Forests and poverty reduction
MUCH OF THE FORESTRY AND DEVELOPMENT DEBATE in international fora focuses on how forests and forestry can contribute to the UN Millennium Development Goals, including the one of halving the number of people suffering from extreme poverty and hunger by 2015. Today poor people need safe-guards more than ever. The world’s natural forests are shrinking, and global climate changes are expected to have serious impacts on forests and agricultural systems. At the same time demands on forests and trees outside forests are increasing, with about 1.6 billion people relying heavily on these resources for their livelihoods.
For millions of people living in poverty, forests and trees outside forests not only provide food, cooking and heating fuel, shelter and clothing, but they also function as safety nets in sudden crises or emergencies – for example, when crops fail owing to prolonged drought or when heads of households can no longer engage in productive activities because of HIV/AIDS or other devastating diseases. Forest resources generate income through employment and through the sale of surplus goods and services. The extent to which they can reduce poverty and improve food security for vulnerable populations, however, is not well documented or understood.
The challenge is to support specific changes that will increase the benefits of forest and tree resources for poor people, thus enhancing their contribution to the reduction of poverty, especially in rural areas.
FAO’s work
Achieving food security, FAO's central mandate, is a key dimension of poverty reduction and meeting the first Millennium Development Goal. Many FAO Forestry Department efforts focus on the role of forestry in reaching these objectives.
The Forum on the Role of Forestry in Poverty Alleviation, held in 2001 with support from the United Kingdom Department of International Development (DFID), resulted in a policy brief, How forests can reduce poverty, which has been disseminated in five languages to policy-makers and other interested groups. It recommended a four-point agenda for action:
- strengthening the rights of the poor, local capabilitiesand governance;
- reducing vulnerability of the poor;
- removing constraints to access to profitable and dynamic opportunities in forestry;
- working in partnerships.
Building on the recommendations of the policy brief, in 2006 FAO published Better forestry, less poverty (FAO Forestry Paper No. 149), which offers suggestions to practitioners and the rural communities they serve on ways to prevent, mitigate and reduce poverty through forestry-based interventions. The document outlines key issues, summarizes successful case studies and identifies sources of additional information on the role of forests and trees outside forests in addressing poverty issues. It also highlights the importance of using participatory approaches and of tailoring activities to local circumstances. Emphasis is on making changes that will improve the livelihoods of people living in or near forests, and on helping users to gain a better understanding of the forms of rural poverty and of how decisions made at the local level affect segments of poor communities in different ways – women, children and the elderly being the most vulnerable.
Recent work has also addressed means of linking forestry to national poverty reduction strategies as a means to achieve economic growth and the Millennium Development Goals. FAO embarked on a comprehensive study in Africa to examine the extent to which these frameworks recognize the importance of forestry in reducing poverty and, by the same token, the extent to which forestry engages in discussions across sectors and with key stakeholders on related issues. The results of the study are intended to contribute to enhancing the presence and influence of forestry in wider planning instruments and to strengthening financial, institutional and policy support for forest-based poverty alleviation.
The study examined why forestry’s ties to wider national agendas, including those associated with poverty reduction, are often weak or non-existent, and proposed ways to strengthen collaboration with central agencies and other sectors. Best practices, constraints and opportunities for establishing effective linkages were identified through interviews with representatives from government, private business and civil society organizations.
The study revealed that the lack of data on forest resources and forest productivity results in a serious underestimation of their contribution to gross domestic product – a situation which almost always leads decision-makers to overlook the importance of the sector to livelihoods and national economic development. By assisting with national forest assessments, FAO thus indirectly assists countries in raising the forest sector’s profile and its ability to obtain much-needed assistance from government and the donor community in relation to poverty alleviation. Based on the outcomes of the study FAO will promote regional exchange of experiences and best practices for better integrating forestry in povertyr eduction strategies.
Equitable governance can create links between sustainable forest management and sustainable livelihoods which, in turn, can enhance the contribution of forestry to poverty reduction. FAO’s programme on poverty reduction is closely linked to FAO’s work on national forest programmes and support to policy and institutions.
In seeking to enhance forestry’s contributions to poverty reduction, FAO collaborates with and draws on the work of partners such as the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), the World Bank’s Program on Forests (PROFOR) and particularly the National Forest Programme Facility.