Incentives and challenges for local institutions in coffee forest management: The case of Bilo-Nopha Woreda, Ethiopia

Abstract

Abstract. Dibaba B, Berhanu A. 2018. Incentives and challenges for local institutions in coffee forest management: the case of Bilo-Nopha Woreda, Ethiopia. Asian J For 1: 31-46. Because woodland biodiversity is threatened by various anthropogenic factors, the role of institutions in administrating natural provenances in general and woodland origins in specific increases over time. Therefore, this is the right time to find out the role of institutions in administrating natural provenances. An assessment of the role of local institutions in the management of coffee forestry, by taking the case of Bilo-Nopha Woreda, Illu Abba Bora zone as its object, became the main objective of this study. This study attempts to describe the utilization of regulation attributes, community attributes, and attributes of woodland provenances influencing the management of coffee forests in this study region, using the institutional analysis and development framework (IAD) adopted from Ostrom (2006). This study uses qualitative and quantitative research methods in the form of triangulation. From 16 Kebeles in the study region, the researchers purposively selected 3 Kebeles adjacent to the plantation woodland region. 125 households were selected from three Kebeles for quantitative interviews using a systematic random sampling technique. In addition to conducting in-depth interviews, key informant interviews and FGDs were conducted to support and strengthen data obtained through household surveys. The results reveal that both official and informal institutions manage coffee forests locally. Rules established by the government to secure coffee woodland areas decrease woodland utilization by local communities and make their ownership rights unsafe. This, in turn, will negatively affect their participation in coffee woodland management activities. Community contributions and forest provenances also influence management activities both positively and negatively. Some operate as incentives that increase management activities, including compactness, homogeneity, topography, and goods and services derived from forests; in contrast, others work as disincentives for management activities, including group size, distance, and inadequacy of clear boundaries. In addition to the challenges of administrating coffee forests, lack of ownership, illegal encroachment, and inadequate coordination between various stakeholders are the main difficulties that must be resolved to preserve coffee forests in the study region.