TITLE:
Contribution of Dry Forest Products to Household Income and Determinants of Forest Income Levels in the Northwestern and Southern Lowlands of Ethiopia
AUTHORS:
Busha Teshome, Habtemariam Kassa, Zerihun Mohammed, Christine Padoch
KEYWORDS:
Gender, Gums and Resins, Fire Wood, Forest Management, Livelihoods, Wealth Category
JOURNAL NAME:
Natural Resources,
Vol.6 No.5,
May
4,
2015
ABSTRACT: Dry forests are dominant vegetation types in East Africa. The contribution of these resources to local livelihoods is poorly understood. This study was conducted to quantify the contribution of dry forest products to household income and to identify factors that influence forest income level in the northwestern and southern lowlands of Ethiopia. Data was collected using key informant interviews, focus group discussions and formal survey administered to 428 randomly selected households from representative districts in three regional states. Regression analysis, one way ANOVA, chi-square and t-tests were used to analyze the quantitative data. The major sources of household income are crop production, livestock farming, forest products, off- and non-farm activities, and remittances and aid, contributing respectively to 46.3%, 27.6%, 17.0%, 6.3% and 2.8% of the household income. The relative importance of forest income to total household income varied significantly across wellbeing categories (P