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Journal of Geography and Regional Planning Vol. 4(3), pp. 159-168, March 2011
Available online at http://www.academicjournals.org/JGRP
ISSN 2070-1845 ©2011 Academic Journals
Full Length Research Paper
Importance of non-timber forest products in native
household economy
Somnath Ghosal
Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta, India. E-mail: ghosalindia@gmail.com. Tel: +91 (0) 33 2462
7252/5794/5795. Fax: +91 (0) 33 2462 6183.
Accepted 10 February, 2011
Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) have an important role in the household economy of forest fringe
dwellers living in the dry-deciduous forests of Purulia, Bankura and West Midnapur districts of West
Bengal, India. Due to the lack of agricultural land and industrial activities, forest fringe people collect
forest products in regular basis for their livelihoods. They also make some value-added products to
have some extra money. It is comparatively easier to calculate the monetary value of NTFPs, which are
marketed at the local market or by intermediaries. However, the products which are normally collected
for domestic uses carry enough monetary value too, but it never calculated in a proper way. It is very
difficult to get a proper information from forest villagers that which product how much each household
collect annually as the production of NTFPs vary from one year to another. A relative value can be
calculated based on the importance, availability and quantity of these products.
Key words: NTFPs, forest fringe dwellers, livelihoods, development, economy.
INTRODUCTION
Forest features of West Bengal, India vary from one case of north Bengal, however, there are some villages
place to another considerably based on geo-physical within the forest area – people are living inside the forest
characteristics. In the northern part of the State and they harvest forest products in regular basis. The
sanctuaries and reserve forest are found; whereas, in the Forest Department knows exactly how many households
southern part of the State the Sunderbans tiger reserve is are living within the forest area and which products they
located. In the south-western part of the State mainly are normally collecting for household or commercial
protected or unclassed state forest are found. Since the purposes... But that is not the case in the dry-deciduous
protected or unclassed state forests of the south-western forest area of the south-western part of West Bengal.
part of the State is quite dispersed therefore, it is very That is why it is very difficult to calculate the monetary
difficult to identify villages which are within the forest area value of NTFPs collected by the native forest dwellers to
and which are not. People who are living within this fulfil their domestic needs” (APCCF, Government of West
protected forest area can collect non-timber forest Bengal, Elite Interview - 23 October, 2008).
products (NTFPs) for their subsistence use and at the Supporting his comments the Principal Chief
same time are also allowed to collect some NTFPs for Conservator of Forest (PCCF), Government of West
commercial purpose without having any Forest Bengal remarked that in south-western part of the State it
Department permission. Therefore, the pressure on this is very difficult to distinguish between forest and forest
forest area is reasonably more compared to the reserved fringe areas (Figure 1). There forests are normally open
forests and sanctuaries of the State. In reserved forests and scattered (Elite Interview - 20 October, 2008).
and sanctuaries the harvesting of forest products is quite In south-western parts of the State, forests are mainly
restricted. protected (Figure 1), where restrictions are limited for
According to the Additional Principal Chief Conservator native dwellers to enter into the forest for forest products
of Forest (APCCF), Govt of West Bengal, “... in south- harvesting so naturally the number of forest dependent
western part of West Bengal, the forests are scattered indigenous people is higher there. The pressure on this
and in the small patches so it cannot be clearly forest area is quite noticeable. Therefore, it has become
distinguished that who is living inside the forest and who urgent to conduct an intensive study on the forest based
is living at the fringe. In fact, the entire area is fringe. In livelihoods in the dry-deciduous forest area of West
160 J. Geogr. Reg. Plann.
Figure 1. The miscellaneous forests of Purulia (left) and Sal dominated scattered forest of West Midnapur
districts. Photo: Ghosal S.
Bengal. This paper will focus on this issue with respect to comprehensive idea about the research area and the scenario of
Purulia, Bankura and West Midnapur districts. NTFPs and related economy.
The research area was selected because of the following
reasons:
OBJECTIVES OF THE PAPER i) The historical human-forest relationships and the impact of forests
and forest products in socio-cultural life.
In the protected forest area of south-western part of West ii) Forest is the only source of natural resource for native
Bengal, forest fringe dwellers collect forest products for livelihoods.
household as well as commercial purposes. The iii) Limited agricultural activities.
iv) Lack of mining and industrial activities.
monetary value of NTFPs, collected for commercial Considerable amount of NTFPs are collected annually for domestic
purpose, can be estimated. However, hundreds of NTFPs as well as commercial purposes and
are collected for domestic uses and their fiscal values are v) Availability of good quality of various NTFPs.
