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In Malawi human pressure on forest resources is severe. Although more than one million hectares of the country’s total land area of 9.4 million hectares have been set aside in protected areas, these areas remain under threat because Malawi’s rural population continues to rely on forest lands for agricultural expansion and resource expropriation. Understandably, with almost two-thirds of its population living in poverty, boosting agricultural production is a high priority in the country.
As opportunities for land-extensive agricultural growth fade, increased agricultural
productivity is needed, made possible with new crop varieties accompanied by increased use of labor and other inputs.
Agricultural intensification has been viewed by many policy makers as a potential
forest-saving alternative to extensive forms of agriculture such as shifting cultivation.
However, the degree to which agricultural intensification can help to alleviate tropical forest decline remains unclear. New agricultural technologies typically render agriculture more profitable, and can thereby increase incentives to clear forests. But market conditions, institutional factors, and technology characteristics also influence outcomes. In some settings agricultural intensification has been found to decrease forest pressure, and in others to increase it.
Agricultural intensification also can impact forests indirectly, in ways other than by changing land uses. In tropical countries, many farm households earn income from selling forest products, often because farm production is insufficient to provide food self-sufficiency year round. In these settings, agricultural intensification, by making farming more profitable, should increase households’ incentives to work on farm and, subsequently, reduce labor allocation to forest product commercialization.
In this document, the authors examine the impact of an agricultural subsidy program on forest pressure in Malawi. Malawi’s Starter Pack Scheme (SPS) aimed to promote agricultural intensification by providing smallholder farm households with free packets of hybrid maize seed and fertilizer. Using household survey data collected in southern Malawi, they have explored the impact of the program on forest clearing and forest product marketing.
Results show households receiving a starter pack had lower levels of commercial forest extraction than non-recipient households. Findings also reveal that starter pack recipients cleared slightly less forest during the survey year.
In tandem, the study findings suggest potential modest improvement in forest condition due to the SPS.
Categories: (a) Renewable Resources: Forestry
(b) Poverty and Environmental Degradation |
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