Alternative livelihoods and sustainable resource management ISBN-10: 90-5113-083X ISBN-13: 978-90-5113-083-6 © 2005 Tropenbos International The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and the participants and do not necessarily reflect the views of Tropenbos International. No part of this publication, apart from bibliographic data and brief quotations in critical reviews, may be reproduced, re-recorded or published in any form including print photocopy, microform, electronic or electromagnetic record without written permission. Citation: Tropenbos International (2005). Alternative Livelihoods and Sustainable Resource Management. Proceedings of a workshop held in Akyawkrom, Ghana, on the 1st of April 2005. Tropenbos International Ghana Workshop Proceedings 4, edited by D. K. B. Inkoom, K. Okae Kissiedu and B. Owusu Jnr. Wageningen, the Netherlands. Cover photos: 1. Women gathering charcoal with children (photographer unknown) 2. Pastor Oppong's grasscutters taking a bite (B. Owusu Jnr.) 3. Woman displaying 10000 cedis worth of mushrooms (B. Owusu Jnr.) 4. Strings of beads on display in bead factory at Krobo Odumase (B. Owusu Jnr.) ALTERNATIVE LIVELIHOODS AND SUSTAINABLE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT Editors: D. K. B. Inkoom, K. Okae Kissiedu and B. Owusu Jnr. Tropenbos International Wageningen, the Netherlands 2005 Alternative livelihoods and sustainable resource management TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS ..............................................................................................................................I ACRONYMS ............................................................................................................................................... II PREFACE ...................................................................................................................................................III ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ....................................................................................................................... IV SYNTHESIS, SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS...................................................................................V 1. INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................1 1.1 BACKGROUND............................................................................................................................1 1.2 WORKSHOP OBJECTIVE ...................................................................................................................1 1.3 WORKSHOP METHODS.....................................................................................................................2 1.4 ORGANISATION OF THE REPORT......................................................................................................2 2. OPENING SESSION .......................................................................................................................3 2.1 WELCOME ADDRESS ................................................................................................................3 2.2 KEYNOTE ADDRESS..................................................................................................................5 3. PRESENTATIONS ..........................................................................................................................8 3.1 FOREST RESOURCES AND SUSTAINABLE RURAL LIVELIHOODS ..................................8 3.2 PROMOTING ALTERNATIVE LIVELIHOODS: FIELD EXPERIENCES..............................17 3.3 PROMOTING ALTENATIVE LIVLIHOOD: FIELD EXPERIENCE. ......................................27 3.4 HOW VIABLE ARE THE ALTERNATIVES? ...........................................................................31 3.5 ALTERNATIVE LIVELIHOOD SCHEMES IN FOREST DISTRICTS OF GHANA...............44 4. GROUP DISCUSSIONS................................................................................................................63 5. CHAIRMAN’S CLOSING REMARKS.......................................................................................64 APPENDICES .............................................................................................................................................65 APPENDIX I: PROGRAMME FOR THE FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSIONS ...................................65 APPENDIX II: LIST OF PARTICIPANTS.........................................................................................66 APPENDIX III: OUTCOME OF GROUP DISCUSSIONS..................................................................68 APPENDIX IV: DEFINITION OF KEY CONCEPTS .........................................................................71 __________________________________________________________________________________________________ i Alternative livelihoods and sustainable resource management ACRONYMS AfDB African Development Bank ALs Alternative Livelihoods AIDEP African Institute for Economic Development andPlanning (RC presentation) BARFGA Brong Ahafo Regional Grasscutter Farmers’ Association CEDEP Centre for the Development of People CBUD Centre for Biodiversity Utilisation and Development CLF Community Livelihood Facilitators DFID Department For International Development DED German Development Service FAGE Federation of Associations of Ghana Exporters FRNR Faculty of Renewable Natural Resources FORIG Forestry Research Institute of Ghana FRCP Forest Resources Creation Project FSD Forestry Services Division GSBA Globally Significant Biodiversity Area GDP Gross Domestic Project GTZ German Technical Cooperation Agency KNRMP Kumasi Natural Resource Management Project KNUST Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology LPG Liquefied Petroleum Gas MDGs Millennium Development Goals MOAP Market-Oriented Agricultural Programme MoFA Ministry of Food and Agriculture NGO Non-Governmental Organisation NRMP Natural Resources Management Project NTFPs Non-Timber Forest Products OCAP Oda-Kotamso Community Agro-forestry Project PRSP Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper PTACZMP Princess Town Akatakyie Coastal Zone Resource Management Project RC Ricerca e Cooperazione RUDEYA Rural Development Youth Association SIDEP Sefwi Integrated Development Project STEP Skills Training and Employment Programme, __________________________________________________________________________________________________ ii Alternative livelihoods and sustainable resource management PREFACE Governments, Donor agencies, non-governmental organisations and individuals have been promoting the so-called Alternative livelihood schemes, especially in forest fringe communities where people depend on forest resources for survival. The main goals of the activities have been to reduce poverty and unsustainable dependence on forests. Sometimes, this latter goal has been taken to mean weaning people from the forest. Either way however, AL activities have not achieved the desired impacts. This report is the proceedings of a focus group discussion on ‘Alternative livelihoods and sustainable forest management’. The topic raises several interesting questions: for instance, alternative to what? To what extent are these livelihoods really alternatives? Shouldn’t we be talking about sustainable livelihoods? Are forest-based livelihoods necessarily incompatible with sustainable forest management? And then, the concept of weaning people from the forest! Is it to keep the forest for timber production functions, and the timber to some privileged stakeholders? Is it not a way of keeping poor people away from the very assets with the highest potential to provide livelihoods – both timber and non-timber forest products? All these are very legitimate questions. This document considers supplementary livelihoods for forest-fringe communities. The idea should not be to wean them from the forest, but rather to reduce pressure on the forest, i.e. the development of sustainable forest-based livelihoods – a situation in which human livelihoods of all kinds and forest conservation are brought into harmony. Over 50 participants from government ministries, NGOs, research, academic and other institutions engaged in alternative livelihood activities took part in the day-long event. Five papers were presented on the theme after which participants were put into groups to discuss the papers with the view to identifying viable alternatives, success factors and other measures to enhance their ability to reduce poverty and peoples dependence on forests. This was the 4th in the series by TBI-Ghana Focus Group Discussions under the broad theme ‘Collaborative forest management: making the policy work’. Previous topics discussed include Natural resources management in Ghana: challenges to professionalism; Chainsaw lumber production: a necessary evil? and Equity in forest benefit sharing: stakeholders’ views. These are published as TBI-Ghana Workshop Proceedings. By providing a common discussion platform for stakeholders on topical forestry issues, TBI- Ghana promotes collaboration among forest stakeholders and also generates relevant information that can prompt a policy review. In putting the proceedings together, the editors try to objectively represent the views of participants expressed during the discussions. The views are edited for style and consistency but not with respect to the content. The opinions expressed in this publication are thus those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of Tropenbos International or Tropenbos International-Ghana. KSN November, 2005 __________________________________________________________________________________________________