The role of wild food plants in poverty alleviation and biodiversity conservation in tropical countries

Abstract

Recent research linking poverty alleviation and forest conservation has frequently focused on the potential contribution of the commercialization of Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs), and has consequently emphasized incomes from NTFPs rather than their consumption. This paper aims to understand the role played by the consumption of wild food plants in the livelihood of rural populations. Two methods of evaluation are used to estimate the value of the wild food plants consumed by Pwo Karen people living in the Thung Yai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary in western Thailand. The first calculates the time needed to gather the wild food plants (14.63 days/year per household), and the second uses the prices of commercial substitutes in the market to estimate the number of days household members would have to engage in paid work if they switched to commercial food crops (143 days/year). The paper concludes that consuming wild food plants is an efficient method of subsistence that should be encouraged. If it is not encouraged, economic growth could lead people to squander additional cash incomes on higherstatus commercial food crops rather than spend it on productive investment.