Using product-specific fuelwood yields to assess economic viability : a case study of farm-based Gliricidia sepium and Caesalpinia velutina plantations in Nicaragua

Non-industrial fuelwood plantations are commonly seen as a means of improving rural livelihoods while helping to meet energy demand. However, for smallholders to invest in the establishment of fuelwood plantations, economic viability is required. Two of the greatest sources of uncertainty in evaluating the economic viability of fuelwood plantations are the effects that market-specific requirements can have on the stumpage price a plantation owner can hope to receive and the lack of appropriate growth and yield information. The primary objective of this thesis was to determine if Caesalpinia velutina and Gliricidia sepium fuelwood plantations in Nicaragua could be economically viable in the smallholder context if sold within the market place. To improve the accuracy of the economic viability assessment, a novel approach was used that forecasted fuelwood yields by market-specific product segments, thereby accounting for the effects of market requirements on differential revenues and costs. Data on market demand, product segment dimensions and prices were collected by measuring fuelwood logs and by interviewing fuelwood consuming business owners. To forecast fuelwood log volume by product segments, species-specific yield models based on three separate sub-models were developed: 1) mean diameter at breast height (DBH) predicted over time; 2) mean height as a function of mean DBH; and 3) taper as a function of mean DBH and mean height. Mortality was assumed to be zero, following establishment mortality. To assess economic viability, information on costs, discount rates, market requirements and fuelwood yields by product segment were combined using the net present value (NPV) and the internal rate of return (IRR). It was concluded that fuelwood plantation yields according to product-specific requirements were essential for the economic viability analysis. In the context of this study, farm-based Caesalpinia velutina and Gliricidia sepium fuelwood plantations could be economically viable over longer rotations. However, barriers to entry such as access to capital and the need for reaching economies of scale made it unlikely that fuelwood plantations could be economically viable for smallholders without institutional support.Forestry, Faculty ofGraduat

The economics of smallholders’ forestland-use decisions : implications for afforestation programs

The traditional discipline of forest economics has largely overlooked smallholders’ forestland-use decision-making process, which is perplexing given that they are the most numerous type of forest manager in the world. To address this gap, this thesis advances the literature on the economic decision-making context of smallholders’ forestland-use decisions. This advancement is critical to improving the design of smallholder afforestation programs. This research gap is addressed in this thesis through three research chapters. The first research chapter proposes a theoretical construct for modelling smallholders’ forestland-use decisions. The second research chapter assesses the relative contribution of smallholders’ preferences towards the non-market values of trees in their forestland-use decisions and psychometrically segments smallholders based on those preferences. The third research chapter describes and estimates a model of smallholders’ participation in tree product markets using a combination of smallholder-specific transaction costs, shadow prices and preferences. The first research chapter is theoretical whereas the second and third research chapters are empirical using data collected from a smallholder afforestation program in Nicaragua that is currently underway. For the last two research chapters, I conducted a total of 630 surveys and 1 818 discrete choice experiments with 210 smallholders over a 12-month period. My research findings suggest that smallholders’ forestland-use decisions are governed by very different principles than those proposed in much of the existing forest economics literature. My findings are best understood in an agricultural context of competing uses for household assets and interdependent consumption and production decisions. I argue that due to transaction costs, market prices are no longer representative of decision prices; rather these prices are shaped by both endogenous smallholder-specific preferences, and characteristics of the household, farm and landscape. Forest production strategies range from natural regeneration on uncultivated land to intensive management of the forest resource to produce market and non-market values. In the absence of profitable market opportunities, non-market values play a much more important role in smallholders’ forestland-use choices than previously believed. My research offers a new approach for analyzing smallholders’ forestland-use decisions and provides a new set of tools to better assess, design, and target smallholder afforestation program policies.Forestry, Faculty ofGraduat

Towards a Theoretical Construct for Modelling Smallholders’ Forestland-Use Decisions: What Can We Learn from Agriculture and Forest Economics?

Academic research on smallholders’ forestland-use decisions is regularly addressed in different streams of literature using different theoretical constructs that are independently incomplete. In this article, we propose a theoretical construct for modelling smallholders’ forestland-use decisions intended to serve in the guidance and operationalization of future models for quantitative analysis. Our construct is inspired by the sub-disciplines of forestry and agricultural economics with a crosscutting theme of how transaction costs drive separability between consumption and production decisions. Our results help explain why exogenous variables proposed in the existing literature are insufficient at explaining smallholders’ forestland-use decisions, and provide theoretical context for endogenizing characteristics of the household, farm and landscape. Smallholders’ forestland-use decisions are best understood in an agricultural context of competing uses for household assets and interdependent consumption and production decisions. Forest production strategies range from natural regeneration to intensive management of the forest resource to co-jointly produce market and non-market values. Due to transaction costs, decision prices are best represented by their shadow as opposed to market prices. Shadow prices are shaped by endogenous smallholder-specific preferences for leisure, non-market values, time, risk, and uncertainty. Our proposed construct is intended to provide a theoretical basis to assist modellers in the selection of variables for quantitative analysis.Forestry, Faculty ofLand and Food Systems, Faculty ofNon UBCForest Resources Management, Department ofReviewedFacult

Culturally driven forest management, utilization and values : a Nuxalk First Nations case study

The forests of British Columbia have been managed for thousands of years to provide a range of products and services. For the Nuxalk people of Bella Coola, BC, their forests were used to: build homes and canoes, act as a transportation system (grease trails), and provide material for clothing, fuel and cultural/artistic needs. These forests also provide a host of plants used for nourishment and medicine. With the arrival of Western cultures the lives of First Nations people have been dramatically altered; and from a First Nations perspective, these traditional goods and services have been eroded. Today they seek to restore and protect the forests which provide these goods and services, while at the same time recognizing the needs of a modern life which include: improved housing, energy that is environmentally friendly and the development of new products and services to sustain their economy. Over the past year a number of people from different disciplines came together at the University of British Columbia to assist the Nuxalk Nation by conducting a series of applied research projects (titles in bold). These included Exploring Forest Management Alternatives and developing options for addressing some of the key economic, environmental, social and cultural challenges. The projects developed to address these challenges included a number of energy projects that focused on Forest Biomass for Hot Water and Warm Houses, Energy from Wood Waste, and Sawdust Products: Briquettes and Biochar. Other economic development projects focused on markets for non-timber forest products such as those identified in An Essential Oils Plan and high value artisanal products that can be developed using advanced Manufacturing and Design Technology. To assist with social development, the UBC team focused on the inadequacy of residential and senior’s housing and plans were developed to provide Help and Housing for Those Who Need it Most, and culturally reflective designs were completed for a Solid Wood House Made in Bella Coola. The series of short articles which follow are a brief description of these projects. We do wish to thank the Nuxalk people for agreeing to work with us, and some major financial sponsors that made it possible: the Nuxalk Development Corporation, MITACS Research Funds and the Coast Opportunity Funds.Applied Science, Faculty ofArchitecture and Landscape Architecture (SALA), School ofForest Resources Management, Department ofForestry, Faculty ofOther UBCNon UBCReviewedFacultyResearcherGraduat