A STUDY OF FOREST BASED ALTERNATIVE LIVELIHOODS FOR LOCAL
COMMUNITIES AROUND MALOSA FOREST RESERVE
Levis K. Eneya. Prof. JDK Saka
Chancellor College. Natural Resources and Environment Centre. P.O. Box 280, Zomba
Tel: 01 524 222, Fax: 01 524 046, email: narec@chanco.unima.mw
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
A study was conducted to identify and promote forest based alternative livelihoods for local
community around Malosa Forest Reserve. Specifically the objectives were three-fold: firstly to
determine the extent of access by local communities to forestry resources in the reserve:
secondly to identify and promote sustainable exploitation of non-wood products from the reserve
and finally, to determine alternative livelihoods for the local communities in the absence of the
woody resources. A questionnaire was administered to seven villages around the reserve at an
average of 2 people per village.
Results indicate that the communities have access to the forestry resources in the Malosa
Forestry Reserve. However, there is a difference in the type of forestry resources accessed. On
wood products. 9.6.0% indicated that they depend on the forest for firewood for both cooking
and sale. About 10% indicated that they depend on the forest for poles and charcoal. On nonwood products, about 51.4% indicated that they collect fruits. 53.7% mushroom, while about 5%
indicated other non-wood products such as cane and bush meat. The only significant forest based
sources of livelihood identified were fruits (mainly Uapaca Kirkiana) and mushroom. Asked to
rank the most important non-wood product they get from the forest, respondents indicated water
(source of rivers) as number one product. The study did not identify significant access of bush
meat and cane as expected. Respondents indicated that these are no longer accessible due to
deforestation and overexploitation. Thus following livelihood strategies are being recommended:
fruit processing, irrigation agriculture, woodlots, bee keeping and small-scale businesses.
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INTRODUCTION
Malawi has 69 Forest Reserves covering a total area of about 7,905 square kilometers. Besides
conserving the environment and biodiversity, and providing energy in terms of fuel wood, they
are a rich source of many non-wood products including grass for thatching, medicinal plants,
mushrooms, indigenous frits and meat, honey, insects, vegetables and other foods. The reserves
are under threat of degradation due to unsustainable cutting down of trees for charcoal and
firewood largely by local communities who rely on them for survival. The present study
concerned the identification of forest based livelihoods alternative besides charcoal for local
communities around Malosa forestry reserve.
The Malosa Forestry Reserve, located north east of Zomba district is one of the forest reserves
under threat of degradation due to fuel wood and charcoal production activities by local
communities. Since most of the services provided by the reserve do not have direct monetary
values, communities around the forest tend to prefer those services that can immediately be
transformed into immediate financial values. As such, there is pressure in the woody resources in
the reserve, mainly for firewood and charcoal, which is done at the expense of the other equally
or more important non-woody products such as mushrooms, indigenous fruits, termites and game
meat. This could be due to inadequate knowledge and information on the part of local
communities, weak sanctions and absence of local environment in managing the reserves (GoM,
2000). In Zomba municipality, it is generally believed that high quality charcoal from indigenous
trees come from Malosa area. In fact, according to some charcoal vendors, customers are easily
coerced if they are told that the charcoal id from Malosa (Chasawawa D. per comm.). The Forest
Department acknowledges the problem and has instituted efforts to curb the situation through
patrol and encouraging co-management. However, their efforts have registered limited successes
due to people’s negative attitude and understanding who threaten to kill forest guards as they
view them as enemies rather that management partners.
The general objective of the study was to identify and promote forest based alternative
livelihoods for local communities around the Malosa Forest Reserve. Specifically the objectives
were three-fold:
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a. to determine the extent of access by local communities to forestry resources in the
Malosa Forestry Reserve.
b. to identify and promote sustainable exploitation of non- wood products from Malosa
Forest Reserve, and
c. to determine alternatively livelihood strategies for communities following declining of
woody trees in the forest reserve.
The underlying hypothesis of the reserve was that the pressure on the woody resources of the
forest is largely due to local communities’ inadequate knowledge and information about the
potential of non-wood resources and lack of alternative livelihoods.
During the study the following assumptions were made:

that a stock of non-wood forest products such as mushrooms, small mammals, wild fruits,
etc. is available for human consumption and can be sold to raise household income

