Non-Timber Forest Products Could Alleviate Rural Poverty

Non-Timber Forest Products Could Alleviate Rural Poverty

Ghana - 31 October, 2016

A critical analysis of Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) within the context of Ghana has revealed that they can play an important role in rural poverty alleviation instead of merely serving as a safety net for rural farmers as they are presently being utilised.

However, this feat can only be made possible if a premium is placed on NTFPs by promoting co-governance in products such as the bush meat trade. There is therefore the need to research into NTFPs’ value chains such as their production, collection, processing, storage, transport, marketing, and sale to tap into their full potential as a sustainable livelihood venture.

This was contained in a presentation delivered by Dr. Mrs Mercy Derkyi, a lecturer at the University of Energy and Natural Resources in Ghana and a beneficiary of TBI Ghana’s scholarships for professionals in the forestry sector to further their education.

Mushroom sellers, Odumasi-Konongo.JPG
Dr. Mrs Mercy Derkyi giving her presentation during the symposium

She was speaking at a symposium in Kumasi on October 13 to mark the end TBI Ghana’s five-year phase. The presentation sought among other things to identify prevailing gaps in forest livelihood research.

Dr. Derkyi said globally, NTFPs such as food items, medicinal plants, bush meat, forage and fibre play an important socio-economic role at subsistence and commercial levels as well as for their cultural and spiritual values. However, in Ghana, while they do provide cash and non-cash income for forest fringe communities, they function merely as safety nets and gap fillers in times of emergency and low agricultural productivity instead of as a potential route out of poverty.

She said forest based poverty alleviation can be in two forms; poverty mitigation under which forest resources merely meet subsistence needs, fulfil a safety net function in times of emergency or gap filler in seasonal periods of low income or as a tool for poverty eradication where it helps lift rural households out of poverty by functioning as a means of savings, investments, capital accumulation, asset building, and lasting increases in income and wellbeing.

She noted that forest resources in Ghana are plagued by a myriad of problems that militate against their effective governance and undermine their contribution to the country’s development.

Mushroom sellers, Odumasi-Konongo.JPG

These problems include inadequate incentives for forest communities engaged in forest resource management, inadequate exploration of opportunities for improving forest employment, and more importantly, a lack of proper analysis of forest-dependent livelihoods resulting in deficient decision making which has resulted in the inefficient use of NTFPs. This hinders their promotion as assets for livelihood improvement.

Furthermore, inherent conflicts in livelihood activities relating to forest and tree resources, illicit use of forest resources, restricted access coupled with competing claims that undermine their importance to forest dwellers and the nation have created an unfavourable governing system that poses serious challenges to the forestry sector.

Dr. Derkyi undertook her doctoral studies at the University of Amsterdam with sponsorship from TBI Ghana. Her thesis entitled ‘Fighting over Forests: Interactive Governance of Conflicts over Forest and Tree Resources in Ghana’s High Forest Zone’.
 

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Fighting over forest – Interactive governance of conflicts over forest and tree resources in Ghana's high forest zone

Conflicts over forests and trees are the order of the day in Ghana’s high forest zone. This not only adversely affects local people’s livelihoods but also complicates good forest governance. Conflict management should therefore be recognised as a key building block of forest governance, argues Mercy Derkyi in her PhD thesis.

Mercy Derkyi argues that the complexity and dynamics of forest use and management inevitably lead to conflicts. For a proper understanding of these conflicts and the ways in which they can be managed, the researcher used a rich blend of theories on interactive governance, political ecology, conflicts, conflict management and forest-related livelihoods.

Governance challenges
Derkyi investigated conflicts under eight different forest governance regimes. She found that unresolved forest tenure issues – some of which date back to colonial times – impede the proper implementation of national forest policy. Hierarchical governance – a top-down style of state-citizen relationship – prevails despite national policy initiatives which are intended to embrace more participatory approaches. According to Derkyi, traditional authorities play a crucial role in conflict management at the community level. Failure to recognise this role means that opportunities for conflict management are not used to their full potential. The researcher also analysed forest-related judgements and found that legal sanctions are not strictly applied. This, together with low fines for forest offences, suggests that some forest laws in Ghana exist principally on paper. Derkyi calls for more effective cooperation between the Forestry Commission (FC), the Police Service and the Judicial Service to improve forest law enforcement. She also advocates a reform of the judiciary system in a way that recognises the importance of forest offences, while decriminalising the use of forest resources to meet livelihood needs. The feasibility and desirability of giving a prosecution mandate to the FC needs to be explored in more detail.

The need to prevent exclusion
The study demonstrates – and this is of particular relevance for efforts by the national and international community to strengthen forest governance – that current initiatives designed to protect forests more effectively tend to restrict the livelihood options of forest fringe communities. Particular attention is needed to ensure that initiatives, such as the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) to combat illegal logging under the Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Action Plan of the European Union and Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation plus (REDD+), do not lead to further exclusion of forest fringe communities.

Recommendations
Derkyi makes a case for the integration of non-violent conflict management strategies into forest policy and management as a key to ensuring better forest governance. This requires a specialised unit for forest conflict management within the Forestry Commission which could be integrated in the Legal Division at the FC headquarters. In addition, the conflict management capability of frontline staff such as forest guards, district managers and (where applicable) customer service officers should be enhanced, as well as those of community leaders and timber operators. Finally, Derkyi calls for the embracing of interactive forest governance principles as a new governance culture. However, she believes that the most important thing is the simple recognition among all forest actors that conflict management is a key building block of forest governance and effective forest management.