Assessing inequality effects of forest income and implications to rural household in the Province of Cagayan

Paper Details

Research Paper 01/10/2018
Views (336) Download (10)
current_issue_feature_image
publication_file

Assessing inequality effects of forest income and implications to rural household in the Province of Cagayan

Florante Victor M. Balatico
J. Bio. Env. Sci.13( 4), 161-180, October 2018.
Certificate: JBES 2018 [Generate Certificate]

Abstract

This study attempted to analyze the effect of forest income of rural households in the Cagayan Province, Philippines. The sample for analysis consists of 691 household-respondents. FGT was estimated in order to examine the income inequality and the poverty situation among the forest-dependent households with and without forest income. To analyze the factors related to the households’ forest dependence, an ordinary least squares regression analysis was conducted. In this study, forest dependence was expressed as the relative share of forest income to the total household income. On the average, poverty headcount or the number of households below the threshold level was greater if forest income was not accounted for. The significant factors that determine forest dependence are years of schooling of the household head, distance of the household from the clinic, size of the land owned by the household, machine value, distance of the household from the market, and distance of the household from the forest. All these factors have negative effect on forest dependence. Forest dependence has unequalizing effect to household income. It has become a source of income inequality among the rural households. However, this is not to say that forest dependent households must refrain from being forest dependent. Moreover, most of the non-forest income sources of the households are activities related to agriculture. This dependence makes the households vulnerable to natural shocks. It is therefore recommended that households should diversify its livelihood strategy such that not all of its activities are farm-based and forest-based. Rendering of skilled job, which may necessarily prompt a household member to migrate, can be an option. Moving away from the farm to work in the formal sector may be a reliable and more stable source of income.

VIEWS 19

Adams, Richard. 1994. Non-Farm Income and inequality in Rural Pakistan: A Decomposition Analysis. Journal of Development Studies, Vol 31, No.1 pp110-133.

Anderson, Dennis and Mark, Leiserson W. 1980. Rural Nonfarm Employment in Developing Countries Economic Development and Cultural Change pp. 227-247.

Angelsen, Arild and David Kaimovitz. Rethinking the Causes of Deforestatio: Lessons from Economic Models. The World Bank Observer, Vol 14, No. 1 February 1999. pp 73-98.

Arnold J, Ruiz E, Perez M. 2001. Can Nontimber forest products match tropical forest conservation and development objectives? Ecological Economics 39, pp.437-447. Asian Development Bank, 2005

Balisacan AM, Fujisaki S. 1999 eds. Causes of Poverty, Myths, Facts and Policies. Quezon City: UP Diliman Press.

Balisacan, Arsenio M. 2001. Poverty in the Philippines: An Update and Reexamination. Philippine Review of Economics Vol. XXXVIII, No. 1 pp. 5-52

Barret CB, Reardon T, Webb P. 2001. Nonfarm income diversification and household livelihood Strategies in Rural Africa: Concepts, dynamics and Policy Implications. Food Policy 26, pp. 315-331.

Belcher BM. 2005. Forest product markets, forests and poverty reduction International Forestry Review Vol. 7(2), pp. 82-89.

Byron N, Arnold M. 1999. What Futures for the People of the Tropical Forests? World Development, Vol 27, No. 5, p. 789-805.

Cavendish W. 2000.. Empirical Regularities in the Poverty-Environment relationship of African rural Households. World Development. Vol. 28, No. 11, pp. 1979-2003.

Cohen JM, Uphoff NT. 1978. Participation’s Place in Rural Development: Seeking Clarity Through Specificity. World Development 8, 213-235.

Coomes OT. 2001. When poor people depend on Biodiverse Environments: Rain Forest use and reliance among Amazonian peasants in the Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve Area, Peru. A Draft Paper to NEUDC Conference.

Coomes, Oliver and Graeme and Burt J. 2001. “Peasant Charcoal Production in the Peruvian Amazon: Rainforest Use and Economic Reliance. Forest Ecology and Management pp. 39-50.

DANAO RA. 2002. Introduction to Statistics and Econometrics. Quezon City: University of the Philippines Press.

Delang, Claudio. 2006. The Role of wild food plants in poverty alleviation and biodiversity conservation in tropical countries. Progress in Development Studies 6, 4, pp.275-286.

Feldman-Lopez, Alejandro, J. Edward Taylor and Antonio Yunez-Naude. 2011. “Natural Resource Dependence in rural Mexico” Investigación Económica, vol. LXX, 278, octubre-diciembre de 2011, pp. 15-36.

Fisher, Monica. 2004. “Household Welfare and Forest Dependence in Southern Malawi” Environment and Development Economics 9, 135-154. Cambridge University Press.

Fonta, William Munpuibeyi, Hyacinth Eme. Ichoku and Otu I. Ibor. 2010. “Forest extraction income, poverty and inequality: empirical evidence from a community forestry area in Southeastern Nigeria” Revised Discussion Paper Prepared for the Centre of Environmental Economics and Policy in Africa (CEEPA), August 2010.

Frank, Robert H. 2000. Microeconomics and Behavior. 4th edition New York: Mc Graw Hill.

