Effect of participation in commercial production of medicinal plants through community-based conservation groups on farm income at Kakamega forest, Kenya

Forest conservation by peripheral communities is one of the most advocated strategies for ensuring sustainable supply of forest goods and services. In Kenya, although conservation activities generate considerable environmental improvements, studies evaluating the economic benefits are very limited. This study aimed at assessing the impact of participating in the commercialization training program by forest adjacent communities on farm income. Utilizing matching techniques, the analysis is based on the data collected from a randomly selected sample of farm households around Kakamega forest in Kenya. The results show that age, forest distance, forest benefit, market distance and farming experience are the main factors that influence the participation in the commercialization program. Also, participating in commercial production of medicinal plants has a positive and significant effect on farmers' income. The average treatment effect on the treated (ATT), based on three estimation algorithms, ranges from KSH. 80,047 to KSH. 176,788 per hectare, per year, implying that policy efforts that focus on the participation in the commercialization program of medicinal plants can enhance incomes among farm-dependent households. The findings from this study suggest that upscaling the participation in the commercialization program to other areas.

周边社区参与森林保护，是保障林产品与服务可持续供给的最受倡导的策略之一。在肯尼亚，尽管森林保护活动已取得显著的环境改善成效，但针对其经济收益的评估研究却极为匮乏。本研究旨在评估森林周边社区参与商业化培训项目对农户收入的影响。本研究采用匹配方法，基于从肯尼亚卡卡梅加森林周边随机抽取的农户家庭样本所收集的数据开展分析。分析结果显示，年龄、距森林的距离、森林收益、距市场的距离以及务农经验，是影响农户参与商业化培训项目的主要因素。此外，参与药用植物商业化生产对农户收入具有显著的正向影响。基于三种估计算法得到的处理组平均处理效应（Average Treatment Effect on the Treated，简称ATT），介于每公顷每年80047至176788肯尼亚先令之间，这表明聚焦于推动农户参与药用植物商业化培训项目的政策举措，能够提升依赖农业的家庭的收入水平。本研究结果表明，应将药用植物商业化培训项目的参与范围推广至其他地区。