Tanvir Ali

Impact of participatory forest management on vulnerability and livelihood assets of forest-dependent communities in northern Pakistan

During the past two decades, several (donor-funded) participatory forest management projects were implemented in the forest-rich North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan, but these projects could not reduce the high rate of deforestation in the province. In 1996 the Asian Development Bank funded the Forestry Sector Project (FSP) in NWFP, which has institutionalized the participatory forest management system in the province. Forests are important natural capital and an essential part of the daily lives of the people who live in and around them. It was therefore considered imperative to analyze the impact of the participatory forest management model introduced by the FSP through a livelihoods lens, and to assess the contribution to livelihood sustainability made by the participatory approach. The findings of the study may be applied to similar situations in Third World settings. People of similar socio-economic and ecological zones may learn lessons for accelerating the process of sustainable natural resource management in their areas. The results showed that the participatory forest management system introduced by the FSP has had a definite impact on increasing the natural and social assets of forest dwellers and reducing vulnerability to their livelihoods. But the project did not address most of the factors of vulnerability and the elites that dominated the newly created institutions. It is suggested that the available livelihood assets, diverse factors of vulnerability and livelihood strategies of the local communities should be analyzed before the implementation of such mega-projects.

Critical analysis of rural development initiatives in Pakistan: implications for sustainable development

espanolEn el mundo global, la pobreza persiste y domina en las zonas rurales. Para el desarrollo sostenible de las zonas rurales, al igual que otros paises en desarrollo, en Pakistan, muchos de los programas de desarrollo rural se iniciaron durante las ultimas seis decadas, pero se abandonaron por diversas razones. Los principales problemas relacionados con el incumplimiento o la terminacion de estos programas eran de tipo economico (bienestar), social y de sostenibilidad ambiental. Todos los programas de desarrollo rural se centraron en el incremento de la produccion de las explotaciones agrarias y no se dio enfasis a las actividades no agricolas y a cuestiones ambientales. Como la pobreza persiste y domina en las zonas rurales, especialmente las mujeres y los grupos marginados se vuelven mas vulnerables. Debido a esta situacion se debe dedicar una atencion especial a las cuestiones ambientales y a los recursos rurales no agricolas que generen ingresos, para el desarrollo sostenible en el pais. EnglishIn the global world poverty persists and dominates in rural areas. To develop rural people on sustained basis like other developing countries, in Pakistan many rural development programs were initiated during the last six decades but was terminated due to one or many reasons. The major concerns relating to the failure or termination of these programs were economic (well-being), social and environmental sustainability. In all the rural development programs focus was given increase in the production of agricultural farms and no emphasis was given to the non-farm income activities as well as environmental issues. Due to which poverty dominate and persists in rural areas, especially women and marginalized groups become more vulnerable. In this situation state should give special emphasis to environmental issues and rural non-farm income resources for sustainable development in the country.e

ANALYSIS OF INTEREST FREE MICRO CREDIT SCHEME OF AKHUWAT IN DISTRICT MANSEHRA, KPK: IMPLICATION FOR POVERTY REDUCTION AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT IN PAKISTAN

*Microcredit is considered as a strategy for poverty reduction & rural development. Poor people may invest small loans in farm or non-farm activities for income generation to secure their livelihoods. Most of the micro-credit schemes in Pakistan are based on interest but there are few organizations; Akhuwat is one of them who claim that they offer interest-free loans. The present research project took the Akhuwat as case study. Akhuwat adopted the concept of ``Qaraz-e-Hassna`` or simply interest free loan. The present study was conducted on the basis two guiding questions of research. The methodology for this research project was based on qualitative data collection however & quantitative data was also used on limited scale to elucidate the qualitative data. It was concluded that majority of the respondents got the loan for expansion in existing business. 80% of the respondents utilized the loan for intended purpose. Education, food and was ranked at 1 st , 2nd and 3 rd order respectively by the respondents impacted by Akhuwat loan scheme.

IMPACT OF AGRICULTURAL SERVICES PROVIDED BY NON-STATE ACTORS ON RURAL LIVELIHOODS: A CASE OF DISTRICT MANSEHRA, KHYBER PUKHTUNKHWA, PAKISTAN

The failure of state actors/institutions in the country in delivering agricultural advisory and extension services to the rural community created a space for non-state actors to deliver these services at the door steps of majority of the rural poor people in order to improve their livelihoods. This situation prevails in all the four provinces of the country especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where rural poverty is evident. In order to access the impact of agricultural services rendered by different non-state institutions on the livelihoods of rural poor in this region, the current research study was designed. The study was conducted in district Mansehra (one of the most populated district of Hazara division). Both qualitative and quantitative approaches were used for the collection of data from respondents. The data were collected from the rural community of those villages where the selected non-state organizations were involved in a variety of rural development related activities/tasks. The data were collected from 450 respondents randomly selected from 6 villages. The collected data were analyzed by using computer based statistical software – SPSS. From the results it was concluded that majority of the respondents had age between 36-50 years with secondary educational level. The land holding size of the respondents in the research was very small. It was also concluded that a large majority (>80.0%) of respondents said that agricultural services rendered by non-state institutions like extension education, trainings related to crop & livestock management, poultry & forestry services, vaccination for livestock and awareness campaigns regarding latest agricultural technologies improved their overall agricultural productivity as well as livelihoods. It was also concluded that regarding impacts of agricultural services rendered by non-state organizations, a large majority of the respondents (89.6%) said that their agricultural services increased their agricultural productivity. While exploring the reasons due to which agricultural related services of non-state organizations play role in improving livelihoods of rural people, the results of the study indicated that in extension and education services majority (54.6%) of the respondents said that social organizations provided good quality extension and education related services to the rural community. Finally, it was concluded that agricultural services of non-state organizations were very effective and played a significant role in upgrading the livelihoods of rural poor.