chainsaw milling and lumber trade in west africa project

OUTPUT 1A decision support system that indicates where and when in the West Africa chainsawlogging and chainsaw milling are appropriately (socially, economically and ecologically)developed;Activity 1.2 is to have a timeframe of two weeks, within which the socio-economists andecologists are to evaluate the social, economic and ecological impacts of chainsaw logging andmilling as compared to traditional industrial logging and fixed-saw milling. The lawyer andpolicy expert in the team they should also examine the legal, policy and regulatory provisionsthat govern access to legal and illegal timber and the constraints to their implementation.For activity 1.3 the resource economist should ensure that quantitative description of thenational annual lumber production by the chainsaw outfits and traditional sawmills areadequately provided for Cameroon and Ghana.A three member working team developed a structured questionnaire for this activity (SeeAnnex1-4). University of Aberdeen is to review the experimental design and protocols for dataanalysis. As part of the activity a frame work for data analysis and interpretation should bedeveloped within a week by the University of Aberdeen. To ensure the completion of theactivity on schedule regular working meetings are to be convened by team leaders in eachcountry to review information collated. The annotated bibliography should help to understandthe main factors influencing the social, economic and ecological sustainability of chainsawtimber production in the various countries.This activity will be concluded with discussion seminars to be held at the three respectivehome countries. This is expected to come off in the second week of January 2006 after a focusgroup discussion to be held in December, 2005.OUTPUT 2An assessment of the structure and characteristics of corruption that undermines theregularization of chainsaw timber production and equitable distribution of benefits andidentification of anti-corruption tools that could be used to control timber harvest andchainsaw millingWith a competent activity leader, the structure of corruption in the forestry sector generally isto be described. This should be done first through the identification of all potentialstakeholders.To facilitate the characterization of corruption and selection of anti-corruption tools for theforestry sector, certain key institutions like Ghana Institute of Manpower and Administration(GIMPA), Transparency International (TI), are to be brought on board.

Activity report should be produced and disseminated by 16 th December 2005. Corruption toolkits developed should be publicised through the various media. Advertisements are to beincluded in the dissemination strategy.OUTPUT 3Provide guidance on the transition from current state necessary and sufficient for chainsawlogging and milling to be legalized.The activities under this output are essentially to be carried out by the core team members fromthe three participating countries. The team should congregate in Ghana for the workingmeeting. Relevant stakeholders and policy makers are to be consulted through personalcontacts, telephone calls and by e-mails. A possibility of holding radio conferencing should beconsidered.It is agreed that, since the project has a trans-boundary implications, it should be given a widerpublicity by not limiting participation in the end of project seminar to only partner countries,but also inviting key Forestry, Environmental, Agriculture and Judicial officers, as well aslegislature from other West African countries with high forest. In this case, the project couldtake care of their boarding and lodging while their home organizations pay for their travellingcost. This seminar is expected to take place fro the 19 th -20 th January 2006.A half-day dissemination workshop should be held latest 31 stparticipating countries.January 2006 in the three

OUTPUT123TABLE 1: SCHEDULE OF ACTIVITIES AND RESPONSIBILITIACTIVITY1.11.21.31.41.51.6(a)-Focus Group1.6(b)- All Groups1.71.82.12.22.33.13.23.3TIME FRAME ACTIVITY LOCATION AND LEADER(Completed By) UA CAMEROON GHANA NIGERIA18 th Nov. --K A Adam30 th Nov.To be provided K A Adam10 th DecTo be provided L Damnyag23 rd Nov. M A PinardL Damnyag12 th Dec.Meeting in Ghana31 st DecTo be provided K A Adam14 Jan 06To be provided K A AdamFebruaryK A Adam3 rd Wk Jan 06K A Adam16 Dec 0516 Dec 0514 Jan 0611 th Jan 0620 th Jan 06February 06M A PinardMAPM A PTo be provideBFBFK S NketiahK S NketiahK A AdamWorking meting inGhana-KAD/LP/BFKAD-To be providedTo be providedTo be providedTo be providedTo be providedTo be providedTo be providedTo be providedLPLP

