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Community-Managed Forests, Household Fuelwood Use and Food Consumption

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  • Paudel, Jayash

Abstract

This paper evaluates the role of use of community-managed forests as a means of improving economic well-being of rural Nepalese households. It utilizes a nationwide survey consisting of detailed questionnaires related to household welfare and employs instrumental variable (IV) approach to investigate the linkage between community-managed forests and food consumption in Nepal. Results show that households that use community-managed forests for firewood spend significantly more on food consumption than those dependent on government-managed forests. The study further finds that community-managed forest users appear to be more participatory and are more likely to find their food consumption adequate. Together, these results provide compelling evidence that community-managed forests can be an effective means of addressing food insecurity in a developing country setting.

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  • Paudel, Jayash, 2018. "Community-Managed Forests, Household Fuelwood Use and Food Consumption," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 62-73.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:147:y:2018:i:c:p:62-73
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2018.01.003
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    3. Paudel, Jayash & Ryu, Hanbyul, 2018. "Natural disasters and human capital: The case of Nepal’s earthquake," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 1-12.
    4. Bliss, Sam & Egler, Megan, 2020. "Ecological Economics Beyond Markets," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 178(C).
    5. Paudel, Jayash, 2021. "Beyond the Blaze: The Impact of Forest Fires on Energy Poverty," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    6. Randell, Heather & Jiang, Chengsheng & Liang, Xin-Zhong & Murtugudde, Raghu & Sapkota, Amir, 2021. "Food insecurity and compound environmental shocks in Nepal: Implications for a changing climate," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    7. Shakya, Shishir & Basnet, Subuna & Paudel, Jayash, 2022. "Natural disasters and labor migration: Evidence from Nepal’s earthquake," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    8. Bharadwaj, Bishal & Subedi, Mukti Nath & Malakar, Yuwan & Ashworth, Peta, 2023. "Low-capacity decentralized electricity systems limit the adoption of electronic appliances in rural Nepal," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    9. Paudel, Jayash, 2021. "Short-run environmental effects of COVID-19: Evidence from forest fires," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Community-managed forests; Food security; Household welfare;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q18 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Agricultural Policy; Food Policy; Animal Welfare Policy
    • Q23 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - Forestry
    • Q57 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Ecological Economics

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