that communities recognize that trees are being lost and

that local communities are willing to participate in the study
LITERATURE REVIEW
Malawi’s forestry resources include reserves, national parks game reserves, plantations and
forest on customary land. The first three resources are generally not exploited although they are
exposed to illegal exploitation and encroachment. These are set aside to conserve the
environment and biodiversity and to provide refuge for wildlife (GoM, 1998). The forestry
resources are dwindling and being exploited unsustainably largely by the poor (3GOM, 2002)
who rely on them for survival. This is particularly true with regard to fuel wood energy and
agriculture. Despite national action programmes in forest conservation, there has been an
estimated 56.8% decline in total forest cover in the 25 years preceding 1998 (1GoM, 2002). At
present, only about 28% is under forest cover of which 21% comprise forest reserves, national
parks and wildlife reserves or conservation areas, and 7% is under customary land (GoM,
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2001). Deforestation rate is estimated at 2.8% an increase from 2.4% in 1992. This is the
highest rate in the SADC region.
Until 1997, expansion of forestry sector had been restricted by management practices, which
excluded the involvement of the communities around these protected areas. The National Forest
Policy of Malawi (1996) and the Forestry Act (1997) aim at promoting the participation of rural
communities in sustainable management of both planted and natural forests within their
neighbourhoods thereby making forest resources available to them on a sustainable basis.
Although local communities awareness of environmental issues and community based natural
resources management (CBNRM) has increased due to these enactments (3GoM, 2002),
Malawi continues to witness wanton cutting-down of trees for conversion into agricultural land
firewood and charcoal production resulting in deforestation soil erosion, river sedimentation
and environmental degradation in general (bGoM, 2000). Consequently, forest cover has
declined by 19% over the last 25 years and expected to continue since demand for wood
exceeds production by 33%. Therefore, the Malawi Poverty Reduction Strategy paper
(MPRSP) has identified forestry as one of the priority areas for natural resources management.
In Malawi, most of the reserves located on mountains and escarpments were created primarily
for watershed protection, while those located on how areas were established to supply wood
fuel to urban areas. Further, the reserves provide environmental services such as soil
conservation, mitigation of soil erosion by wind and water, maintenance of biodiversity and
recreation. Forest reserves are also a rich source of many non-wood products including grass
for thatching, medicinal plants, game fruits and meat, honey insects, vegetables and other
foods. Most of these non-wood products are consumed to traded locally by households living in
the neighborhoods of the forest reserves and some such as dried mushrooms and baskets – are
marketed more widely. Further certain non-wood products such as cane chairs made from
bamboo and vines have potential international markets (aGoM, 2000). One way of empowering
local communities to participate in effective co-management of forests is to endeavour to
increase their capacity to access and utilize non-woody products from forests and engage in
alternative livelihood strategies.
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The National Environmental Action Plan 2002 outlines a number of actions for reducing further
degradation of forestry resources one of which being enhancing awareness campaigns for
sustainable conservation and utilization of forestry resources and promoting alternative
livelihoods. Hence the present study aims at identifying and promoting forest based alternative
livelihoods for local communities around forest reserves with Malosa as a case study.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
With assistance from Zomba district forestry office seven villages around the Malosa Forestry
Reserve were selected using stratified random sampling. These are Somba, Mtambo, Sululu,
Machemba, Jauma, Masinde and Mpama. The selection criteria for the strata included proximity
to the reserve and dwindling forest cover.
A questionnaire was then administered to 177 individuals at an average of 26 people per village,
about 58% of which being women/girls since they are the ones who usually go in the forest to
collect firewood, fruits, mushrooms and other edible products. Questions covered areas such as
access to forestry resources and problems people face in this regard; list of non-wood products
from the forest; and alternative strategies for survival in light of dwindling woody trees as shown
in Appendix 1.
Data was analysed using SPSS to obtain frequencies. The preliminary results were then
presented to and discussed with representatives from each of the seven study sites in order to
refine and explain them.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
Wood and non-wood products accessed by local communities
It was found that a number of forest products are accessible from the Malosa Forest Reserve as
shown in Table 1.
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Table 1: Forest products accessed from Malosa Forest Reserve
Product
Respondents (%)
Firewood
96.0
Charcoal
11.3
Poles
10.7
Mushroom
53.7
Fruits
51.4
Cane
5.1
Water/ streams
50.3
Thatching grass
30.5
Medicine
28.8
Bush meat
4.5
As can be seen from Table 1, the most important wood product obtained is firewood. According
to the results there is limited access of wood resources in terms of charcoal and poles, despite the
fact that there is flourishing charcoal business in the area (see figure 1) mostly from mbawa,
ntwana, muwanga and masuku trees, according to some charcoal sellers. This is not surprising
because when asked what woody products they are not allowed to cut fresh trees for charcoal,
poles or firewood, Generally, the communities understand why the forestry staff stop them
because 94.3% indicated that it is right for government to stop the in order to conserve the forest,