METHODOLOGIES:Sampling Sites for field studiesFor possible variation in ecological impact due to chainsaw milling it was noted that samplesites should be based on the main forest types in each country. So field studies must beconducted in all the various ecological zonesNIGERIA: In the light of the variation in federal and state laws governing chainsaw lumberand the variation in environmental impact due to vegetation type, the study will be carried outin the south/west, savannah and the Cross River State to give a fair representation of vegetationtypes and state laws some of which allow or disallow chain-sawingGHANA: The field studies will be carried out in Kade, Techiman, Goaso and Nkawie forestDistrict. These areas have varying records of illegal timber and chainsaw milling operations.For instance Techiman serves as exist for movement of timber to the savannah zones and theSahelian countries of Bourkina Faso, Mali and Niger. Kade district is notorious for illegallogging.CAMEROON: ABSENT. The project leader is to contact him as soon as possible.BUDJECT:It was presumed that since FORIG is the main client to the contractual agreement with DFID, itis expected that a sub-contract will be signed between FORIG and the other collaborators.Clarification and further directives on this issue has to be sought from NRI. If this presumptionproves to be the case then we should expect delays in the transfer of funds to the othercollaborators. In event of this situation collaborators should work out local arrangements topre-finance the activities especially since we are working against time.CONCLUSION:Chainsaw operation needs to be regularized to ensure optimum benefit to all segments ofsociety. It is a requirement for all stakeholders to put fore their expertise to see this problemresolved.

ANNEX 1: {DRAFT}Household Survey Questionnaire for chainsaw and saw millingName of enumerator________________________________IntroductionGeneral information1. Name of district2 Name of village/community3 Name of head of household4 Household number5 Name of respondent6. Family informationNameRelationshipwith H/HAgeWorkawayfromhomeSexEducationPrimaryOccupationHow longhave youbeeninvolved inthis activityAnnualincomefromprimaryoccupationGender Code: Male ….1, Female…2Education code: Primary…1, Middle school…2, JSS..3, Secondary…4, JSS…5, SSS…6, Tertiary….7,University…8Primary occupation Code: agriculture…..1, hunting…2, timber…3, laborer…….4

No Questions and filters Coding categories SkipHousehold attributes7 Are you a native or settler in thisvillage/communitya. nativeb. settler farmer8 Before your primary occupation in Q 6 what didyou do previously9 How did you enter your present primaryoccupation in Q6c. other ( specify)a. farmingb. tradingc. tappinga. Own volitionb. through family memberc. through someone in thecommunityd. Learning through observationand trial and error.10 What type of experience have you (or anyone inyour household?) had with chainsaw loggingand lumbering11 Have you (or anyone in your household) hadany experience with large scale logging and/ ormilling companya. No experienceb. lumber carrier/porterc. Transporterd. Saw operatore. Lumber millerf. Chainsaw ownerg. Chainsaw mechanich. Othersa. logging companyb. Milling companyc. NoneAssets12 What type of land do you own/ work on a. Farm landb. Forest landc. Fallow landd. Land for buildinge. Sacred growthf. Others13 How much land do you own / work on14 What work equipment do own a. chainsawb. tractorc. vehicled. othersIndicate other livelihood assets that you have……a. cattleb. goat and sheepc. birds/fowlsd. rabbitse. corn milld. shop15 Do you have access to loans (financialassets/credits)a. Yesb. No

Social network16 Which associations or groups do you belong to a. Farmers associationb. Chainsaw operators associationc. Cooperative credit unionWhich traditional associations do youbelong to17 Do you (or does anyone in your household)participate in local governmenta. church associationb. Youth associationc. othersa. Yesb. NoHow closed are you to the assembly man inyour communityHow about the chief, how closed are you to him18 Is there any company doing logging in theforest near youa. Closeb. Not closec. Not on good termsd. Formal relation shipa. relativeb. closec. not closed. Not on good termsBenefits from large scale logging and millinga. Yesb. No19 Do you or any one in your household participatein this company logging activitya. Yesb. No20 If yes in 23, what role do you or yourhousehold member playa. skidder operatorb.21 If yes in 23 how are you employed a. Permanent employeeb. Casual laborer22 How much do you earn in this activity per monthper year23 What benefits does your household derive fromlarge scale logging activities in your areaa. employmentb. Social amenities (school, road,toilet, clinic, etc)c. Wood residued. Access to sawn timbere. Use of forest roadsf. Transportation on contractor’svehiclesg. othersCosts associated with the activities of large scale logging and milling near thevillage24 What costs or disadvantages does yourhousehold bear due to having large scalelogging and milling in your areaa. Conflicts,b. damage to crops,c. accidentsd. pollution (health)e. forest degradation

