Contribution of Forestry Provisioning Ecosystem Services to the Household Income of Small Holder Farmers Adjacent Chyulu Hills Forest, Makueni County, Kenya

Abstract

This study set out to investigate contribution of forestry provisioning ecosystem services (FPES) to the household income of small holder farmers living adjacent Chyulu Hills Forest and assess factors influencing utilization of the FPES. A survey research design was used and a sample size of 60 households was randomly selected from two study sites which were purposely selected to enable a comparative analysis. The study area was stratified into the two sites on the basis of ease of access to the forest. Mang'elete and Kiu sub-locations were consequently selected. Mang'elete was separated by a fence from the forest while there was no barrier between Kiu sub-location and the forest. An interview schedule having closed, and open-ended questions was used to elicit responses from the respondents on the issue of FPES. Results indicated that FPES contributed a significant amount of income to the respondents. The total mean monthly income from FPES in the two study sites was Ksh 811.36, constituting 8.4% of the total household income against Ksh 8,622.33 (91.40%) from other sources such as farming. An independent samples t-test was conducted to compare the mean monthly incomes accruing from the sale of forest products between the two sub-locations. There was a significant difference between the mean monthly incomes (Mang'elete (M= 355.56, SD= 1,252.04) and Kiu (M= 1,267.17, SD=3,085.60, t (58) = -2.26, p<0.05) accrued from the sale of forest products. Logit regression results showed that occupation of the household head, distance from Chyulu hills forest and presence of fence significantly (p<0.05) influenced utilization of FPES in the two Sub locations. The study concludes that FPES contributes to household income and recommends forest managers to prioritize activities and interventions in the forests conservation in order to maximize the opportunities for limited livelihood opportunities in rural areas through FPES utilization in the view of the fact that the hills are of great importance to their livelihoods in regard to supplementing their household products and incomes..