which in turn conserve water, prevent soil erosion, help in rainfall formation and is a source of
their livelihood. However visits to some sites showed that fresh trees are being cut for charcoal
and poles and that some villages have encroached and opened gardens in the forest. Some bags
of charcoal could be seen in some homes ready for sale along the Zomba-Lilongwe road.
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Fig. 1 Charcoal Business at Somba Village along the Zomba-Liwonde Road
During focus group discussions, it came to light that most of those involved in charcoal business
are from other areas, mostly Blantyre, who come and camp or temporarily marry in the area to
do the illegal business. Some of the reasons advanced for encroaching are lack of land for
farming and searching for fertile land. However, these can be substantiated by a study targeting
charcoal producers and encroachers, assuming they will be willing to take part in the study,
which was not the case in this study. Asked to rank the resources, 98.9% indicated water as the
most important resources that they get. This could be because the people realize the important
role water plays in one’s life and also because each of the study sites has a nearby stream coming
from the forest.
Frequency of accessing forest products
Asked how often they collect forest products, 50.6% indicated they collect daily, 40.6% once a
week and 8.8% collect twice a week. This shows that the communities largely depend on the
forest for their survival. Unless there are alternative sources of livelihoods, the communities will
continue exploiting the forest for the resources most of which are becoming scarce. The major
problem most respondents (97.2%) face in collecting the forest products is the long distance they
travel to find them. This takes a lot of their productive time besides being a tiresome venture.
Therefore, the need for alternative sources of livelihoods cannot be overemphasized.
Alternative livelihoods
Apart from mushroom and masuku (Uapaca Kirkiana) fruits, which are both seasonal the study
did not find significant forest based alternative livelihoods. When sold a plate-full of mushroom
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(about 0.5Kg) and masuku fruits (about 1kg) costs MK120 and MK20 respectively. However,
since these products are seasonal, their economic value and long-term benefits are yet to be
appreciated by most of the communities. Hence, some communities prefer cutting the fruit trees
for charcoal, which translate to immediate financial gains at the expense of the long-term
financial and environmental benefits. One way to reverse this trend is to empower the
communities in value addition of these forest products and help them compare the financial gains
from one tree to those they would get if they were to cut down the tree for charcoal. According to
some charcoal producers an average tree translates to 2.5 bags of charcoal each costing MK250.
This means that the total financial gains from selling charcoal and firewood from such a tree
would be about MK1000.00. Obviously this is little money compared to the long-term financial
and environmental benefits that would be obtained if this tree were not cut.
Apart from the forest-based livelihoods above, some forest-related livelihoods are possible in the
area. Table 2 shows alternative livelihoods which people are already undertaking.
Table 2: Alternative Livelihoods by communities around Malosa forest
Alternative Livelihoods
Percentage of respondents
Woodlots
27.7
Simple Irrigation
21.5
Bee farming
6.2
Small scale businesses
2.8
None
41.8
The results in Table 2 mean that about 42% of the people do not have alternative means for
survival. These could be those that turn to the forest for their livelihoods almost on a daily basis.
The 21.5% involved in small in small-scale irrigation agriculture is on the lower side considering
that the area has a number of streams which could be used for irrigation. The people realize that
the area has this potential, however 97.4% content that lack of farm inputs deters them from
embarking on small-scale irrigation agriculture. However villages such as Somba, Jauma and
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Machemba are running successful small-scale irrigation with limited resources as seen in figure
2.
.
Fig. 2: Simple irrigation at Machemba village
The other villagers can be encouraged to emulate this example. However, even if all turned to
irrigation agriculture, there would be inadequate land close to the streams. Therefore, alternatives
such as bee farming (see Figure 3) are important and must be encouraged. The 6.2% who are
using this strategy all came from Mtambo village. This could be because the forest is almost
intact in this area unlike the almost bare areas closer to the other villages. Also, some villagers
may not be adopting this strategy because of its cost and risk ( in terms of theft) implications.
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Fig. 3: Bee farming at Mtambo village
The woodlots that people are planting in the area are mostly of eucalyptus species, which supply
them with poles and firewood. However, there is need to include indigenous species in order not
to disturb the ecology of the area.
As can be seen from Table 2, small-scale businesses are not well developed in the area. This is
mainly due to the lack of credit schemes to start businesses. About 60% of respondents indicated
that they need loans to start businesses in order to reduce pressure on the forest.
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
The Malosa forest reserve plays an important role for the people around it, who derive most of
their livelihoods from it. It is a source of firewood mushroom fruits (mainly masuku) and
streams. Simple comparison of the long term benefits got from wood and non wood products
shows that it is better to exploit the later in a sustainable manner. In addition there is need to
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
encourage communities to embark on irrigation agriculture as there are a number of
streams in the area

