Participation in Agro-forestry

Participation of local communities and other stakeholders in managing agroforestry, forestry and conservation projects can help forest productivity, alleviate poverty, increase environmental sustainability and make rules governing forest access. Introducing participatory management depends on government commitment and requires time and resources to develop consensus among stakeholders, establish new institutional arrangements, decentralize finance and administration, ensure appropriate rules and incentives for local involvement and build organizational capacity at the local level.

Benefits in Using Participatory Approaches in Agroforestry, Forestry and Conservation Management 1. Corporation
When local communities and private companies share in the design, benefits, costs and management responsibility of forestry, agroforestry and conservation projects, they have incentives to cooperate in enforcing rules on which they themselves agreed.

2. Poverty Alleviation
Majority of the people who occupy forest areas or agricultural fringes that surround them are poor and vulnerable populations. Many are indigenous or landless people who have migrated from other areas. Enabling these people to share in the benefits as well as management of forest areas through agroforestry helps alleviate their poverty and diversity their sources on income.

3. Food Production
With the benefits of local knowledge and participation, the value of nontimber forest products to different users for food, fiber, medicines, oils and the production of food while at the same time conserving the environment.

 Indigenous productive technologies, applying knowledge based on close experience with local ecological conditions can enrich scientific research and serve as potential sources of new products.

4. Sustainability Participation is often the only viable way to conserve forest areas for sustainable use or for their environmental values as intact ecosystem. Cost and Limitations of Participation Participation approaches have proved unworkable in some circumstances such as:
a) Conflict over forest resources are intense b) Forest resources are abundant in relation to small, dispersed population in forest vicinity. c) Powerful interest at the national level are opposed to policy reform in the sector to decentralization of authority. d) Extreme social inequalities at the local level reinforce the control of forest benefits by local elites.

Conditions for Successful Participation

1. Government Commitment When government is actively involved in discussions with stakeholders, agroforestry management activities are easier to introduce. 2. Decentralization
A wide range of difference institutional arrangements from private contractual agreements to joint public/private partnerships has been used to devolved authority over forest management to the local level

3. Stakeholder Analysis and Consultation

Identifying and consulting stakeholders at the earliest possible stage is important not only for ensuring that all important issues are addressed but also for strengthening commitment to implementing the necessary reforms.

4. Security and Tenure

Security of tenure is important as an incentive for community investment of time and resources. Existing regulations frequently restrict access and undermine local or indigenous claims to resources. Overlapping claims by government, different groups of forest users and industry can make adjudicating tenure rights a complicated process

5. Equitable Rules and Incentives

Agro-forestry projects have the best chance of succeeding when the costs and responsibilities of each stakeholder are closely related to rights and benefits.

6. Appropriate Technology
Appropriate agroforestry technologies provide important incentives for participation. The participation of local users is encouraged by an annual flow of income from non timber products such as agricultural intercrops, fodder or thatch grass, and commercially valuable seed or leaves. Animal components in an agroforestry likewise provide food and additional income.

7. Local Capacity Capacity-building component, often contracted by NGOs to strengthen

management capacity at the community level. The role of NGOs may included training of forest service staff and local leaders, village-level publicity and extension, developing micro planning tools and facilitating plan formulation, facilitating the formation of womens group, agroforestry associations.