Pro-Poor Programs of Nepal's Community Forestry: Who Benefits?

Abstract

"Nepal's community forestry is a major program in the country in forestry sector. It generates income of over $10 million annually and also invests part of it in the village for developmental works including pro-poor programs. This paper examines the investment of community forest user group funds in pro-poor programs and also who benefits from it. The paper relies on primary data of 29 community forest user groups of three different mid-hill districts of Nepal. A set of questionnaire was developed and administered to a small group of the executive committee members. The generated income through community forestry is being invested in different development works. The pro-poor programs receive one-third of the annual investment of the community forest user groups which indicates a significant increment in the investment. Although the investment in pro-poor programs has increased significantly poor households are not benefiting from it as expected. Non-poor are benefiting more from flow of loan, one major activity of pro-poor programs, suggesting that pro-poor program is not really propoor. The paper argues that providing in-kind as loan rather than cash would benefit poor more and also concludes that the targeted pro-poor activities clearly need significant refinement and monitoring."