25 Indicate the social responsibility agreementbenefits that your community has derived fromsaw milling companies in your areaa. Schoolsb. roadsc. toiletsd. Not aware of SRAe. OthersBenefit from chainsaw milling26 Is there chainsaw (small scale) logging activityin the forest near you27 Do you or any one in your household participatein this chainsaw logging activity28 If yes in 24, what role do you or yourhousehold member play29 If yes in 24 how are you engaged30 How much did you earn in this activity the lasttimeHow much of the year are you engaged inchainsaw logging?31 For the past 3 months how many chainsawoperations have you been involved in32 What benefits does your household derive fromchainsaw activities in your areaa. Yesb. Noc. Don’t knowa. Yesb. Noa. Employmentb. Lumber for constructionc.Social Costs associated with small scale milling operations33 What costs or disadvantages does yourhousehold bear due to having large scalelogging and milling in your areaf. Conflicts,g. damage to crops,h. accidentsi. pollution (health)j. forest degradationk. scarcity of forest resourcesl. vandalism and breakdown oflaw and order34 Does it negatively impact on your agriculturalproduction?m.35 Has anyone in your household been injured?What suggestions do you have that can makechainsaw logging more socially acceptable orsustainable?a. Regularize the employmentopportunitiesb. Legalize the activity so people canwork without fear and pay their dueto governmentc. Give concessions and monitoroperatorsd. Ensure that farmers get their duecompensation to crop damage

Benefits from forest36 What ownership right to do you have to theforest and its products37 Where do you obtain your wood/buildingmaterials from38 In obtaining wood for building what difficultiesdo you facea. timber trees for commercialpurposesb. Timber trees for domestic usec. for NTFPd. No accessf. Othersa. chainsaw operatorsb. sawmillsc. Seized lumber from FSDOthersa. Transportationb. Permits processc. Scarcity of wood at sawmillsothers39. Indicate the age and the working conditions of the following equipment that you own in question 12Equipment age type conditionChainsawVehicleType code: Yamaha…1; Kawasaki…2, Honda…..3, Shtel….4; Suzuki…5; Others (specify)Condition code: Hardly breaks down…..1; breaks down sometimes….2; breaks frequently…..3; Not in workingcondition….4

40 Indicate quantities of forest resources you use and their monetary valueQty (units of measure) Unit price Total income/valueForest resource use Home use SaleWild vegetables (fresh/dried){local name)a. mushroom Bundle(fingers)/basketb.cWild fruitsa. cola nutsb.c.d.Other wild foodsa. zebra/antelope/rabbit Meat bundleb. dove Single birdc. mice Single moused.FirewoodBundleTruck loada. firewoodSmall & large carpentry itemsa. Cook stick oneb. Hoe handle onec. mortar oned. Pestle onee. Chewing stick bundleGrass and woven goodsa. sleeping mat oneb. crop basket onec. winnowing basket oneothersa.b.c.

ANNEX 2{DRAFT}Survey of chainsaw firms for improved productionIntroductionName of enumerator________________________________General information1. Name of district2 Name of village/community3 Name of Proprietor/manager/owner4 Name of respondent5 Type of business enterprise Sole proprietor/one man, family, partnership6. Attribute of firmEquipment Type age Condition of machineChainsawMeans of transportType chainsaw code: Yamaha…1; Kawasaki…2, Honda…..3, Shtel….4; Suzuki…5; others (specify)Condition code: Hardly breaks down…..1; breaks down sometimes….2; breaks frequently…..3; Not in workingcondition….4Type of transport code: Tractor….1, vehicle……2, Push truck…..2, head Porter…..37. Attribute of firmEmploymentEmployeesTotalNumberNumberMigrantsNumberNativeNumberCasualNumber PermanentNumber of years firm has been operating

