Not by Maize Alone: a Study of Forest Access and Forest-based Livelihoods in Highland Kafa, Ethiopia

Drawing cases from one of Ethiopia?s most forestedregion of Kafa, this book appraises state-communityand intra-community relationships in forest accessand examines the livelihood significance of naturalforests. Despite the progressively dominant roleaccorded to state tenure in land resources, the bookpresents empirical evidence about the tenacity oftraditional principles and channels of forest access. The analysis also provides fresh insights into theintricacies of forest dependency, and identifiesimportant pointers for instituting village-basedforest management schemes that are applicable in awide range of settings. Employing analyticalperspectives that centred on property rights andmanagement regimes in common pool resources (CPRs),and synthesising the rich field-level data, the bookstresses the need to look beyond the'tragedy?/?comedy? dichotomy in the conceptualisationof resource management outcomes and the utility ofembedding CPR analysis into the notion of ?thesustainable community?. This book will be ofparticular interest to CPR analysts, studentsof natural resource tenure, economists,anthropologists, and natural resource managementprogramme managers.