The importance of non-timber forest products in rural livelihood security and as safety nets: a review of evidence from South Africa

We review and synthesize recent South African work that examines the role and importance of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) in the daily lives of rural people in South Africa. The most commonly used such products are wild spinaches, fuelwood, wooden utensils edible fruits, grass hand-brushes, and twig hand-brushes, used by 85% or more of households. More than half the households investigated also make use of edible insects, wood for construction, bushmeat, wild honey and reeds for weaving. Individual households may exploit dozens of animal and plant species. The range in annual, direct-use values is large, from less than R1000 per household per year to over R12 000. The value to rural households is manifest through a daily net function which represents a cost saving to the families involved and to the state, as well as through an emergency net, which serves as an insurance in times of misfortune, such as drought, disease, and unexpected economic hardship. The emergency net function has hardly been quantified in South Africa and internationally. Ad hoc trade in NTFPs is a common emergency net, which in some instances evolves into a permanent way of life. Financial returns from trade are variable, depending on resource type and hours worked, but are typically low. Despite the small cash incomes from trade, they provide an important contribution that complement the diverse livelihood strategies within a household, especially for the poorer sectors of rural society. Moreover, there are non-financial benefits of NTFP trade that are commonly overlooked

The prevalence of use and value of wild edible herbs in South Africa

The prevalence of use and commercial value of wild edible herbs in South Africa is examined from four recent quantitative studies at eight different sites. The use of wild edible herbs was widespread in rural communities, with over 90% of households using them in all but one sample site. Mean frequency of use in season was generally between two and five times per week, with a mean of four times across all sites. But many households consume them daily. Use in winter was less than in summer. The mass of wild edible herbs consumed ranged from 12 kg to over 130 kg per household per year. Local (farm-gate) prices ranged from R2.65 to R72 per kilogram, but were generally between R30 and R40 per kg. Direct-use value to consuming households ranged from R85 to almost R5000 across the eight sites, with a mean of R1020 per user household per year. Although harvesting of wild herbs takes time, the high gross direct-use value represents a considerable saving on having to purchase commercial alternatives. Key species differ from place to place both in availability and use, and include both indigenous and exotic species. Commonly used genera include Amaranthus, Bidens, Chenopodium, Cleome, Corchorus, and Momordica. The use, value and trade in wild edible herbs currently receives no recognition in land and agrarian reform policies. It is imperative that this be addressed, and the relationships between rural livelihoods, use of wild edible herbs, food security, and land and resource tenure be clarified, and debated within the policy forums around different models for, and delivery of, agrarian reform and rural development

Will the real custodian of natural resource management please stand up

South Africa is the custodian of an immense wealth of biodiversity resources, and is estimated to be the third most biodiverse country in the world. At the ecosystem level this biodiversity supports the production of goods and services used by us all; water, air, soil fertility, wood, food, etc. At a more local level the harvesting of numerous natural resources provides consumptive products for millions of poor South Africans, as well as income for equally significant numbers.Consumption of and trade in these resources is the very mainstay of their well-being, and crucial in preventing deeper poverty levels. For example, despite massive improvements in the provision of electricity, most rural and a significant proportion of urban South Africans continue to use fuelwood as a key energy source for cooking (e.g. 65% of electrified households in the urban areas of Makana municipality, and 92% of households in the rural areas of Bushbuckridge); approximately 75% of the population use medicinal plants for medicinal or cultural reasons; and millions of urban and rural households make use of wild edible herbs. With such high demand for these resources, it is not unsurprising that there are large and established trade networks spanning local, regional, national and, for some resources (e.g. specific medicinal plants, mopane worms), international boundaries. The total value of this trade is unknown, and unrecorded in local or national economic or GDP statistics. It certainly equates to billions of rands per year. The direct-use and trade values are substantial and provide a cost saving to the State. Where biodiversity resources are overused or exhausted, people have to purchase alternatives, which reduces their scarce cash resources, thereby increasing their likely dependency on State welfare grants

Re-examining local and market-orientated use of wild species for the conservation of biodiversity

The hypothesis of attaching and realising market values as one means of conserving biodiversity has gained ground over the last decade. This has been challenged recently after examination of a number of case studies, largely from tropical Amazonia, on high value logging, marketing of non-timber forest products, and bioprospecting. The conclusion was that market-orientated conservation has seldom generated the financial returns envisaged, and as such cannot be used as an incentive to prevent land transformation. This paper reviews the basis of the challenge to market-orientated conservation on a number of grounds, drawing on examples largely from southern Africa. It concludes that generalizations from tropical Amazonia regarding the failure of market-orientated conservation are probably premature, and that it should remain an option, amongst a number of options, for conservation of biodiversity. Additionally, the prerequisite criteria identified as necessary to create an enabling framework for the success of market-orientated conservation are insufficient. Case studies are presented where the prerequisites do not apply, yet current extraction for market purposes is sustainable. Other potential prerequisites are also considered. There is a need for multivariate analysis, based on a large sample size drawn from across a range of environments and resources, of which factors are important prerequisites for successful market-orientated conservation, and under which circumstances

Changes in fuelwood use and selection following electrification in the Bushbuckridge lowveld, South Africa

