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Local investment is much higher than the development aid
The data from three districts, where Swiss funded Nepal Swiss
Community Forestry Project (NSCFP) was launched, show that the cost borne
by community forestry user groups was almost 71 percent of the total cost,
the donors’ and government’s share was only 16 percent and 13 percent
respec� vely. Government of Nepal spent, on average, an addi� onal NRs 7.5
million per year per district on salaries and wages of its staff and on some
programme ac� vi� es. A conserva� ve es� mate suggests that 50 percent of
staff � me is put into community forestry in the project districts. That comes
to NRs 3.75 million per district or NRs16000 per community group.
Community members, on the other hand, have contributed to community
forestry in two ways. Community Forest User Groups, for example, have
invested an es� mated NRs 76500 per year per group in labour, as opportunity
cost in wages a� ending commi� ee mee� ngs, assemblies and for forest
protec� on 2 . This is equivalent to NRs 850 per hectare of community forest
per year 3 and NRs1.8 Crores per district. Community Forest User Group
members spent around 25 percent of their cash fund on forest development
ac� vi� es. This is equivalent to an average of NRs 2500 per group per year.
Groups spent a further 36 percent of their fund on community development
ac� vi� es like drinking water supply, school buildings, temples and trails. This
comes to NRs 5500 investment per group. It is clear from the analysis that if
community groups pull out from community forestry, government will have
to fi nd about 1.8 Crores NRs per year for one hill district to pay for labour
inputs and forest development ac� vi� es. VDCs and other government service
providers will also have to fund other community development ac� vi� es
that are currently being undertaken by community forest user groups.
Table 6.2: The Costs of Community Forestry (per community forest user
group per year)
Contributor NRs %
Development aid from donors 18,600 16
Government of Nepal 16,000 13
Community groups (labour) 76,500 64
Community groups (cash for forest development) 2,500 2
Community groups (cash used for community development) 5,500 5
Total
Adapted from Pokharel et al. 2008
1,19,100 100
2. Assump� ons: shadow wage rate of NRs 100 per day; investment of forest watcher (365
person days per year); assembly mee� ngs (200 person days per year); commi� ee mee� ngs
(60 person days per year), tole mee� ngs (40 days per year), tending opera� ons (100 days
per year). Person days are calculated on the basis of mee� ngs of 5-6 hours for assemblies
and 2-3 hours for commi� ee members. The es� mate does not include costs some FUGs
incur for forest regenera� on (nursery and planta� on development).
3. There is an average CF of 90 ha per FUG in Dolakha, Ramechhap and Okhaldhunga.
Changing paradigms of aid eff ec� veness in Nepal 117