No Questions and filters Coding categories SkipFirm attributes8 From question 7, indicate the sources of yourstart up capitala. Family resourcesb. Loan from bankc. Loan from money lenderd. Property salee. Funds from abroade. Others (specify)9 Indicate the association you belong to d. Farmers associatione. Traders associationf. Chain saw operatorsg. Others10 Does your firm share experiences/expertise withother chainsaw/ operators in your areaResource AttributeWhere do you usually cut your timber treese. Yesf. noa. Forest reserveb. Cocoa farmsc. Other Crop farmsd. Fallow lande. Others11 How do you select your trees for felling a. By tree ageb. Nearness to roadc. Accessibility in terms of terraind. Others12 What tree species do you fell Referto list13 What are the sizes of the different trees you fell Referto list14 How frequently is your work interrupted by lackof access to trees15 Over the time you have been operating haveyou noticed any change in access to trees16 What has been responsible for the change inquestion 15a. Most of the dry seasonb. Most working days, whereenforcement is heighteneda. yesb. noa. reduction of tree stockb. increase enforcementc. more operators in the businessd. othersCost of operation17. Indicate wages and the mode of payment to the various employees in your firmEmployees Mode of payment Amount paid Frequency of employmentForemanChainsaw operatorAssistant saw operator 1Assistant saw operator 2PorterCode for mode of payment: daily …..1, per operation ….2, Per volume of tree felled……3

18. Enumerate the cost involved in using the sawing machine in the last three monthscostamountCost of machinemaintenanceRunning/recurrent costTransport cost (by volume)On the whole how much does it cost you to extract one tree and sentto the buyer.Interest payment on loansPayment of sweetness (bribes)Compensation to farmersDrinks to traditional land owners (customs)20. Indicate factors that influence your extraction cost: a. distance to tree source, b. labour, c. weather conditions,d. law enforcement agency operations, e. others (specify)19. How much do you sell your produceProduce by specie123456Number ofpieces obtainedper treePrice per onebush cutlumber/piece(cedis)Size oflumber/pieceNo Questions and filters Coding categories Skip21 What problems do you encounter withgovernment22 What problems do you encounter with FSD23 What problems do you encounter with police24 What problems do you encounter with task force25 What assistance do you receive from politicians26 What assistance do you receive from chiefs andelders27 What conditions do you think should be createdto make chainsaw operations acceptable toeverybody

ANNEX 3: ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENTSurvey of operational efficiency and environmental impacts of chainsaw and sawmill industriesObservations per day Operational detailsa. Total hours worked per day m.How long have you been doing this workb. Distribution of operation time n. What did you do previouslyidle o. What other work do you dosearching for tree p. How did you get startedCleaning and preparing to cut q. How many days to you work in a monthFelling r. How trees do yo typical fell and mill during one working periodBucking s. How often do you experience breakdownmilling t. Where did you learn the skills requiredTransporting u. What do you do to ensure your safetyc. Dealing with the machine v. Do work at nightcleaning w. Have you had an accident beforesharpening z. Find out who the financiers areRepaire. Number of trees felled & millled per operation Scale of the industryf. Other products harvested in the course of operation 1.Number of chainsaw machines in the communityobservations per tree selected 2.Quantity of chainsaw lumber in the local marketa. Specie of tree selected 3.Number of chainsaw lumber markets in one distictb. Size 4.How much lumber do you receive per weekDBH 5.How much lumber do sell per weekHeight 6. What quantity of chainsaw lumber is in the marketQuality of stem 7. what quantity of sawmill lumber is in the marketc. Find out how the tree was selected: Is it by measuring,observation etc8. What is the unit price of chainsaw lumber in the market (Do byspecie and given specification)d. Time taken to fell the tree9. What is the unit price of sawmill lumber in the market (do it byspecie and given specification)

