The major changes experienced by communities in the study areas in past years were used as an indicator of the relative importance of forest resources to livelihoods, mainly in terms of differential use and access of the forests. Focus group discussions were used to gather information on the changes and the various benefits provided by forests and trees and the relative importance of these benefits.
As there was no difference in responses given by the different focus groups on the most important changes in the use and access of forests in the three study sites (Appendix I, T1), responses were pooled and are presented in Figure 4. Of the identified 20 different changes, only three are positive changes, namely, the introduction of co-management arrangements, availability of more schools and hospitals and tree nursery establishments by women's clubs. Even then it is only the co-management arrangements that are held in high regard (with 56 percent of responses), while the other two changes are each perceived as less important (11 percent of responses). All forestry communities cited increased illness and deaths, especially due to HIV/AIDS, increased number of orphans kept by families and the high cost of fertilizers (89 percent of responses each) as the most important changes affecting their livelihoods. Perhaps not quite unrelated to these changes, are the declining crop yields (67 percent of responses), deforestation (56 percent of responses), rising unemployment (44 percent of responses) and declining medicinal plants (33 percent of responses). This proposition is made because it is difficult to see how, among other causes, the three major changes could not have contributed to these other changes. The rest of the changes (< 22 per cent of responses) were registered largely by one social focus group, underlining their relatively lower importance among the major changes affecting the communities.
The changes shown in Figure 4 have affected communities in 13 various ways (Figure 5) (Appendix I, T2). It is, however, expected that these changes, either by themselves or in combination with other external socio-economic factors, have aggravated livelihood problems in the communities. The most important of these is fuelwood scarcity from the existing forest resources, particularly on customary land, as registered by 100 percent of responses. The impact of the changes due to illnesses and deaths, as well as increased number of orphans, have been profoundly felt in loss of productive time (75 percent of responses), the need for more resources to cope with livelihood problems (67percent of responses) and a resultant effect of hunger and general poverty (63 percent of responses). As many as 25 percent of the responses referred to the need for more resources to take care of orphans. Of equal importance (25 percent of responses) are the scarcity of medicinal plants and poverty on its own. A variety of other social and environmental impacts (registered by13 percent of responses), such as hunger, air pollution, climate change, no access/user rights to resources, over-cultivation and shortage of land are regarded as forming a barrier to improved livelihoods.
Faced with the changes and the impacts these changes have had on livelihoods, an exploration through focus group discussions of what communities consider as their most pressing problems revealed that there are eight major problems (Figure 6). The most important problems were singled out as the continued illnesses (and deaths), especially due to HIV/AIDS (100 percent of responses) and the increased number of orphans this generates (100 percent of responses). The scarcity of fuelwood (89 percent of responses) was perceived as the next most important problem. This is largely because it forms the only major source of energy, which impinges on daily sustenance for rural communities, unlike fertilizers (the high cost of which was regarded as a major problem by 78 percent or responses), which are seasonal. Unemployment, also registered by 78 percent of responses, is an interesting statistic in the sense that one does not expect much employment in rural areas. However, it was noted during the discussions that, apart from lack of job opportunities, the return to the villages from towns of people who either lost their jobs or returned after the demise of the `breadwinner' through HIV/AIDS-related illnesses, created a pool of unemployed people.
From the various livelihood problems identified in Figure 6, different types of coping strategies for dealing with the problems were listed as either available or potentially available to the communities. These coping strategies, identified for each corresponding problem (Appendix I, T4), are wide-ranging and include the selling of farm and forest produce, obtaining loans, migration for work or what is called piecework, etc. Table 4 only lists the five most important problems and the corresponding coping strategies. Social solutions appear to be the more immediate and highly favoured in trying to deal with the problems of increased illnesses and deaths, especially due to HIV/AIDS, and increased number of orphans. Hence, 63 percent of the responses were for counselling the youth to abstain from premarital sex and have a more open sex education system to address the problem of increased illnesses, especially due to HIV/AIDS. To cope with increased number of orphans, 100 percent of responses indicated the need for adoption, in its widest sense, i.e. taking up of orphans by better-off members of the extended family or into officially recognized foster homes. In spite of the gravity of the problem of fuelwood scarcity, most of the focus groups seemed not to have any strongly felt strategies on how to deal with the situation. Since communities under co-management also highlighted the problem, the issue here could be of limited access to available or allowed fuelwood for collection. In the words of an old lady at Chimaliro,
"Co-management has brought about enormous benefits, which include allowing our livestock to graze in the forest, allowing us free collection of thatch grass, mushrooms, honey and firewood although the allocated area is too small for all of us and we sometimes run out of firewood".