not assessed. If forest fringe dwellers purchase these
products from market to fulfil their household demands, HOUSEHOLD ECONOMY AND THE NTFPs
they have to pay a certain amount of money. This paper
will examine the value of NTFPs in terms of household as NTFPs have an important role in forest livelihoods in the
well as commercial importance. Several NTFPs are south-western part of the State (Tewari and Campbell,
harvested for the manufacturing of value-added or 1995). Forest communities, especially tribal people are
secondary products. The monetary values of value-added highly dependent on the collection of forest products for
products are often higher compared to primary products. their domestic as well as commercial needs. The
Therefore, how manufacturing of value-added products economic importance of NTFPs in forest livelihoods can
can improve the socio-economic status of forest dwellers be divided into two categories; a) collection of NTFPs for
has also been examined in the paper. household needs, for which they do not pay any money
but, if they purchase those products from the market,
then they have to spend money for that; and b) collection
METHODOLOGIES AND THE STUDY AREA of NTFPs for marketing or commercial purposes, from
which they earn money and that money they use for
For the collection of data and information primary as well as different purposes. The commercial importance of NTFPs
secondary sources were used. Empirical data collected through a of this area has already been studied by several scholars
four months rigorous fieldwork. During fieldwork interviews, group (Malhotra et al., 1992; FAO, 1991a; Roy, 2003;
discussions, questionnaire survey were arranged for Forest Chowdhuri et al., 1992). However, very little work has
Department staff, villagers, NTFPs merchants, medicinal plant
specialists and non-governmental organisation staff members. For been done to date, to calculate the monetary value of
the selection of villages and households, random sampling NTFPs, used for household needs. Chowdhuri et al.
technique was used. Before sampling, census data, land-cover and (1992) and Yadav and Roy (1991) have done some work
land-use maps were referred to explore the features of forest- on the uses of NTFPs in forest communities in southern
people relationships. Bengal, but this research focuses little on the economic
Among secondary sources, previous research reports, value of NTFPs used for domestic uses. The main
government annual reports, newspaper and journal articles, books
and manuscripts were followed. These secondary sources gave a problem in this regard is that the collected amount and
Ghosal 161
the number of harvested NTFPs vary from one year to economic value of NTFPs, which are gathered for
another and every household does not get an equal different household purposes, was examined with
amount of each product. In addition, it is very difficult for reference to information provided by the Forest
a researcher to visit every house in remote forest villages Department staff and forest villagers. According to the
to discover the total amount of harvested NTFPs for Forest Survey of India Eastern Zone record,
commercial, domestic or both purposes. This would be a “Forest is the most important natural resource of the
very time consuming and uncertain task as these villages District [Purulia]. The rural population rely heavily on the
are widely scattered. It is also true that forest villagers forests for meeting their day to day needs of firewood,
cannot (or sometimes do not) recall the exact amount of fodder for their cattle and also partly for earning their
NTFPs that they collect for domestic and/or commercial livelihood. The rural population especially the tribals,
purposes and the price of collected products vary during the period of private ownership of forests, enjoyed
frequently. As a result, estimate of the value of collected rights and privileges over the forest produce in the
NTFPs are primarily based on assessments of average neighbouring forests through which they used to meet
annual collections, market price and amount of their every day needs. The life of the tribal population,
household use. their culture and religion revolved greatly round the
NTFPs have an important role in the livelihoods of tribal forests. Their almost self-sufficient economy was
people living inside or at the forest-fringe areas in the dry- predominantly based on the produce derived from these
deciduous forests of south-western Bengal. For their forests. Collection and subsequent sale of produce like
domestic purposes, they depend greatly on NTFPs. They Sal seed, Kendu leaves, Mahua fruits and flowers,
collect leaves and firewood for fuel purposes on a regular Tassar etc served as sources of auxiliary income. Thus,
basis. For other domestic purposes including food, fodder the forest provides a support to the rural economy of the
and medicine, they collect several types of NTFPs region for time immemorial” (Forest Survey of India
following their daily requirements. According to the Eastern Zone, 1985).
Assistant Managing Director of WBTDCC (semi- The purpose of collection, however, varies from one
structured interview, 16th September, 2008), “it has been community to another. For example, those communities
calculated that only in Bankura district the total annual that are located within the forest collect large amounts of
turnover from NTFPs is not less than Rs. 500/- million. NTFPs mostly to fulfil their household needs. The
From an assessment it was found that almost every villagers from Bhuda, a village located within the Ajodhya
forest and forest-fringe tribal household of Bankura hilly forest area mentioned:
district are directly or indirectly dependent on the
collection of NTFPs, particularly Sal leaves and Kendu “We collect forest products including fodder,
leaves, fuel wood, food and fodder”. firewood etc. Whenever we see we need anything
According to the NAEB staff members, plenty of NTFPs which is available in the forest, we go to collect that
are collected on a regular basis for daily domestic as well product. We live within the forest area so at least
as commercial purposes by native forest dwellers from one person from each family goes to collect forest
the dry-deciduous forests of West Bengal. When NAEB products every day…. We mainly collect NTFPs for
conduct projects for the development of this fragile forest domestic requirements, but sometimes go to sell
ecosystem, then it is recognized that how forest some items to the village market popularly known as
resources are important in forest livelihoods. ‘hat’.” (Villager, Bhuda village, Arsha range, Purulia
The importance of NTFPs within the household district, semi-structured interview, 22 of September,
economy is greater when other income sources from 2008, the medium of language was Santhali).
