Escaping Poverty's Grasp: A WAJIB Approach/or Environmental Conservation and Eco-Tourism Development to Enhance Rural Livelihoods. A Case Study on Integrated Forest Management Project (IFMP) Adaba-Dodola.
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Date
2010-05
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
The Bale Mountains in the high lands of Southern Ethiopia are an example for a huge
impact which rural population can create on natural resources such as forest and their
bio diversity. The heavy degradation of the remaining natural forests in this area has
initiated an intervention by the GTZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Technische
Zusammenarbeit) in 1995 with a goal to protect the remaining afro montane forest and
to develop, use and manage them sustainably. The community based approach which is
named WAJIB (Walda Jirratootaa Boossona), has been implemented to achieve the goal.
WAJIB granted an exclusive user right while at the same time entitling the community
with a right to earn a livelihood from wood and non-wood income generating activities.
This research made an attempt to see the governance, effectiveness and sustainability of
the approach while studying the contribution of the approach to enhanced capital assets
and livelihood outcome of the local community in the study area. The study deals with the
contribution of the approach to livelihoods, which is based on assessing the contribution
of the approach to the livelihood of the poor employing the livelihood framework as a
check list to collect, organize and analyze the data systematically. A mixed method
approach (quantitative and qualitative) is employed to generate the required data. A total
of 100 samples were drawn to collect the required data. After analyzing the data the
study concludes the approach has scored a momentous result on the development of the
capital assets of the community, but the analysis shows that the approach could not solve
all the initial problems in the study area. While the natural capital is improved in most of
the WAJIB areas it shows a deteriorating trend among the Non- WAJIBs due to the
difference in forest management among the two groups. In view of the financial capital
the introduction of alternative income possibilities and enhanced income from the
existing resources has boosted. In studying the improvement in the social capital, though
a strong social networks and connectedness is consolidated within and among the WAJIB
members, a conflicting and hostile relationship is being observed among WAJIB and
Non- WAJIB groups due to the creation ofWAJIB blocks with exclusive user rights for a
relatively limited number of beneficiaries. The contribution of Eco tourism to livelihood
out comes is found to be imperative at varying degrees to the different livelihood out
comes. While extremely important to meet cash needs; Furthermore, the study revealed
that individuals participating in eco tourism activity in the area are getting a mean
monthly income of 120 ETB, while the nonfinancial benefits accrue in similar vein. But a
further diffusion of income has to be supported. its contribution to people's empowerment
must be dealt in depth to made the local community respond authentically to a livelihood
strategy they may pursue in the future.
Key Words: WAJIB, Conservation, Livelihood, Capital Assets, Livelihood Out Comes
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Keywords
WAJIB, Conservation, Livelihood, Capital Assets, Livelihood Out Comes