Socioeconomic Factors Determining Extraction of Non-timber Forest Products on the Slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania

Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) from natural forests in sub-Saharan Africa provide significant benefits to rural communities. In this study conducted on the foothills of Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, we assumed that the extraction of NTFPs by local communities is related to sex, income, age, household size, and distance from the forest. We interviewed 313 household heads from six villages. We employed a logistic regression with a logit link to test the significance among the variables. Younger females of larger households with lower income and less cultivated land cut fodder and collected firewood more frequently than other villagers. Firewood collection frequency decreased with increasing distance from village to forest whereas fodder collection frequency increased. Men collected medicinal plants more frequently than younger women and if the distance from the village was greater. For firewood and fodder extraction, inter-village variation was greater than intra-village variation, suggesting that differences in access to infrastructure and alternative fodder sites also strongly determined NTFP extraction. Our results contribute to a better targeted participatory forest management.