Anyhow, the only strategy that appeared feasible was to encourage the establishment of nurseries and tree planting around homesteads. Obviously, suggesting the homestead instead of the forest reserve implies that people have a general desire to own the trees rather than for them to be held as common property. To offset the high costs of fertilizer, communities showed their willingness to actively get involved in agroforestry practices (50 percent of responses) and application of manure to their farmland (38 percent of responses). Where poverty and unemployment were concerned, piecework (100 percent of responses) and the sale of forest products appear to have been the most important coping strategies.
Table 4: Strategies of dealing with the problems
Problem |
Strategies |
Percentage of responses |
Increased illnesses and deaths, especially due to HIV/AIDS |
Counselling youth to abstain from premarital sex and be open on sex education |
63 |
Improvement of sanitation |
25 | |
Increased number of orphans |
Adoption |
100 |
Obtaining loan for business: selling farm produce |
13 | |
Selling firewood |
13 | |
Deforestation (scarcity of firewood) |
Establishment of nurseries & tree planting around homesteads |
38 |
High cost of fertilizer |
Planting agroforestry tree species |
50 |
Application of manure |
38 | |
Unemployment |
Selling firewood, mushrooms & fruits (masuku) |
50 |
General poverty |
Piecework |
100 |
Selling forest products |
50 |
Although there are major supporting organizations assisting communities in dealing with some of the problems (Figure 7), none of them operates in the sphere of counselling and adoption of orphans, the coping strategies suggested for addressing the most important livelihood problems. Of the 11 supporting organizations, four specialize in distribution of food items for the needy (i.e. World Food Programme (WFP), Evangelical Lutheran Development Project (ELDP), Moslem Association of Malawi (MAM) and CADECOM (Catholic Development Cooperation of Malawi), the most prominent being WFP. Three organizations assist communities in building infrastructure such as schools and roads (i.e. Malawi Social Action Fund, Plan International and American Peace Corps), with other organizations individually assisting in promoting nursery establishment by women's groups (EU), providing employment (Willy and Partners), provision of fertilizers by Plan International as well as the government through its Starter Pack programme and the introduction of co-management by the Forestry Department. The support programmes had quite varied effects but were generally felt, among other benefits (Appendix I, T6), to have improved forest resource conservation and utilization, food security and nutrition, access to forest products for food and income generation, and improved sanitation (Table 5).
(GoM = Government of Malawi; MAM = Moslem Association of Malawi; EU = European Union; PLAN = PLAN International; FD = Forestry Department; MASAF = Malawi Social Action Fund; WFP = World Food Programme)
Table 5: Summary of the effects of support programmes in the study areas
Support programme |
Effects |
Distribution of food by WFP, Moslem Association of Malawi, ELDP, CADECOM |
Hunger relief, improvement of nutrition and attendance in school |
Construction of school blocks by MASAF, Peace Corps |
Reduced congestion in classrooms |
Co-management |
Access to the forest reserve has provided opportunities to trade in forest products, which is a major source of income and food. |
Improved food security by collection of mushrooms and fruits (masuku) | |
Drilling of boreholes by Plan International |
Reduced water-borne diseases |
Reduction of walking distance | |
Provision of free seed for nursery management by women's clubs by EU |
Increased participation of women in raising of seedlings and tree planting |
Promotion of beekeeping by FRIM |
Reduction of ring-barking of trees |
Introduction of nursery schools by the community |
Early completion of primary school education, especially girls |
Free distribution of mosquito nets by Ministry of Health |
Reduction of malaria cases |
Provision of cassava planting material |
Alleviation of hunger on a sustainable basis |
The dependence on forest/tree products by individual households, between HIV/AIDS-affected and non-affected (Appendix II, T1), was initially determined by the type of fuel used, how it was obtained, by which member of the household and from which of the available forest resources in the area. Through a ranking process, all households, regardless of their status with respect to HIV/AIDS, ranked twigs as the most collected and used type of fuel, except for the Ndaje site where both twigs and firewood were ranked equally (Appendix IV, T2). Charcoal and kerosene were not regarded as important household fuels and were hardly mentioned by households. For either twigs or firewood, the mode of acquisition was mostly through self-collection (for > 85 percent of households) and only fewer than 15 percent of households claimed to have either purchased or obtained the fuel from own household woodlots. Collection is female-centred, with both twigs and firewood mainly collected by female adults alone, seconded by female adults with girls and boys and thirdly by the youth (i.e. boys and girls). The involvement of male adults in fuelwood collection is rare, such as in one or two households in Ndaje and Nkula. Forest reserves remain the main source of fuelwood collections, even for the Nkula site where restrictions on access to Liwonde Forest Reserve apply. Though communities in the Chimaliro co-management site have access to the forest reserve, most collections are done on forests existing on customary land or farmland, unlike in the Ndaje co-management site. This is an indication of the abundance of forest resources on customary land in Chimaliro and the lack of it in Ndaje. Other sources of collection, but of minor importance, included homestead woodlots or indigenous forests and along streams (the latter only in Nkula customary land).
