Socio-economic Outcomes of Gendered Participation in Forest Management in Tanzania

Abstract

Prio to the 1980s, centralized forest management policies in many Africancountries, including Tanzania, excluded local communities, particularlywomen, from participating in the management of their forests. In response,participatory forest management (PFM) approaches—including communitybased forest management (CBFM), and joint forest management (JFM)—wereintroduced to empower local communities to participate in forest managementand benefit from their forests. Building on existing analysis that highlights moreon the impact of PFM on forest conditions, governance and livelihood, this paperexamines the socio-economic outcomes of gendered participation in forestmanagement in Kilwa District, Tanzania. Through the feminist political ecologyperspective, and utilizing a mixed method approach, it aims to assess thesignificance of gendered participation in CBFM for achieving improved socioeconomic outcomes. The findings indicate that increased gendered participationin CBFM activities increases gendered awareness and understanding of forestrelated issues, reduces gender-related conflicts, strengthens social networks andenhances equity in benefit-sharing at the community level. However, these areless achieved at the household level. The distribution of economic benefits toindividuals has been hindered by the absence of a well-defined benefit sharingarrangements and the dominance of elites in capturing forest benefits. Thepaper concludes that increased gender participation in CBFM activities hasmore social benefits outcomes than economic benefits to women. It recommendsrevising forest regulations to ensure more economic benefits flow to individuals,thereby incentivizing active participation in forest management. Additionallly,gender specific interventions should be implemented to empower both men andwomen with alternative sources of income to enhance their economic wellbeing,while safeguarding the sustainability forest resources.