = 1 (cow/bull) + 1.5 (buffalo) + 0.4 (goat/sheep) + 0.6 (swine/pig) + 0.2 (poultry)

Table 3. Average livestock size of respondent HHs

Average Livestock Unit increased after project

Major findings (contd.)

Exotic forage species introduced

Forage sufficiency increased (1%-96%)

Stall feeding adopted (a/c to 92%

respondents)

Work burden reduced and time saved

Avg. time saved in fodder collection –

4.083 hrs

Major findings (contd.)

Time reallocated in veg. farm and livestock

rearing

86 % reported increase in food sufficiency

Different trainings given by HLFFDP

Capacity enhanced, confidence built up

Women empowered and decision making capacity

increased – improving their quality of life

Major findings (contd.)Table 6. Decision making process in access to and

control over income of lessees in the study area

Decision by Before projectFreq. (%)

At presentFreq. (%)

Only male 63 (63.0) 29 (29.0)

Only female 6 (6.0) 10 (10.0)

Both 31 (31.0) 61 (61.0)

Total 100 (100.0) 100 (100.0)

Source: field survey, 2006

Major findings (Contd.)

Major problem in the LF

- Illegal grazing (78.0 %)

- Encroachment (53.0 %)

- Land slide (34.0 %)

- Flood (23.0 %)

Flood and land slide affected leasehold forest land

Major findings (Contd.)

All respondents reported to be benefited

by the HLFFDP

Table 7. Benefits of leasehold forestry perceived by

sampled lessee households.Benefits Yes No No

responseTotal

Exposure to outer world 95 5 - 100 (100.0)

Increased income 97 3 - 100 (100.0)

Easy collection of fodder and fuelwood

100 0 0 100 (100.0)

Increased access to and control over the forest resources

97 2 1 100 (100.0)

Training opportunities 90 - 10 100 (100.0)

Increased social status 93 - 7 100 (100.0)

Conclusions

Average income increased of lessees but

inequality did exist

Reduction in work burden, opening new scope for

improving social & financial status of lessees due

to save in time E.g.: Livestock activities &

commercial veg. cultivation increased

Fodder easily available - preference shifted from

cow to buffalo, buck to castrated male goat

Conclusions (contd.)

Food security improved due to project

activities

Women’s decision making capacity

increased

Hence, in overall poverty situation

decreased.

Recommendations

Regular supervision needed

Special package program focusing to poorest HHs

needed to improve their financial status (site

specific)

Lessees doubted about future access to and

control over the forest produces, legal framework

needed

Should address difficulties in transfer and

inheritance of leased land

Recommendations (Contd.)

Co-operative and micro-financial activity

weak, need of improvement

Govt. should harmonize leasehold concept

in CF for sustainable forest mgmt. as

forest access is important to others as

well

Advisory committeeFunding agency – Winrock Nepal, DLGSP-UN NepalRespondents

Friends and Colleagues Rehabilitated leasehold siteLine Agencies Swami ko kholsi, Hadikhola - 6