Microeconomics of Wild Coffee Genetic Resources Conservation in Southwestern Ethiopia

The central theme of this book is the sustainable use and conservation of wild coffee populations in the rainforests of southwestern Ethiopia. The Coffea arabica genetic resources are threatened by deepening poverty and population pressure. Both the exclusionary in the past and the recent forest zoning conservation efforts have had limited success. This is basically due to lack of knowledge on the attributes of local households and their interaction with natural forests. The book highlights theoretical and conceptual frameworks of the interaction between forest and local households. Furthermore, it explains the features of forest products extraction and consumption decisions based on the household model. Afterward, based on primary data collected from Yayu forest area of southwestern Ethiopia, the author analyzes the impacts of establishment of protected areas on the local household economy as well as implication of development interventions on sustainable use and conservation of coffee forests. With this book, Aseffa Seyoum makes a substantial contribution toward better understanding of the harvesting behavior of local households living around coffee forest areas that are vital for designing sound conservation policies. The author reveals that implementation of exclusionary forest conservation strategies would deepen poverty, which compromise the desired conservation effects. He also presents the implication of return to labor enhancing interventions and households' residential location on labor allocation decisions and demand for forest products. The author finally suggests a range of policy options including access to niche market and economic incentives for coffee forest conservation and local development.