Fuelwood is the primary energy source for domestic purposes throughout the developing world, in both urban and rural environments. Due to the detrimental impacts of biomass use on human and environmental health, many governments have sought to reduce its use through provision of potentially cleaner energies, of which electricity is the dominant form. Yet there are surprisingly few studies of changes in fuelwood use following the introduction of electricity, especially in rural areas of Africa. This paper reports on a longitudinal study of fuelwood use, using identical approaches, in five rural villages in the Bushbuckridge region of South Africa, spanning the period over which electricity became widely available. Almost a decade after the introduction of electricity, over 90% of households still used fuelwood for thermal purposes, especially cooking, and the mean household consumption rates over the 11-year period had not changed, even with a policy of 6 kWh per month of free electricity. The proportion of households purchasing fuelwood had increased, probably in response to a number of factors, including (i) increased fuelwood scarcity in the local environment as reflected by increased fuelwood collection times, changes in fuelwood species preferences, and ranking of scarcity by local collectors, and (ii) increases in the price of fuelwood well below that of other fuels and the prevailing inflation rate. Overall, there was an increase in the number of species harvested over the 11-year period. The implications of these findings for rural energy provision are discussed

Public green space inequality in small towns in South Africa

The distribution of public green space within towns is frequently uneven, and influenced by attributes such as its location relative to the commercial core, as well as the ethnicity and relative wealth and education of the residents. Yet most studies are from large cities in developed countries. In contrast, this study reports on the distribution of public green space across 9 small towns in a developing country, namely South Africa, which offers a unique case study because of its former racially defined settlement patterns. We do so using GIS analysis of aerial photographs focusing on 3 types of suburbs in each town, defined on the basis of wealth as well as race-based history under the previous apartheid regime. The more affluent suburbs, inhabited mainly by whites, have the lowest density of housing and the highest area of green space per capita. Proportionally, they have a similar area under public green space as to the previously racially defined townships, but because of the lower housing density, they have a greater area per person. The newly built low-cost housing areas (termed RDP suburbs), occupied largely by poor black South Africans, are poorly endowed with public green space, and fare worse than the other 2 suburb types on all attributes measured. This needs to be addressed in further low-cost housing developments

Using local experts as benchmarks for household local ecological knowledge: scoring in South African savannas

It is well recognised that local ecological knowledge is an important facet of natural resource management in rural regions of the developing world. However, techniques to assess levels and to integrate it into formal or informal management approaches require further development. In particular, quantitative tools are missing, which would allow more robust analysis of the factors that positively or negatively affect local ecological knowledge and vice versa. This paper reports on a quick assessment approach that provides a quantitative score of generalist local ecological knowledge at the household level. It does so by comparing responses to the knowledge of local people identified as experts within the community. In this way it is both locally constructed and contextualized, and thereby avoids pitfalls of trying to score local ecological knowledge relative to conventional scientific knowledge which frequently cannot account for local constructs. The approach is applied at eight villages throughout the savanna biome in South Africa

Links between the local trade in natural products, livelihoods and poverty alleviation in a semi-arid region of South Africa

Can the local commercialization of natural products contribute to reduced poverty and vulnerability? Commentary on this issue is mixed, with some observers being quite optimistic, while others hold a counterview. This paper explores the poverty alleviation potential of four products traded in Bushbuckridge, South Africa—traditional brooms, reed mats, woodcraft, and “marula” beer. While key in enhancing the livelihood security of the poorest households, these products were unlikely to provide a route out of poverty for most, although there were exceptions. Incomes often surpassed local wage rates, and some producers obtained returns equivalent to the minimum wage. Non-financial benefits such as the opportunity to work from home were highly rated, and the trade was found to represent a range of livelihood strategies both within and across products

The importance of dry woodlands and forests in rural livelihoods and poverty alleviation in South Africa

Indigenous forests and savannas, along with plantation forests, offer numerous benefits to rural communities and society at large. Yet, the role of forests and forestry in contributing to sustainable livelihoods and poverty alleviation are widely debated. However, much of the debate pertains to lessons from the humid tropics, with little consideration of the widespread dry forests and savannas. This paper considers the role of dry forest types, including savannas, using South Africa as a case example. It concludes that a large proportion of the population makes use of forests and the resources from them. These are vital components of local livelihoods, which probably prevent people from slipping into deeper poverty. Moreover, for a measurable proportion, engagement in informal forest activities, as well as the formal forestry sector, has resulted in them being able to move out of poverty. Additionally, the generally dry nature of forests in South Africa, coupled with the high unemployment rate, limit the extent of alternative locally based livelihood options, thereby magnifying the contributions from forests and forest products. The depressing effects of widespread HIV/AIDS on labour availability, economic activities and livelihoods has exacerbated peoples' dependence on forest products

The distribution, abundance and composition of street trees in selected towns of the Eastern Cape, South Africa

Street trees are an important component of the urban forest as they provide critical ecosystem services which contribute to human health and environmental quality. However, little is known about the distribution, diversity and density of street trees, particularly in the developing world where urbanisation is most rapid. Thus, the aim of this paper was to assess the distribution, composition and abundance of street trees across three towns along an environmental gradient in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, and identify the key challenges faced by local officials concerned with the provision of street trees. In each town, streets were randomly sampled in the commercial, affluent residential, township settlement and low cost housing areas under the Reconstruction and Development Program (RDP). Attributes recorded per tree were species, circumference, height and health, while semi-structured interviews were conducted with the municipal officials involved in the establishment and maintenance of street trees. A total of 1,485 trees were encountered, comprising 61 species. The majority (56%) of trees were alien species. Noticeable differences in tree density and species richness were evident across suburbs, being highest in the more affluent suburbs and poorly represented in the low income township and RDP areas. There was a decreasing mean tree height and health score along the environmental gradient from the coastal town to the inland town. Although awareness of the benefits of street trees was high, as was the need to reduce the proportion of alien species, the primary constraint to establishment and maintenance of street trees in the three towns was limited budget and human resources