Abstract:
The study aimed at finding out the contribution of forest certification on household livelihood outcomes in Kilwa district, Lindi region Tanzania. A comparative study involving 3 purposely selected villages with varying forest certification status was conducted at a single point in time by administering structured questionnaires among 240 randomly selected households. Three specific objectives addressed include (i) identification of livelihood activities conducted by households in the study area (ii) examining the effect of forest certification on household income (iii) examining the effect of forest certification on household food security.
The sustainable livelihood framework was adapted to help figure out key livelihood assets and outcomes ought to be covered. Analytical methods employed included (i) descriptive statistics used in identifying the livelihood activities conducted by households in the study area (ii) seemingly unrelated regression analysis to find out the effects of forest certification and other variables on household income and food security. The findings of the study identified agriculture, business, fishing, wage labour and forestry as livelihood activities conducted by households. Results of the SUR model showed households in areas whose forests were certified more than five years ago had 29.2% and 63.7% more incomes and food insecurity access scores respectively compared to households in areas whose forests were not certified. Those in areas whose forests were certified less than five years ago had 11.3% more incomes and 64.5% less dietary diversity scores compared to households in uncertified forest areas.
Further results showed significant effects between age, household size, credit access and education on household dietary diversity score. Rural households should be educated on the importance of balancing food and cash crop cultivation efforts, supported to acquire other affordable and environmentally friendly fuel to reduce forest dependence and supported by the government on settling certificate maintenance costs to reduce donor dependence.