agriculture and wage labouring are limited. Poor
transportation system, distance between remote tribal Forest fringe villagers, such as of Gurahata, Sirkabad
villages and the local market, limited availability of and Kalaboni village of Purulia District, collect most of the
manufacturing products are other reasons for the high NTFPs to sell instead of household use. Thus, inter-
levels of dependence on NTFPs. It is because of these district and intra-district differences in the purpose of
reasons the importance of NTFPs for household needs in NTFPs harvesting are quite apparent. Based on the
the interior forest villages of Purulia, Bankura and West availability of the product in a year, their monetary value,
Midnapur districts is distinctly higher. amount of collection, usability and commercial as well as
From the fieldwork it has been revealed that in Bankura domestic importance, the ten most important NTFPs of
and West Midnapur districts, forest communities make a these three districts have been ranked separately using
good deal of money each year selling Sal plates, Sal seeds, the participatory appraisal technique. The position of
mushrooms and some other NTFPs, while, the uses of NTFPs in the rank varies from one area to another in the
NTFPs for household purposes is less than in Purulia same district as well from one district to another. These
district. rankings were derived from discussions with forest
In Purulia district, the number of NTFPs used for dwellers only (Tables 1, 2 and 3). The ten most important
domestic purposes is higher than the number of NTFPs NTFPs in Arsha range of Purulia district are shown in
harvested for commercial purpose. During fieldwork, the Table 1. According to the APCCF, Government of West
162 J. Geogr. Reg. Plann.
Table 1. Ten most important NTFPs in Arsha Range of Purulia district.
Quantity of Monetary Multiple
S/ Name of Availability product collected Commercial Household value of the uses of *Grade
No NTFPs in a year / importance importance product the
Household product
1 Firewood Whole year >3,000 kg √ √ Rs 2/kg √ 5
2 Sal (leaf) 8 months 24,000 plates √ √ Rs 50/1,000 √ 5
plates
3 Bel (fruit) 2 months 30 kg √ √ Rs 2/kg √ 5
4 Haritaki (fruit) 3 months 15 kg √ √ Rs 2/kg √ 5
5 Amla (fruit) 2 months 10 kg √ √ Rs 3/kg √ 5
6 Kend (leaf) 2 months 15 Chata (Bundle) √ √ Rs 25/ Chata 4
7 Harla (bark) 2 months 20 kg √ Rs 15/kg 4
8 Jam (fruit) 1 months 10 kg √ √ Rs 5/kg 4
9 Kham-alu 2 months 20 kg √ 3
(tuber root)
10 Genthi-alu 2 months 15 kg √ 3
(tuber root)
*Grade: 5 – most important; Grade: 1 – less important. Source: Based on questionnaire survey.
Table 2. Ten most important NTFPs in Ranibandh range of Bankura district (ranked by forest villagers).
S/ Name of Quantity of product Commercial Household Monetary value Multiple uses
No NTFPs Availability collected in a year / importance importance of the product of the product *Grade
Household
1 Sal (leaf) 8 months >50,000 plates √ √ Rs. 70/1,000 √ 5
plates
2 Firewood Whole year >2,000 kg √ √ Rs. 1.5/kg √ 5
3 Mahua 2 months 20 kg √ √ Rs. 5/kg √ 5
(flower)
4 Bel (fruit) 2 months 30 kg √ √ Rs. 5/kg √ 5
5 Mushroom 4 months 25 kg √ √ Rs. 10/kg 4
6 Kalmegh 3 months 20 kg √ √ Rs. 2/kg 4
(leaf)
7 Kend (leaf) 2 months 20 Chata (Bundle) √ √ Rs. 20/Chata 4
8 Kend (fruit) 1 month 10 kg √ √ Rs. 10/kg 4
9 Jam (fruit) 1 months 10 kg √ √ Rs. 10/kg 4
10 Lodh (bark) 2 months 20 kg √ Rs. 2/kg 3
*Grade: 5 – most important; Grade: 1 – less important. Source: Based on questionnaire survey.
Bengal (Elite Interview, 23rd October, 2008), indigenous With respect to the importance of NTFPs in the
people have a long settlement history in the forest areas household economy, villagers from Katiam village in
of Purulia, Bankura and West Midnapur districts. They Ranibandh range of Bankura district have remarked
comprise mainly of tribal and other socio-economically (group discussion, 11th of November, 2008, the medium
deprived classes of society. Therefore, these people of language was Bengali):
depend on forests to a very large extent for their various
needs and they are permitted to go into the forest to “For our daily needs we have to save this forest. Those
collect various NTFPs. He also added that a “survey has plants, which produce more than one NTFP or are
been done in some parts of south West Bengal … where important for timber as well as NTFP, we have to protect
it has been found that the income of these fringe them at any cost. For instance, from Mahua or Mahul
households from the collection of NTFPs is much higher (Madhuca indica) tree, we get flower and fruit and from
compare to other usufructs”. fruit we get seed – all are useful for different purposes.
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