Journal of Food, Agriculture and Environment

Personifying sustainable rural livelihoods in forest fringe communities in Ghana: A historic rhetoric?

Author(s):

Divine Odame Appiah

Recieved Date: 2009-04-06, Accepted Date: 2009-10-10

Abstract:

This paper examines the concept of sustainable rural livelihood within the context of forest fringe communities in Ghana. The rhetoric of using forestry to sustain community livelihoods has been approached with ambivalence. In this wise, the focus is on the perceived relationships that exist between the forest as an independent resource and the forest fringe communities as dependents of the resource. Within forest-fringe districts like any other local and agrarian environments in Ghana, the livelihoods of the people are largely predicated on subsistent agriculture. Alternatively, it also entails the exploitation of the natural resources including forest resource supplies as integral part of the larger socio-economic sustainability of the these communities in the district. The issue of rural sustainable livelihoods in forest fringe communities has been perceived as a critical approach to meeting the conservation and management of forest resources and the communities that subsist on the resource. Hitherto, the interventions had almost invariably been presented in the well-recognized/protected forest reserves, under formal institutional management. In recent years however, the need for a shift in this attention has engendered what could be termed as off-reserve forest resources management. In this connection, the off-reserve areas which are predominantly occupied by subsistent farmers in agro-forestry have been advocated as the desired areas for forest resource conservation and management. This is in view of the role played in supplying forest resources both tree and non-tree forest products (NTFPs) on sustainable basis. In this connection, the farmers and forest end-users within forest communities are perceived as agents of operation and change. Ultimately, the long-term goal is to create a strong synergy among various stakeholders of forestry, regarding use rights and responsibilities of conservation and management. This has the avowed aim to promote in the country, particularly in forest fringe communities, commitment to conservation and management of forest resources for sustainable rural livelihoods.

Keywords:

Off-reserve resources, conservation and management, sustainable livelihood, forest fringe communities

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Journal: Journal of Food, Agriculture and Environment
Year: 2009
Volume: 7
Issue: 3&4
Category: Environment
Pages: 873-877

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