e. Volume of the log to be converted10 Direct revenue accruing to forest authority through license andstumpage paid by chainsaw operators11.Direct revenue accruing to forest authority through license andf. Time taken to convert log to lumberstumpage paid by sawmill operators with the forest districtg. Volume of log left as wasteh. Volume of boards obtained after conversion Measures of efficiencyi. Extent of opening in forest to conduct and extract (distance &width of clearing 1. Interest rates of loan taken for one operationJ. Number of nearby trees damaged or killed 2. wage paymentK. Extent of soil damaged (area of soil exposed) 3.Opportunity cost of family members and proprietorL. Extent of roading (width and length from main to road 4. The firms fixed capital5. The firms working capitalMeasures to improve chainsaw operations 6. Total revenue after operationWhat are the priorities for change to make this moresustainable 7.Total cost of inputs into this operation8. Opportunity cost of lhired abour9. Opportunity cost of the capital used in the operation

ANNEX 4: TUDY PROTOCOLSMeeting at FORIG, Saturday 19 Nov 05 – Sampling protocolsEric, Lawrence, Charles, Michelle, Kwame1. What factors influence the prevalence of chainsaw milling in/near communities or the presenceof large scale logging and milling near communities?a. Status of the foresti. For example, protected, managed by FC, managed by Community, farmlandii. New innovation are community-owned forests where community holdsresponsibility for management with support of the FC, 2-4 in the Ashanti region,not yet harvestingb. Resource endowment or quality of the foresti. For example, western, central, eastern regionsc. Presence / absence of a large milld. Presence / absence of market to meet local timber requirementse. Attitudes by community members towards the forest resourcei. Level of collaboration between community and managerii. Level of compliance with protection authoritiesiii. Intensity of policing or enforcement of regulationf. Community awareness of their rights in relation to forest resources and experience inaccessing those rightsi. For example, Are they aware of the procedures specified in the SocialAgreement, procedures for making claimsii. Do they have experience making claims, the procedures can be verybureaucratic resulting in not much compensationiii. Are they aware of the permitting process that is in place for felling timber trees?iv. Do they have experience with the permit processv. Have they worked as a group to gain access to timber (e.g., to build a school)?g. Commitment of the Chief (and/or Assemblyman) to manage and protect the forestresourcei. Size of stool and structure of governance, is there a paramount chief that isable to capture revenueh. Commitment of the forestry agents to manage and protect the forest resourcei. FC staff, guards, range supervisor, district officerii. Support from the FC for local enforcement effortsiii. Intensity of policing or enforcement of regulationi. Presence of external threats to the forest resourcei. Migrant farmers clearing forest without rights to forest resources2. Implications for study designa. To get representative communities need to distribute sample sites near protectedforest, as well as FC managed forests, be sure to include sites where distance to largemill varies, where access to local market variesb. Need to include questions that capture e, f, g, and h abovec. Do we include Community managed forests as well? They are still relatively younginnovations and not so representative but may provide insights into conditions thatcould promote sustainability?d. Do we interview representatives from the migrant farmer community? If they havedifferent costs and benefits, and if they are an interesting or significant group, thenmaybe yes?3. Historical context in Ghana

