Following the 1998 National Forest Policy and the Forest Act of 2002, participatory forest management (PFM) is being introduced in Tanzania, yet little rigorous analysis has been undertaken to determine the effectiveness of PFM, in terms of both protecting forest resources and improving forest-dependent livelihoods and thereby reducing poverty.
In this EfD research project we address a number of key questions concerning PFM: how do we define and measure the success of a PFM initiative; what factors are most important in determining how successful a PFM initiative will be; how is the contribution of non-timber forest products to rural livelihoods affected by the particular nature of the PFM initiative; and how do spatial aspects of forests and forest management influence the effectiveness of PFM?
This project is being undertaken by Razack Lokina and Elizabeth Robinson who will coauthor a series of papers and policy briefs based on theoretical and empirical developments resulting from our research. We have already undertaken a pilot study and collected data at both the village and household level in over 50 villages where PFM initiatives are in place in two regions, Tanga and Morogoro. Preliminary findings will be available from March.
