Welfare Effects and Gender Dimensions of Licit and Illicit Biodiversity Economy: The Case of The GLTFCA and KAZA Region

Local communities living within TFCAs benefit legal and illegal from protected areas through benefit-sharing arrangements and environmental resource extraction. This study seeks to examine the contributions of the biodiversity economy towards household welfare and the gender dimensions of environmental value chains in the context of TFCAs. We ask: How does participation in the biodiversity economy (including resource extraction) impact household welfare? Does the impact differ across income distribution? Does the impact differ with gender? Are the treatment effects of licit and illicit resource extraction different? This study will compute welfare measures (income, poverty and inequality), make use of multivariate regression analysis and estimate both Average Treatment Effects and Quantile Treatment Effects on primary data collected through multi-stage random sampling from local communities in three TFCAs. ICDPs can be repackaged to address empowerment (gender disparities) and to inform mechanisms designed to discourage illicit activities. The study will result in an EFD discussion paper, policy brief and a journal article.