Garcia, Yolanda T. 2004. Trends in the Sources of Income inequality in the Philippines: An Application of the Gini Decomposition Analysis to FIES 1985-2000. A Professorial Lecture, June 2004.

Geda, Alemayehu. 2001 “ Determinants of poverty in Kenya: A Household Level Analysis.” Institute of Social Studies and the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA).

Ghatak, Subrata. 1995. Introduction to Development Economics. New York: Routledge.

Godoy R. 1997. Household determinants of Deforestation by Amerindians in Honduras. World Development. Vol. 25, No. 6, pp. 977-987.

Grootaert, Christian. 1986. The Role of Employment and Earnings in Analyzing Levels of Living: a General Methodology with Applications to Malaysia and Thailand. World Bank. Living Standards Measurement Study (LSMS) Working paper No. 27.

Gujarati DN. 2003. Basic Econometrics. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Howe CW. 1979. Natural Resource Economics: Issues, Analysis and policy. Toronto: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.

HYMAN EL. 1983. “Analysis of the woodfuels market: a survey of fuelwood Seller and charcoal makers in the province of Ilocos Norte, Philippines” Biomass 3, 167-197.

Hyman, David N. 1986 Modern Microeconomics: Analysis and Applications. Missouri: Times Mirror/ Mosby college Publishing.

Hymer and Reznick S. 1969. A model of An Agrarian Economy. The American Economic Review Vol 50, pp. 493-506.

Johda NS. 1986, “Common Property Resources and Rural Poor in Dry Regions of India”, Economic and Political Weekly 11, 1169-1181.

Maddala GS. 2001. Introduction to Econometrics. (3rd ed.) New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.

Mammo, Getachew E, Sjaastad and Pal Vedeld. 2007. Economic Dependence on Forest Resources: A Case from Dendi District, Ethopia. Forest Policy and Economics. Vol. 9, Issue 8, pp. 916-927, May 2007.

Mangahas M, Gamboa E. 1974. A Note on Decompositions of the Gini Ratio by Familty and by Type of Income. The Philippine Review of business and Economics, Vol. XIII No. 2 December. pp. 97-130.

Matthews, Emely. 2006. “Undying Flame: The Continuing Demand for Wood as Fuel” Source: Excerpted from Pilot Analysis of Global Ecosystems: Forest Ecosystems. World Resources Institute, 2006.

Monsod, Solita and Toby Monsod. “International and Intranational Comparisons of Philippine Poverty”, pp. 51-95 in BALISACAN, A.M. and S. FUJISAKI. 1999 eds. Causes of Poverty, Myths, Facts and Policies. Quezon City: UP Diliman Press.

MORRIS. 2000. Validity of Rapid Estimates of Household wealth and income for health surveys in Rural Africa. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, May 54, pp. 381-387.

Pattanayak S, Erin Sills and Randall Kramer. 2004. “Seeing he forest for the fuel” Environment and Development Economics 9, 155-179 C. Cambridge University Press.

PATTON MQ. 1990. Qualitative Evaluation and Methods.(2nd ed.) Sage:Newbury Park, CA.

Ranis, Gustav F, Stewart E, Reyes A.. 1989. Linkages in Development: A Philippine Case Study. PIDS Working Paper No 89-02, PIDS, Makati.

Reardon T, VOSTI S. 1995. Links Between Rural Poverty and the Environment in Developing Countries: Asset Categories and Investment Poverty. World Development. Vol. 23, No. 9, pp. 1495-1506.

Reddy SRC, Chakravarty SP. 1999. Forest Dependence and Income Distribution in a Subsistence Economy: Evidence from India. World Development. Vol. 27, No. 7, pp. 1141-1149.

Remedio, Elizabeth M. 1999. Wood energy and livelihood patterns: a case study from the Philippines. Woodfuel Production, Trade and Education in the Philippines Proceedings of the National Consultation RWEDP Report No. 60.

Rwedp, Report. 1998. Woodfuel in the Philippines – Production and Marketing. World Bank 2000.

Shiferaw B, Bantilan C. 2004. Agriculture, rural poverty and natural resource management in less favored environments: Revisiting challenges and conceptual issues. Food, Agriculture and Environment Vol. 2(1), pp. 328-329.

Takasaki and Barham B. 2000. Rapid Rural Appraisal in Huid Tropical Forests: An Asset Possession-Based Approach and Validation for Wealth Assessment Among Forest Peasant Household. World Development. Vol. 28, No. 11, pp. 1961-1977.

Tietenberg T. 2003. Environmental and Natural Resource Economics. (7th ed) New York: Pearson Education, Inc.

TODARO M. 2000. Economic Development (7th ed.) United Kingdom:Pearson Education Limited.

WUNDER S. 2001. Poverty Alleviation and Tropical Forests-What Scope for Synergies? World Development. Vol. 29, No. 11, pp. 1817-11833.

Yadama, Gautam N, Bhanu Pragada R. Ravi and Pragada R.. 1995. Forest dependent survival strategies of tribal women: Implications for joint forest management in Andhra Pradesh, India. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Bangkok, Thailand.