Contribution of Nontimber Forest Products Earn to Livelihood in Rural Households and the Type of Use: A Systematic Review

Abstract

The researcher conducted a review of 83 articles published between 2011 and 2021 to determine the nontimber forest products (NTFPs) income contribution and usage types based on spatial and temporal patterns. The study used a search, synthesis, appraisal, and analysis framework for review. The review included articles that only focused on the contributions of NTFPs for livelihood income and NTFPs usage type, while others not related to these two topics were excluded. For its literature search, more than half of the articles used Google Scholar, followed by Research4life, Scopus/Elsevier, EMBASE, and PubMed, respectively. In this study, excluding papers that (i) did not provide evidence on the income contribution of NTFPs, (ii) did not include articles that did not clearly explain the NTFPs use types, and (iii) were published before 2011, the reviewer was able to reduce the number of included articles (eligibility criteria or inclusion and exclusion criteria). 83 article papers were reviewed for the current review. The majority of the research for this review was carried out in India (19%), Ethiopia (13%), and Nigeria (11%). India was the first of the 17 both Asian and African countries to do research on the NTFPs’ contribution to rural household income and type of use. NTFPs contribute significantly to rural household revenue in 17 countries, ranging from a minimum of 9.5% in Zambia to a maximum of 40.19% in Myanmar. The average percentage of revenue from NTFPs across the 17 nations was 23.56%. Wild fruit, wild vegetables, medicinal plants, firewood, and crafts were the five NTFP usage types that were used by people in every country studied. Despite the fact that different countries utilize different types of NTFPs, the most commonly used types of NTFPs do not differ statistically ( $P>0.05$ ). To prevent overexploitation, those top five NTFPs must be conserved as they gather across the regions. NTFP collection is a significant source of revenue for rural poor and people who live in and around the forest. There are many types of NTFPs in both Asian and African countries. So, this study shows that the rural people depend on the forest product and get many benefits from the forest especially in the NTFP usage type. In order to secure livelihood stability in this global biodiversity hotspot and to preserve plant and animal diversity, the cultivation and scientific harvesting of NTFPs are urgently required. It is necessary to increase capacity by teaching NTFP users how, when, and how much to harvest.