Understanding the role of forests in rural household economies: experiences from the Northern and Western provinces of Rwanda

Abstract

Forests have conventionally been seen as a source of products for sustaining resource-poor households. Nonetheless, forest management strategies have often not been designed to meet these pressing needs. The objectives of this research were to examine the contribution of forest products to household income and determine the level of forest dependence among poor households in four sectors selected from the Musanze and Nyabihu districts of Rwanda. A multistage sampling process was used to select 165 households in a questionnaire-based survey. Data analysis was mainly based on a binary probit regression model checked for multicollinearity, heteroscedasticity and specification bias. Forest products accounted for 31% of annual household income. Household location, number of cattle owned, and household size had a positive and significant effect on dependence on forest resources (p < 0.05). However, gender was significant at the 10% level (p < 0.1). Forests have a plural role for the rural poor and this justifies the implementation of sustainable forest management strategies. There is a need to improve the use of agroforestry innovations to enhance the contribution of forests to rural incomes. This can be achieved through a multisectoral approach involving training of rural farmers in appropriate technologies.

Keywords: forests, probit regression, rural poor, Rwanda, survey