a. In the 1980s, lots of Ghanaians returned to Ghana from overseas where they hadaccumulated capital, set up businesses in Ghana, now play a role in providing capital tosupport chainsaw milling firms, providing chainsaws, . . .4. Study of Chainsaw Milling Operators and Firmsa. Importance stressed of clearly stating the objective – recognise that we need twodifferent types of study here, one directed at the chainsaw milling firms and one that isdone in the field, focused on quantification of operational efficiency and environmentalimpactsi. We want to be able to determine if a change in policy and regulation willinfluence the profit margins of chainsaw millingb. Opportunity to go through the Chainsaw Association to identify a representative samplec. A study was conducted by Eric’s father as part of the ITTO project on Silviculture andEconomics in 2003 (?) that included data collection from a sample of operatorsinvolved in large-scale industrial logging in Kumasi – we could look here to see if thereare estimates of economic variables that we could use in a comparisond. Also Presteman and Laarman in world Forest Resource Management 1989, 4: 111-126that includes a comparison of chainsaw milling with large scale operations in Ecuador,includes useful set of variables related to economic efficiency, technical efficiency, . . .e. TIDD might be useful source of information5. How to determine national production? Sampling of marketsa. Repeated sampling of main markets, for volume and percentage of total volumeavailable sourced from chainsaw milling, sourced from sawmillsb. Number of suppliers this past week?c. How can we determine how December figures relate to those in other months of theyear?i. What is the seasonal variation in production and consumption?ii. Suggestion that a jump in consumption is associated with the period of timewhen family members return home (Sept-Nov)6. What factors influence the cost and benefits and their distribution within chainsaw milling firms?a. Scale (for large scale operations: small, medium, large): based on export volumes;staff strength; number and total area of concessionsb. Scale for chainsaw milling firmsi. number of machinesii. staff strengthiii. production (volume, regularity of production)c. resource availability, resource quality, locationi. resource rich, resource poord. market accessibility is unlikely to be constraint because the market is so hungry fortimbere. consider cropping systems in the locationi. e.g., where there are lots of cocoa farms find resource availablef. political contacts of the manager, entrepreneurial surveyi. how to determine this with an interview?ii. how many fines or how much have you paid in fines during the past twoweeks? Month?iii. have you ever been arrested for your activities?iv. need to triangulate by talking with secondary sources7. Implications for the sampling designa. Ensure that the sample of firms represents the variability in scale and incorporates thevariability in resource quality and resource availability, differences in cropping systemsas it relates to access to treesb. Need to be sure that the interviewing includes questions that reveal the politicalconnectedness of the manager or owner of the firmc. Want to include questions about safety, how do you ensure the safety of the peopleworking in the field?8. How will we be able to compare the above with large scale, conventional logging/milling firms?

9. Need to check to see if there are student projects that have examined some aspects of thecosts and benefits (e.g., safety and accidents) in the industry10. Check that the questions in the interviews will also contribute to our understanding of what isthe preferred state.11. tasksa. Kwame will sketch out the problem, dividing points up under different headings of socialproblems, ecological problems, economic problems, legal and political problemsb. Michelle will type up her notes of the meeting, revise the drafts of protocols for the fieldstudies based on the discussion from todayc. Next meeting Sunday morning at 8am, FORIG

Protocols for Field ResearchBROAD AIMS• To assess how social, environmental and economic costs and benefits are distributed inrelation to chainsaw milling as compared with large scale logging and milling operations;• To determine under what conditions chainsaw milling is appropriate and to contribute to thedefinition of the desired statePart One – rural household costs and benefitsPart Two – chainsaw milling firms costs and benefitsPart Three – chainsaw milling economic analysis, efficiency and environmental impactsPart Four – market analysis – production and consumption statisticsPART ONE – Rural householdsAim and objectives• To identify the costs and benefits to households in rural communities in the forest zone oflogging and lumbering activities and to compare small scale, chainsaw milling operations andlarge scale, industrial operations;• To characterise the extent of activity in and economic reliance on logging and lumbering inhouseholds in various communities in the forest zone;• To determine associations between household activity and economic reliance on logging andlumbering and physical and non-physical assets of households and the attributes of thecommunity in which they liveoohousehold demography; past experience; social status?resource quality; attitudes of the chief, district assemblyman, forestry agents and othermembers of the community towards forest protection and management; awareness ofrights related to forest resources; experience with regulatory system (e.g., permits,compensation claims); distance / access to local timber market• To identify the attributes of the households that are most reliant on chainsaw milling for theirlivelihoods• Will we also be able to identify what attributes of communities / villages make them more relianton chainsaw milling? If we have 9 communities, maybe it will be enough?Method - Experimental DesignThis research will be based on semi-structured interviews with members of households in the forestzone. The households will be selected from focal communities using a stratified random samplingstrategy, where strata are based on household asset holdings (wealthy, middle, poor) determined usingRapid Appraisal Techniques or key informants and the sample is distributed across the three strata.The focal communities will be selected to represent the variability amongst communities in the forestzone, particularly in relation to the level of logging and milling activity (both small, i.e., chainsaw milling,and large scale). In selecting focal communities for the study, the following variables will be taken intoaccount because they are thought to influence the prevalence and profitability of chainsaw milling:• Status of the foresto protected, managed by the FC, managed by Community, farmland• Resource endowment or forest qualityo High, moderately degraded, degradedo Western Region, Central Region, Eastern Region• Presence / absence or degree of threats to forest by outside forceso For example, presence of migrant farmers• Presence / absence of a large mill nearby• Variability in the accessibility of market selling to local marketIf the expectation is that the research results are generally applicability to communities across the forestzone (or the region in which they are located) it is important that the communities selected arerepresentative. By identifying the associations between variables that describe the household and thecommunity where the household is based we should be able to describe the factors that best explain