Commercial woodland activities, as non-farm income diversification strategies, may help to buffer rural households against the immediate impacts of health expenses and productivity losses. Table 6 presents the various types of woodland products from which some commercial woodland activities are derived, as well as those that are consumed in the communities in all the study sites.
Table 6: Woodland product values and the corresponding labour requirements, users and availability
Product |
Value |
Labour |
Users |
Availability | |
C |
S |
||||
Charcoal |
X |
H |
M |
Year round | |
Firewood |
X |
X |
L-H |
M, F |
Year round |
Mushrooms |
X |
X |
L-H |
F |
Seasonal |
Medicinal plants |
X |
X |
L-H |
M, F |
Year round |
Poles |
X |
X |
H |
M |
Year round |
Honey |
X |
X |
L-H |
M |
Seasonal |
Animals-large |
X |
X |
H |
M |
Year round |
Animals-small |
X |
X |
L-H |
M |
Year round |
C = commercial; S = subsistence; L = low; H = high; M = male; F = female
Some of the commercial woodland activities involving these products can be a significant source of income. When asked whether income generated from the collection of forest and tree products was an important source of cash to cover medical expenses, 64 percent of the respondents in the Ndaje site agreed, while 30 percent disagreed. The inverse is true in Chimaliro. In Chimaliro, where focus groups claimed that commercial woodland activities were limited due to poorer access of markets, 67 percent of household respondents disagreed that forest and tree products were important sources of cash to cover medical expenses. This suggests that the potential for commercial woodland activities to serve as an economic buffer against the immediate impacts of HIV (i.e. medical expenses, productivity losses) is limited to those areas with access to markets as access to forest resources is similar between the two sites.
Households in which a prime-age adult (ages 15-49) experienced illness requiring the care of another household member or neighbours within the last 12 months were asked how this event affected household frequency of forest product collection. In the case study sites combined, there were 24 households that fell into this category. The effect of adult illness on household forest product collection frequency is represented in Figure 8.
Figure 8
Percentage responses on the effects of adult illness on household frequency of forest product collection across all study areas (i.e. Chimaliro, Ndaje and Nkula)
The majority (54 percent) of households reduced frequency of forest product collection as a result of adult illness. Two households stopped making collection trips to the forest altogether. The main reasons cited for the reduction in forest product collection were the decrease in household labour due to sickness and/or an increase in time spent caring for the sick.
While all households in the survey consume firewood to meet their energy needs, 36 percent of the households in which a prime-age adult household member was ill decreased their collection of firewood. Households reducing collection of firewood due to labour shortages adapted by purchasing firewood, collecting smaller stems as opposed to wood and reducing consumption. Some of those households that reduced forest product collection, due to adult illness, indicated that they shifted their collection activities to more proximate resource areas such as stream banks, farmlands and cutting trees at homesteads.
In nearly a third of households (29 percent), adult illness had no effect on forest product collection frequency. Instead, forest product collection activities were carried out by other family members, i.e. children and neighbours.
Seventeen percent of households reported increasing forest product collection. The role of woodlands in coping with adult morbidity will be discussed in the following section.
The collection and/or use of medicinal plants are a common woodland-based response to illness. Focus groups in Nkula, Ndaje and Chimaliro all identified the collection and/or use of medicinal plants as a primary response to illness. Even those who make clinic visits may continue to use medicinal plants as a complement. Of the households in the case study experiencing the illness of an adult member within the last 12 months (n=42), 60 percent relied on medicinal plants as a response. Reliance on medicinal plants as a first response to illness explains why 87 percent and 67 percent of household respondents in Ndaje and Chimaliro, respectively, agreed that the collection of forest and tree products is an important activity when a household member is ill.
