Contribution of non-timber forest products to national employment following weather shocks: evidence from 24 countries

ABSTRACT

Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) have been shown to play an important role in the livelihoods of rural communities, especially when experiencing an economic shock. However, their role at the macro-level is less understood. This paper assembled unique data from 24 countries and determined the contribution of NTFPs to employment and the effect of weather shocks on employment in NTFPs. Results show that NTFPs contribute about 0.03% to national employment and make up about 2% of the total agriculture sector labour force. Weather shocks (droughts and floods) increase the number of people employed in NTFPs by more than 16,000 workers per year, which is about 0.8% of the total agriculture labour force, and this effect is increasing in forest size. We contribute to the literature on the role of forests and NTFPs in employment creation at the national level.

KEYWORDS:

• Non-timber forest products
• employment
• weather shocks
• agriculture

JEL CLASSIFICATION:

• J23
• Q54
• L73

Acknowledgements

The author gratefully acknowledges the financial support for this research by the following organizations and agencies: the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida); the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC); the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR); the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia; and the Government of the Republic of Kenya. The views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of the donors.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

¹ Available at: https://www.fao.org/forest-resources-assessment/fra-2020/country-reports/en/.