Factors influencing level of participation of community forest associations in management forests in Kenya
Loading...
Date
2016
Authors
Musyokia, Josephine Kamene
Mugwe, Jayne
Mutundu, Kennedy
Muchiria, Mbae
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Taylor & Francis Group
Abstract
In Kenya, a Participatory Forest Management (PFM) approach was
adopted through formation of Community Forest Associations (CFA)
to improve forest cover and their livelihoods as provided for in the
Forest Act 2005. The main objective of this study was to determine the
factors influencing the level of CFA members’ participation in PFM
activities in selected forests in Kenya. The study was undertaken on
the Ontukigo and Ngare Ndare CFAs involved in participatory management
of the Ontulili and Ngare Ndare forests respectively, located in
the Eastern Conservancy, Buuri Sub County (Meru County) in Kenya.
Semi structured questionnaires were administered to randomly
selected 80 CFA and 80 Non CFA members. Participatory Rural
Appraisal tools, including focused group discussions and community
wealth characterization, were used to collect qualitative data for precise
description of the quantitative data. The level of participation of
CFA members in PFM activities was positively and significantly influenced
by the level of perceived PFM benefits (χ2 = 38.73, P=0.05);
range of farm size (χ2=12.72, P=0.05); and nature of the head-of-household
(χ2 =29.99, P=0.001). As such, benefits gained from the forest play
an important role as incentives to community participation in PFM.
Description
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10549811.2016.1142454
Keywords
Community, Forest associations participation, Participation, Livelihoods, Benefit, Access
Citation
Journal of sustainable forestry 2016, V. 35; No 3, pg 205–216, by Taylor & Francis Group. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10549811.2016.1142454