ANALYSIS OF ROLE OF LOCAL INSTITUTIONS IN COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION IN FOREST MANAGEMENT: CASE MPANGO AND TEMBWE FOREST RESERVES IN DEDZA DISTRICT

Abstract

The Study evaluated the effectiveness of local institutions on community participation in forest management in Tembwe and Mpango villages which were sites for a social forestry decentralization program in Dedza forest. Common Resource Pool theory CPR guided the study. CPR theory focuses on the ability of people to act collectively to overcome the management dilemmas inherent to common-pool resources. The theory developed in response to the work of Olson (1965) and Hardin (1968), both of whom argued that groups of people were not likely to work effectively together. The theory is very much in line with the objectives which assumes that open access management of common-pool resources can be avoided through collective action. Structured interviews were used for data collection during focus group discussions, key informants and household interviews. Socioeconomic characteristics of the households and institutional design principles were assessed to determine factors that influence community participation in forestry management. Trees and forestry measurement were carried out in the Village Forest Area (VFA) to determine forest cover since the establishment of the local institutions. Quantitative data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS). Inference were drawn from descriptive across tabulations and frequencies. Some data were imported into Microsoft Excel because it was easy to make good graphs than in the former. The study revealed that Village Natural Resources Management Committees (VNRMCs managed forest resources in the area. It was also revealed that community participation was governed by socio economic and demographic attributes of the community and existence of institutional design principles as significant difference (p<0.05) were observed in people’s participation in forest management. It was also noted that there was significant increase (p<0.05) in forest cover and species composition in the area which was indicative of forest improvement in the area.