Abstract:

The economic importance of forest plantations is increasing worldwide. Forestry development is being redefined, with growing emphasis on poverty alleviation and livelihoods improvements. To address the problem of high rural poverty and food insecurity, government and international donors have funded on-farm plantation forestry projects as one of the tools for improving the welfare of rural communities. In the wake of climate change, tree farming has been promoted with the dual purpose of sequestering carbon and improving rural livelihoods. Tree fanners can now benefit from selling carbon credits in addition to the traditional wood products. However, there is a dearth of empirical evidence regarding whether and under what conditions on-farm plantation forestry can deliver favorable livelihood outcomes. Therefore, the study assessed the factors influencing adoption of on-fann plantation forestry and the impact of adoption on poverty alleviation and food security in south western Uganda. The study also assessed the economic carbon sequestration potential of Finns caribaea and Eucalyptus grandis plantations under the small-scale Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto protocol. Results from Propensity Score Matching (PSM) and endogenous switching regression models indicated that adoption of carbon forestry increased calorie acquisition per adult equivalent by between 22 and 26.9% but the impact on consumption expenditure per adult equivalent was mixed. In comparison, results from Propensity Score Matching (PSM) and endogenous switching regression models indicated that adoption of eucalyptus woodlot fanning in general (all eucalyptus) increased consumption expenditure by 32 and 28.3% respectively. PSM and switching regression results also indicated that adoption of eucalyptus woodlot farming increased calorie acquisition per adult equivalent by 36 and 13.1% respectively. Benefit incidence analysis of the Farm Income Enhancement and Forest Conservation (FIEFOC) and Trees for Global Benefits (TGB) projects indicated that the farm forestry subsidies in both projects were not well targeted to the poor in the population. The study indicated that whereas E.grandis has a higher biological potential to sequester carbon than P.caribaea, it is currently not economically viable for participation in the CDM forest carbon offset scheme. The study also confirmed the importance of farmers' access to extension services, landholding, education, forestry skills training and farmers’ perceptions in adopting on-farm plantation forestry.