An analysis of factors affecting household willingness to participate in the REDD+ programme in Tanzania

Tanzania has high rates of deforestation and forest degradation. Reducing deforestation and forest degradation is an important strategy for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. However, asking households to reduce deforestation means asking them to sacrifice direct benefits from forests, such as energy resources. The REDD+ programme provides a way to compensate households. This study estimates households’ willingness to accept forest-use restrictions governing participation in the REDD+ programme and its determinants. The results show that households would participate in REDD+ if the programme were to compensate them with an average of USD 2072 per year. The determinants of willingness to participate are analysed using the Heckman sample selection model. The results reveal that awareness about REDD+ economic incentives, and that deforestation and forest degradation is not good for the environment, and the increased time spent collecting the most important forest products increased probability of household participation. Households that earned more from forest products demanded greater compensation to participate. The results further revealed that, once a household is aware of the programme and its incentives and decides to participate, it tended to demand less compensation. The Government of Tanzania is advised to (i) collect baseline data in order to differentiate incentives for households depending on their forest reliance, (ii) educate people about the relationship between REDD+ and climate change to increase the cooperation of the communities.