household activity and economic reliance on chainsaw milling (objective 3). The information will helpscale up the results.It looks like we made need to work in a miminum of 9 communities in Ghana (each status typein each of the three regions = 3 x 3 =9). To have an adequate estimate of variability within eachcommunity, a target sample size may be 40 households, giving us a total of 360 households. If it isnecessary to reduce the total sample size, it would be better to reduce the number of householdssampled within a community rather than reduce the number of communities sampled because theexpectation is that the variability in community-based or location factors will be more important inexplaining variability in the costs and benefits accruing to rural people than are the household factors.If the community managed forests are to be included, they would be in addition to the above 9; ifvillages with a migrant farmer population are to be include, they would also be in addition to the 9.Sample size – how will we determine when we have a sufficient sample? For the costs andbenefits, within a community, when you have stop getting new informationThe questionnaires /semi-structured interviews will be used to solicit information on current andhistorical information on household resource use, sources of income, physical and non-physical assets,family demographics and migration, environmental conditions, changes, shocks or uncontrollableevents that have influenced the livelihood options.There will be sections of the questionnaire dedicated to the following aspects:Household attributes / family members / assets /Community-level attributes / forest or tree resource / governance structureBenefits associated with forests, logging and milling (including economic reliance)Costs associated with forests, logging and millingAttitudes around forest resource management and protection (of the household, and thehousehold’s perspective of the wider community, of the chief and assemblyman – thelater might need to be confirmed by triangulation)Conditions necessary to make chainsaw milling socially sustainable? (would it be worth tryingto incorporate a section for only those households that are directly involved to ask themto rank the changes that need to be made to make chainsaw milling more useful fortheir livelihoods?)Data AnalysisA profile of the households interviewed will be developed by summarizing household attributesacross the regions and forest status types. The types of costs and benefits associated with the twotypes of milling activities will be described and compared qualitatively. The proportion of householdsrealising each type of cost and benefit will be calculated and summarized by community. The extent ofhousehold activity in logging and milling, whether small scale chainsaw operations or large scaleoperations will be calculated as the number of households and proportion of households interviewed.Economic reliance is defined as the relative importance of a particular activity as an incomesource or a form of insurance. We will calculate economic reliance by household on 1) large-scalelogging and milling, 2) small-scale chainsaw milling, 3) forest product use. We compared the meaneconomic reliance among the three regions (west, central, east) and by the status of the forest(protected, managed, farmland) using analysis of variance.A multivariate analysis will be used to identify the variables that are more strongly associatedwith household activity and economic reliance on large-scale logging and milling, small-scale chainsawmilling, and forest product use. Bivariate correlation analyses will be conducted on pairs of variables todescribe the strength of associations amongst variables. (We could also use regression analyses to dothis, the characteristics of the data will determine what approach is more appropriate).PART TWO – Chainsaw Milling FirmsAim and objectives• To examine the economics of chainsaw logging and lumbering and the environmental andecological impacts as they compare with large scale operations;• To characterise the distribution of costs and benefits within a firm• To characterise the variability in costs and benefits across firms

