Contribution of Non Wood Forest Products in the Livelihood of Rural Communities at Dalanj Locality in South Kordofan State Sudan

Abstract

This study was conducted at Dalanj locality in south Kordofan state. The aim of this study was to investigate the contribution of NWFPs in the livelihood of rural communities. Besides assess the utilization, raising awareness and identify the main constrains that are facing local people in collection of NWFP. The methods of data collection depended on socio-economic survey for the local communities’ in the study area. The questionnaire was designed to collect information from households, in addition to checklist for local leaders and forest managers as key information in the state. Three villages were selected randomly to represent Dalanj area; there are namely ELfarshaia, Karkaraia and ELtougma. A total of 60respondents were selected and interviewed. The study found that large numbers of people about 85% were dependent on gathering and processing NWFPs as a source of income and food security. These include products grown on farms and those obtained from the forest. In addition, the study showed that despite all the positive attributes of NWFP in the study area, sustainable use of these resources is faced with problems of lack of extension and proper forest management. These study also expressed that there were many constrains that faced local communities in collection and marketing of NWFPs. There were: high cost of transportation, taxes, competition between number of traders and seasonality of some products. This study recommended that the government, non- governmental organizations and individuals should find some opportunities to improve the use of NWFPs for sustainable household food security; such as the diversification of forest management systems to incorporate locally valuable non-wood forest products, encouraging fruit trees growing in farms, providing market support and supporting small scale forest based enterprises to develop rural communities. It is further recommended that extension services should be introduce to raise the awareness among local people in sustainable use of NWFPs.