Communities dependence on non-timber forest products in Kalakpa resource reserve of Ghana

Nearly 3.5–5.76 billion people globally rely on Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) to sustain their livelihoods, improve food security and income to enhance welfare in their communities. This study assessed factors influencing communities’ exploitation of NTFPs and valued the income households earned from the sale of NTFPs harvested from the Kalakpa resource reserve in Ghana. A multistage sampling technique was deployed to obtain data from a sample of 362 respondents in a population of 3766 household heads living in twelve (12) communities. Tobit stochastic regression found a strong association between communities’ dependence on NTFPs and levels of education, main occupation, household size, and distance in the reality of Kalakpa communities. However, the distance decay principle did not hold in this study. The t-test confirmed a significant difference in levels of dependence on NTFPs between “within” reserve and fringe communities. Relative Forest Income valued household NTFPs income at USD 43.71 (GHS669.50) per month for “within” reserve communities, compared to USD 32.21 (GHS499.50) for fringe communities. It was found that NTFPs income per month for Kalakpa communities was USD 141,995.24 (GHS2,201,227.00), totaling USD 1,703,901.46 (GHS26,414,724.00) per year. Therefore, this study recommends a review of the Forestry Commission Act, 1975 (Act 155), which established the Kalakpa forest resource reserve to allow communities’ participation in the management, conservation, and sustainable harvesting of NTFPs as a model to improve household income and livelihoods.