empower the communities financially to start small scale businesses

process fruits and mushroom in order to add value

encourage each family to have woodlots

encourage those who can and are willing to embark on bee keeping
DISSEMINATION OF THE RESEARCH RESULTS
Presentation of the preliminary results to and discussions with representatives from each of the
seven study sites towards the end of the study constituted an important vehicle for disseminating
results of the study to the local communities. Further, hard bound copies of this report will be
deposited in libraries of schools in the study area. Chancellor college. FRIM. Zomba Forestry
Office and National Research Council of Malawi. A paper titled “A study of forest based
alternative livelihoods for local communities around Malosa forest reserve” has been prepared
for presentation at the Annual Research Conference organized by the National Research Council
of Malawi at Kalikuti Hotel, Lilongwe from 16th to 17th June 2005. In addition at least one more
paper will be written for publication in the Malawi Journal of Science and Technology.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This Study would not have been completed without financial and technical assistance from the
National Research Council of Malawi. The monitoring and evaluation team came in time and
provided valuable advice on data verification. Our thanks also go Messrs Chekani, Namukhoyo
and Palaleya of Zomba District Forestry Office for assisting in the planning and apart of data
collection. Finally, we would like to thank the communities around Malosa Forest Reserve for
their cooperation during the study.
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REFERENCES
Government of Malawi (2002). Malawi Government Report to the World Summit on Sustainable
Development (WSSD).
Government of Malawi (2002) National Environmental Action Plan. Ministry of Natural
Resources and Environmental Affairs, Lilongwe.
Government of Malawi (2002). Malawi Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper. Ministry of Finance
and Economic Development, Lilongwe.
Government of Malawi (2001). State of Environment Report 2001. Ministry of National
Resources and Environmental Affairs, Lilongwe.
Government of Malawi (2000). Malawi’s National Forestry Programme, Ministry of Natural
Resources and Environmental Affairs, Lilongwe.
b
Government of Malawi (2000) Issues on Desertification in Malawi, Ministry of Natural
Resources and Environmental Affairs, Lilongwe.
Government of Malawi (1997) Forestry Act 1997, Ministry of Natural Resources and
Environmental Affairs, Lilongwe.
Government of Malawi (1996) National Forestry Policy, Ministry of Natural Resources and
Environmental Affairs, Lilongwe.
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Appendix 1: Study Questionnaire
QUESTIONNAIRE FOR A STUDY ON FOREST BASED ALTERNATIVE LIVELIHOODS
FOR LOCAL COMMUNITIES AROUND MALOSA FORESTRY RESERVE
Village
………………………………………..
Sex of respondent ……………………………………..
Age of respondent ……………………………………..
1.
What useful forest products do you gather now from the Malosa Forest Reserve?
Wood Products:
…………………… ……………………
………………………………
Non-wood product
2.
………………………
……………………
………………………
…………………… ……………….
………………………
…………………. …………………….
Which products are you not allowed to collect from the forest? Who stops you and
why?
Products ………………………………….
Who bars you?
3.
………………………………………….
………………………………………………..
……………………. From collecting the products in (2)? Give reasons
…………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………
4.
…………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………
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5.
What useful non-wood forest products were you gathering in the post but are no
longer available?
6.
7.
……………..
………………..
……………
……………….
…………….
………………..
…………
………………..
What are the reasons for disappearance of the non-wood forest products in (5)?
………………
……………..
………………….. …………………….
………………
…………….
…………………..
…………………….
What do you think should be done to make sure that such non-wood products are
available for continuous exploitation without depleting them?
………………………………………………………………………………………………
8.
Which forest products do you sell (or were you selling) and approximately how
much? (e.g. mushroom = MK100/bunch).
9.
………………………….
…………………………
…………………….
…………………………
…………………………
……………………..
What problems do you face in accessing the forest products in (1)
………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………
10.
What solutions would you propose to minimize these problems?
………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………
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11.
Which of the following products from Malosa forest are more important to you?
Mushroom
Indigenous
(A)
fruits (B)
Insects (C)
Animals
e,g,
Source
of Medicinal
mice Rivers(E)
plants (F)
(D)
Firewood
(P)
Charcoal
(Q)
Poles (R)
Grass
for
thatching
(S)
Medicinal
plants (T)
TOTALS
12.
In
the
absence
of
the
forest
products
mentioned
in
(1)
and
(5)
what………………………………………………………. Survival?
…………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………
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