Rural community dependency on woodland resources: the case of Foley and Makomoto settlements in Central-East Botswana

ABSTRACT

The unsustainable exploitation of savanna woodland resources in Botswana threatens the capabilities of the ecosystem to provide goods and services that are vital to rural household livelihoods, hence affecting the ecosystem sustainability and rural livelihoods. Therefore, this study documented the levels of rural households’ dependence on and socio-economic factors contributing to woodland resource dependency in Foley and Makomoto localities. Data was obtained in 92 sampled households using semi-structured questionnaires. The probit model was used to predict factors contributing to woodland resource dependency. Results established that rural household adapted various portfolios of livelihood activities which contribute to household income. Furthermore, woodland resources have a great significance to rural households’ well-being. The results show that the income derived from the woodland resources constitutes 58% in Makomoto and 43% in Foley of the total household income. The econometric results revealed that education, place of residence, non-agricultural income and household size significantly influenced the dependence on woodland resources . Woodland dependency decreased with educational level and non-agricultural income. Hence, a need to promote education and non-farming enterprises in rural communities. To combat unsustainable exploitation of the woodland resources, this study recommends the introduction of a community monitoring tool to rural communities.

KEYWORDS:

• Rural livelihoods
• savanna woodlands
• woodland resource dependency
• Botswana

Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank the Office of Research and Development for the financial support during data collection and the dissemination of the results. Special thanks to the residents of the two communities where the study was conducted for their participation and generosity.

Ethical considerations

All ethical considerations were observed. Ethical approval for this study was sourced through the University of Botswana’s Office of Research and Development (UBR/RES/IRB/SDC//070) on the 18 October 2019.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/03736245.2023.2167855

Additional information

Funding

This study was partially funded by the Office of Research and Development at the University of Botswana as part of PhD work.