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Non-timber forest product dependency in the Central Himalayan foot hills

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Abstract

Rural households throughout the Himalayas are regarded as dependent on non-timber forest products (NTFPs), but very few studies have quantified this dependency. This case study, undertaken in two villages in the Central Himalayan foot hills in Nepal, documents the absolute and relative importance of commercial NTFPs to rural household economies. Data were collected in a one-year period and included interviews with 250 households using a semi-structured questionnaire and monthly interviews with four sub-local NTFP traders, two local traders and two central wholesalers. The conservative estimate of NTFP-derived cash income showed this to be a cornerstone in poorer household livelihood strategies and thus in poverty prevention. An annual average of 578 kg of commercial NTFPs was collected in the wild per household, providing poorer households with a cash income share of 44–78%. Better off households are not NTFP dependent but rely on income from crop production and livestock. Based on a net marketing margin analysis, showing that harvesters capture a large share of the Indian wholesaler price, it is argued that there is scope for pursuing NTFP-based strategies for poverty reduction through leasehold forestry and agroforestry. Both these options are compatible with conserving forest cover and forest corridor functions and may thus present a win–win scenario for livelihood improvement and conservation.

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Acknowledgments

We are indebted to the many farmers and traders who participated in the research. Helle Larsen provided useful comments to the draft manuscript. The study was financed by the Faculty of Life Sciences at University of Copenhagen and the Russell E. Train Fellowship, WWF-US.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Forest, Landscape and Planning, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Rolighedsvej 23, 1958, Frederiksberg C, Denmark

    Carsten Smith-Hall & Finn Helles

  2. House no. 2111 “Kha”, Pasanglhamu Marg, Ward no 6 Bauddha, Mahankal, Kathmandu, Nepal

    Arun Rijal

Authors
  1. Arun Rijal
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  2. Carsten Smith-Hall
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  3. Finn Helles
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Correspondence to Carsten Smith-Hall.

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Readers should send their comments on this paper to BhaskarNath@aol.com within 3 months of publication of this issue.

Appendix

Appendix

See Table 5.

Table 5 Amount and value of traded non-timber forest products, upper Chitwan District, 2001–2002
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Rijal, A., Smith-Hall, C. & Helles, F. Non-timber forest product dependency in the Central Himalayan foot hills. Environ Dev Sustain 13, 121–140 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-010-9252-x

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