• To identify the factors that explain efficiency, access to resources (what else?)• To identify factors that could make chainsaw milling more appropriate (socially, economically,ecologically)• [this is supposed to be done as a comparison with large scale operations – we need to be clearabout what data are available for the large scale operations so that we can structure this part ofthe research to facilitate a comparison]MethodsExperimental DesignThis research will be based on semi-structured interviews with individuals within chainsaw milling firms.The firms included in the sample will be selected to include variability in access to forest resources(western, central, eastern region?), variability in the size of the firms or the scale of their operations(small, medium, large?), ……….. what else?How will we determine what is an adequate sample size here? Are there key variables that we can useto generate confidence intervals and standard errors and set ourselves a target ratio of standard errorto mean?The questionnaires /semi-structured interviews will be used to solicit information on• Attributes of the firm – number of machines (types, age, serviceability), transport vehicles,number of employees (permanent, casual, from where), how long have they been in thebusiness, what did they do previously, how did they get started, what was the source of capitalfor investment (is there still an external source of support?), part of an association?, how wellconnected to other firms is this one? (indication of strength of network?), competition?• Attributes of the resource that they rely on – where do they get their trees, how do they selectthem? What species and sizes are typically taken? How frequently is your work interrupted bylack of access of trees? Has access to trees changed much over time? What has beenresponsible for the change?• Costs and Benefits – wages for various employees (is it paid daily, per volume?), how manydays in a month are the various people employed? (some measure of variability, orconsistency?), machine costs (running, maintenance costs, . . . who bears these costs?),transport costs (estimate on a volume basis?), what are typical extraction costs (per volume?),what influences extraction costs? Where do you sell your product? What is a typical payment?(what is the variability in payments?), what do you pay in fines, sweeteners?• Attitudes / Attributes of the manager/owner – political connectedness, experience withregulation, police, fines• Conditions necessary to make chainsaw milling appropriateData AnalysisPART THREE – Operational efficiency and environmental impactsAim and objectives• To characterise the operation efficiency and environmental impacts of chainsaw milling by smalloperators• To compare the efficiency and impacts with those of large scale operationsMethodsChainsaw millers will be selected in a stratified way, where the strata will reflect the forestresource; for convenience, the strata to be used will be western, central, and eastern region. Weanticipate that it will be difficult to randomize our selection of chainsaw millers, however to ensure thatour sample is unbiased and representative, we will identify potential millers in each region during theinterviews conducted in parts one and two of the study. From this group of potential millers, we willrandomly select a minimum of 15. There may be a need to introduce another layer of stratification toensure that the sample includes a sample representative of different levels of experience typical in thebusiness.

Each miller will be followed in the field over the course of 3 working days during which time thefollowing variables will be recorded:• Per dayo Total hours workedo Distribution of time spent (idle, searching, cleaning or preparing to fell, felling, bucking,milling, transporting, dealing with the machine – cleaning, sharpening, repair, other)o Number of trees felled and milledo Other products harvesting from the forest during the period (e.g., ntfps, meat)• Per tree selectedo species of tree selectedo size (dbh, height, quality of stem)o How was the tree selected?o Time taken to fell the treeo Time taken to convert the logo Volume of the log to be convertedo Volume of log left as wasteo Volume of boards removed from the siteo Extent of opening in forest to conduct and extracto Number of neighbouring trees that were damaged or killed in the process of felling andripping and extracting?o Extent of soil damageo Extent of roading created• In addition the following information will be gathered by interviewing the operatorso How long have you been doing this sort of work?o What did you do previously?o How did you get started?o How many days do you typically work in a month?o How many trees do you typically fell and mill during one working period?o How often do you experience breakdowns or lose time to lack of spare parts?• Where did you learn the skills required?• What do you do to ensure your safety?• Do you work alone?• Do you work at night?• Have you had an accident?• Questions about their financiers, brokers, firm• What are the priorities for change to make this more sustainable?PART FOUR - Scale of the industry• number of registered chainsaw machines within communities• the quantity of chainsaw lumber on local markets• the number of markets, their turnover (per week, per month, per annum?)• the quantity of legal and illegal timber on the market• price variation between chainsaw lumber and lumber from conventional sawmill• direct revenue accruing to the forest authority through license and stumpage paid by thechainsaw operatives and large scale operatorsDATA ANALYSISThe operational efficiency of the two sub-industries would be described using frequency tables, chartsand cross tabulations to depict differences and similarities in operational cost, wood residue, etc. Inaddition, measures of efficiency such as private benefit cost ratio, social benefit cost ratio and othertechnical efficiency measures would be determined. The focus would be to depict the differences inoperational efficiency of the two sub-industries (chainsaw and sawmill) to inform policy decisions.Employment implications for the two sub-industries would also be described