DETERMINANTS OF HOUSEHOLD PARTICIPATION IN COMMUNITY FOREST MANAGEMENT IN KENYA: A CASE STUDY OF GAZZETTED GOVERNMENT FORESTS IN KEIYO NORTH SUB COUNTY OF KEIYO /MARAKWET COUNTY

Abstract

The devolution and decentralization of the management of state forests through the use of participatory forest management (PFM) has become a policy tool for many developing countries, Kenya included. Decentralization in the management of forests has come out of the realization that governments as the main stakeholders and owners of the forest lands play an important role in making policies and decisions that affect the livelihood of the forest adjacent communities. But these decisions never included views from the communities. Involving the forest adjacent communities in the day to day management of the forest and providing them with some assurance that they will continue to enjoy all the benefits they have been getting from the forest has in a way greatly helped in bringing down the rate of forest destruction to minimum levels. However, in spite of the significant role the forests in Keiyo North Sub County are playing to the environment they are faced with eminent decline which is a result of anthropogenic causes especially illegal logging, overgrazing, frequent forest fires, and receding waters levels from the springs and charcoal making. This study, therefore, was carried out to identify the determinants of household participation in community forest management in gazzetted forests of Keiyo North Sub County. Structured and open ended questionnaires were administered to forest adjacent households living within 5 km from the forest boundaries. Descriptive statistics was used to analyze the data. The logit regression model was used for further analysis. The SPSS version 17 was the package used in the analysis of the collected data. The results revealed that only (45.8%) of the households participated in PFM. Participation of men in PFM activities was higher than women though women tended to get more forest benefits than men. Households that were bigger in size were more involved in PFM than smaller households. The results showed that more than half (63.4%) of the respondents were not members of any social group found within the community Results from the logistic regression showed that the factors that increased household participation in PFM were household membership in self-help groups, household ownership of livestock and the main type of food crop grown. It is recommended that the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) increase public awareness activities on PFM to increase understanding and make the forest adjacent communities to get more involved through the development of the self-help/social groups.