Environment-Poverty linkages in West Africa: Household dependence on renewable natural resources in Central Burkina Faso By Mariève Pouliot

Objective “To estimate the contribution of renewable natural resources to rural household income in central Burkina Faso”

Study area

Study area Semi-arid tropical climate Mostly open/fragmented dry forests with parklands and savannah in between National park Kaboré-Tambi Strategy of pure conservation (no access rights for population) Forest products harvested illegally 9 villages / 323 households sampled National Park 155,000 ha

Basic income statistics Study Area National average Average income per adjusted adult equivalent (USD) 280 3001 (2003) Share of population below 1,25$/day 86.5% 56.5%2 (2009) Gini 38.8 39.62 (2009) 1 Institut National de la Statistique et de la Démographie du Burkina Faso, 2003 2 UNDP Human Development Report 2009

Mean income shares by source Red ”X” and numbers show the effect of forest and env incomes on gini coefficient

Forest and environmental incomes B BC C Stat significance of env dependency

Forest and environmental products

Seasonal variation

Conclusions Forest and other environmental income = 26% Poorer households are significantly more dependent on environment than richer households Fuelwood, shea, fodder and thatching grasses most important products Account for 70% of all forest and other env income Little seasonal variation in environmental income Important source of cash during lean period (gap filling)

Acknowledgments