Households affected by illness also face increases in medical expenses and productivity losses. For example, 51 percent of households affected by adult morbidity reported a decrease in agricultural productivity (i.e. due to delayed garden preparation, land left uncultivated, late planting, etc.). Woodland commercial activities relied upon by members of the case study communities to cope with health related expenses and production losses include production and sale of reed mats, production and sale of charcoal, the collection and sale of firewood and the collection and sale of wild foods.
While adult household labour allocation to subsistence woodland livelihood and coping strategies is negatively associated with adult illness (excluding the collection of medicinal plants), some households relied on commercial woodland activities to cope with related expenses and productivity losses. This is reflected by the 17 percent of households that increased the frequency of forest product collection following adult illness. Woodland income-generating activities taken up by these households included the collection and sale of firewood, wild fruits and mushrooms. The most common reason cited for this increase was to generate income needed to pay for medical expenses and purchase basic necessities. One respondent indicated that her collection of firewood for sale increased substantially.
In households in which forest product collection decreases relative to levels prior to illness, the income generated from commercial woodland activities may become more important to the household. Several of the traditional healers shared the common view that, though households may decrease their use of forest products, households become more dependent on the income generated from forest products to support the household and patient. This evidence is supported by household perceptions in the Ndaje community. When all sample households were asked whether income generated from the sale of forest and tree products was an important source of cash to cover medical expenses, 64 percent of the respondents agreed.
Key findings:
· Death of a household head predisposes afflicted households to increased dependence on both subsistence and commercial woodland activities for livelihood and coping strategies.
· Woodland livelihood strategies in households are affected by adult mortality.
Major forest product collection trips made by the household in the last month were measured as an indicator of household dependence on woodlands.
Table 7: Cross-tabulation of major forest product collection trips in last month.
X |
Control |
Total | |
Frequency cross-tabulation |
|||
Yes |
10 |
18 |
28 |
No |
3 |
11 |
14 |
Total |
13 |
29 |
42 |
Percentage cross-tabulation |
|||
Yes |
77 |
62 |
67 |
No |
23 |
38 |
33 |
Total |
100% |
100% |
100% |
Missing data: 20 cases (Nkula)
X = Households in which death of prime-age adult occurred in the last 18 months.
Households affected by the recent mortality of a prime-age adult were twice as likely to have made a major forest product collection trip in the last month (Table 7). Seventy-seven percent of households affected by adult mortality in the last 18 months had made at least one major forest product collection trip in the last month, compared to 62 percent of households not experiencing the mortality of a prime-age adult. Only 23 percent of affected households did not make a trip, compared to 38 percent of unaffected households.
Table 8: Major forest product collection trips in last month
N |
Min |
Max |
Mean |
STDV | |
X |
13 |
0 |
4 |
2.4 |
1.8 |
Control |
29 |
0 |
8 |
3 |
2.9 |
Total |
42 |
0 |
8 |
2.8 |
2.6 |
X = Households in which death of prime-age adult occurred in the last 18 months.
Households affected by adult mortality in the last 18 months made fewer forest product collection trips (Table 8). Affected households made on average 2.4 trips, compared to three for unaffected households. That affected households made fewer trips reflects the reduction in the availability of household labour due to adult mortality.
While these data suggest that affected households are more dependent on woodlands, such a cross-sectional analysis does not rule out confounding factors. For example, households dependent on woodland resources could be more vulnerable to adult mortality. These households could be relatively poorer. Mortality rates are greater in poorer households. Regardless, households affected by adult mortality in the last 18 months appear to be more dependent on woodlands than are unaffected households.
To further examine whether adult mortality is a causal factor in household dependence on woodlands, change in woodland activities within households affected by adult mortality was measured (Table 9).
Table 9: Adult mortality and its effect on changes in household woodland activities
Change in household woodland activities following death of prime-age adult | ||
Income |
Food (subsistence) | |
Frequency | ||
Increased |
7 |
7 |
Decreased |
2 |
1 |
No Change |
21 |
22 |
Percentage | ||
Increased |
23 |
23 |
Decreased |
7 |
3 |
No Change |
70 |
74 |
N = Prime-age adult mortality within the last 3 years (n = 30)
Despite having less household labour, the importance of forest products increased in 23 percent of households affected by adult mortality. These households reported becoming more dependent on income from the sale of forest products (i.e. firewood, thatch grass, fruits, mushrooms, mats, baskets) and activities requiring firewood as an input (i.e. brewing, food vending). Some households reported entry into woodland activities that were not a component of the household's livelihood strategies prior to adult mortality. One household reported frequent collection of fruits from forest though this was not a household activity prior to the death of the husband. Another woman began selling thatch grass, mushrooms and fruits, which she never did before. Those households in which the importance of woodland activities decreased reported that this was due to the ill health of the remaining household head.
