Assessing the forest cover change and economic values of non-timber forest products: a case study of Kasyoha-Kitomi forest reserve in western Uganda.

Abstract

The main purpose of this study was to assess the forest cover change and economic values of non-timber forest products around Kasyoha-Kitomi Forest Reserve in Western Uganda. Specifically, this study aimed to; (i) determine the trends of forest cover change and drivers of forest degradation in the Kasyoha-Kitomi Forest Reserve within 10 years. (ii) determine community participation in the value chain of NTFPs in the Kasyoha-Kitomi Forest Reserve. (iii) determine the contribution of market values of non-timber forest products on household income and food security. A multistage sampling technique was used in this study. The quantification of forest cover change involved: image acquisition, unsupervised classification, ground-truthing, supervised classification, accuracy assessment and change detection. Cloud free Lands at images was used. The researcher also utilized the following data collection methods: Household Survey Method and Market Survey. During the market survey, information on market price, how prices change across seasons, market capacity, and quantities of different NTFPs that reach the market were collected. Types, prices, and amounts of NTFPs supplied and sold at the market was recorded. Total sales per year was also determined to obtain the total income. Twelve key informant interviews involving village leaders, resource users, forest staff guards, Animal Industry and Fisheries and Ministry of Environment, and NFA Officials of the Kasyoha-Kitomi Forest Reserve was conducted A structured questionnaire composed of closed and open-ended questions was used to guide the household interviews. The economic value of each NTFP was obtained based on the Shackleton and Shackleton model. Qualitative data collected through FGDs and key informant interviews was analysed using content analysis. Quantitative data including the amount of NTFPs collected and the unit value of NTFPs was coded, processed, and descriptively analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) computer software tools. The study shows that there was a general decrease in forest cover in Kasyoha-Kitomi FR for the period 2013-2023 from 79.8% in 2013 to 65.4% in 2023 within a period of 10 years, the Kasyoha-Kitomi FR has lost 14.4% of its size. Also, study found that communities largely participated in the collection of NTFPs whereby 100% were collecting fire wood, charcoal and honey and most preferred product is firewood with (100%). It was also established that 14 NTFPs ranging between food products, firewood, and construction materials were collected, produced, and traded by households living adjacent to the Kasyoha Kitomi Forest Reserve. The mean annual value of the identified NTFPs ranged between 13,274,000/=Ush to 10,000,000/= Ush. Honey, Fish, charcoal and firewood had the highest mean annual value. The study findings thus established that the collection of NTFPs generally contributes 38.6% to food security. It is recommended that supporting of communities around with energy saving stoves, reduction in prices of sources of energy and increase their accessibility, encouraging of communities to do re-afforestation and they can give the trees plantlets for free, inclusion of communities around the reserve into government, authorities in forest programs. Lastly, creation of awareness programs by the government and encouraging the cultivation of edible and medicinal tree species around homes.