Contribution of Forestry to Poverty Alleviation - APFNet

Livelihood situation after concession period
Based on the commune’s poverty data, the poverty rate in Reaksmei Samaki was reduced from 50.1%
in 2004 to 42.4% in 2009. This shows that during these five years, when local communities in Reaksmei
Samaki commune had free access to forest resources to earn money for their family, the poverty rate
decreased by 7.69%. Now, many households in the commune own vehicles or machinery, such as
motorcycles, oxcarts, or power tillers they can use to bring their NWFPs (firewood and charcoal)
and agricultural products to the market. NWFPs provide additional income and have allowed some
households to improve their houses.
Mr. Lon Yan, a charcoal producer in Reaksmei Samaki commune, said that his family did not have the
money before to buy a power tiller that they could use to transport charcoal from the forest to the village
or market. He needed to pay for the cost of about CR 50,000 (US$ 12.5) for each trip to bring charcoal
from the forest to his house. Using his income from forest resources, he was able to buy a power tiller
and he can now save what he would spend before on the rent of a power tiller to transport his charcoal
to the market and can find buyers who offer a good price for his product.
Challenges and recommendations
With the forest increasingly degraded yearly, charcoal producers need to go far from the village to gather
or cut trees. For example, one charcoal producer related that in 2004, his family would rely on cutting
trees behind his house to make charcoal. Now, he needs to go as far as 10 km to get trees for his kiln.
People are cutting trees illegally for firewood and charcoal production, which threatens sustainable forest
use. The road that the government and the Lutheran World Federation organization developed connects
the villages to the markets, allowing local households who own a car or power tiller to transport their
firewood and charcoal products on their own to markets to get higher prices than they would otherwise
get by selling to middlemen in the commune who offer lower prices. However, the road also seems to
be contributing to forest degradation as traditional use of forest resources is gradually being replaced by
commercial illegal tree-cutting activities by some local people.
Some households that have abandoned their agricultural lands and now collect forest products live
a hand-to-mouth existence. There are community members who borrowed money from traders or
middlemen to buy motorcycles or power tillers to transport their firewood and charcoal. This did not
improve their livelihoods and instead they are faced with food insecurity and debts with increasing
interest charges.
Three ELC companies cover almost half of the total land area in the Reaksmei Samaki commune.
According to the commune chief, the concessions overlap with the villagers’ agricultural lands. The
villagers filed their complaint with the court to protect their claim to their land.
Results from the study show that forests can make a significant contribution to the welfare and livelihoods
of local households in Reaksmei Samaki commune. Poverty reduction and gender equity also need
to be understood and resolved at the political level, and integrated in SFM. To ensure sustainable
use of forest resources in Reaksmei Samaki, establishing community forests should be explored with
active participation from the communities in the commune for them to gain control over the forest
resources and land tenure. The socio-economic and governance context of community forest resource
use is as important to the contribution of forests to local poverty reduction as the nature of the local
forest resource. The local forester of the Tasal Forestry Administration Triage recommended that the
participatory approach to the management of the forests in the commune by local communities and
other stakeholders is necessary.
Outlook for Forestry and Poverty Alleviation
There is a need to optimize the contribution of forests and the forestry sector to poverty alleviation and
to the economy through enhanced forest management and technology. The majority of the population
depends on access to forest products, especially for food, fuelwood, small-scale timber and pole
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