Further evidence that adult mortality increases dependence on woodlands is evident in the data regarding change in the household collection of firewood over the last three years (Table 10).
Table 10: Cross-tabulation of change in collection of firewood over the last three years.
X |
Control |
Total | |
Frequency cross-tabulation | |||
Increased |
12 |
8 |
20 |
Reduced |
4 |
15 |
19 |
Same |
0 |
4 |
4 |
Total |
16 |
27 |
43 |
Percentage cross-tabulation | |||
Increased |
75 |
30 |
47 |
Reduced |
25 |
56 |
44 |
Same |
0 |
15 |
9 |
Total |
100% |
100% |
100% |
Missing data = 19 cases
X = Households in which death of prime-age adult occurred in the last three years
Households affected by adult mortality in the last three years were more than five times more likely to have increased the collection of firewood than were unaffected households. That 75 percent of households affected by adult mortality increase firewood collection, at the same time that household size would be expected to decrease, suggests that the increase in firewood collection is a result of households pursuing woodland-based income-generating activities (i.e. directly or indirectly in processing beer, vending food, etc). Similar findings were found regarding other forest products.
While 74 percent of households collecting mushrooms reported that their collection had decreased (Table 11), mainly due to the increasing scarcity of mushrooms in the forests, households affected by adult mortality were less likely to have reduced the collection of mushrooms than those not experiencing adult mortality. For example, 64 percent of affected households reduced the collection of mushrooms, compared to 80 percent of unaffected households. The main reason cited by those households reducing collection was an increase in travel distance to collection sites. Affected households rely on collection of forest products even when labour requirements for collection increase.
Table 11: Cross-tabulation of change in collection of mushrooms in the last three years
X |
Control |
Total | |
Frequency cross-tabulation |
|||
Increased |
3 |
3 |
6 |
Reduced |
9 |
17 |
26 |
Same |
2 |
1 |
3 |
Total |
14 |
21 |
35 |
Percentage cross-tabulation |
|||
Increased |
21 |
14 |
17 |
Reduced |
64 |
80 |
74 |
Same |
14 |
5 |
9 |
X = Households in which death of prime-age adult occurred in the last three years
Total N = households that collect mushrooms
These findings suggest that woodland activities not only remain an important component of the multiple livelihood strategies of households affected by adult mortality, but their importance to the household's livelihood appears to increase for a significant proportion.
In the communities surveyed, woodland activities taken up by affected households in response to non-health related contingencies include:
· collection and sale of fuelwood (i.e. firewood and charcoal)
· collection/hunting and sale of wild foods
· production and sale of handicrafts (e.g. reed mats)
Household responses to adult mortality make households less resilient to future contingencies. Responses of households following the death of a prime-age adult that predispose the household to future vulnerability are presented in Figure 9.
Figure 9
Responses of households on predisposition to future vulnerability following the death of a prime-age adult
Following adult mortality, labour requirements appear to be less of a constraint on woodland activities than during adult morbidity. Because labour is not a constraint on woodland activities at this stage, woodland coping strategies (e.g. collection of wild foods) remain an option for households affected by adult mortality in response to other contingencies.
In communities identified as those of high prevalence (Ndaje), woodland-based activities are considered to be important coping strategies and, depending on the contingency, can be the most important option. For example, data collected from the focus groups conducted in Ndaje reveal that the sale of firewood occurs in response to all contingencies (i.e. pests, drought and excessive rains). The consensus among focus group members in Ndaje was that the sale of firewood is the most important safety net for coping with food insecurity and income generation problems.
The role of woodland-based responses in mitigating the impacts of HIV/AIDS is in part a function of other household and community-level factors. This is in addition to the phases of HIV/AIDS progression within a household and the effects on woodland livelihood activities as previously discussed. The small sample size of households was prohibitive in exploring the differential effect of adult morbidity and mortality on woodland strategies across different household compositions, wealth, etc. Though further analysis is needed, some inferences may be made.
