Poverty Alleviation through Forest Resource Management: An Analysis of Leasehold Forestry Practice in Nepal Principal Investigator:

Natural resources are the key assets on which the poor build their livelihoods. In the absence of appropriate institutional mechanism poverty and natural resource become interlinked in a manner with one exacerbating the other. In this regards, appropriate property right regimes are considered vital both for addressing the problem of resource degradation and alleviation of absolute poverty. Based on this conceptual framework the Leasehold Forestry (LHF) for the poor has been practiced in Nepal for a decade. This study aims to examine through quantitative evidence how far the programme has been successful in reducing poverty incidence among participating LHF households. The study also aims to analyze the exogenous factors determining forest output using a household production function under imperfect market condition. As LHF programme is a demand based programme that has rapidly expanded to 26 of the 75 districts of Nepal within a short span of time, positive changes in socio-economic indicators among LHF is anticipated. The results of this study will provide policy makers with important insights on management of degraded land for poverty alleviation. If proved successful, this innovative experiment of Nepal can provide valuable lessons to countries facing similar resource degradation and poverty problems