Community Forestry Approach to Climate Change Adaptation: Example from … · 2018-06-10 ·...
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Community Forestry Approach to Climate Change Adaptation: Example from the Dry Zone of Myanmar Tian Lin Thesis submitted in fulfilment of The requirements for the Degree of Honours Bachelors of Arts Centre for Critical Development Studies University of Toronto Scarborough 8 April 2018
Transcript of Community Forestry Approach to Climate Change Adaptation: Example from … · 2018-06-10 ·...
Community Forestry Approach to Climate Change Adaptation:
Example from the Dry Zone of Myanmar
Tian Lin Thesis submitted in fulfilment of
The requirements for the Degree of Honours Bachelors of Arts
Centre for Critical Development Studies
University of Toronto Scarborough
8 April 2018
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Abstract
Climate change is disproportionately having negative impacts on rural communities in resource-
dependent countries, including Myanmar. Many of the local residents who are affected by
climate change do not always have the necessary tools or knowledge to adapt to climate change.
Since 1995, the government of Myanmar has been supporting the development of community
forestry (CF) as a way to address deforestation and forest degradation, and rural poverty. In
recent years, the government has recognized the potential role of CF in building climate-resilient
communities through the National Adaptation Programme of Action.
Globally, few studies have examined the role of CF in climate change adaptation, resulting in a
significant research gap. Myanmar is one of the most vulnerable countries to the impacts of
climate change and is highly dependent on agriculture for the national economy, which makes
this country a suitable research location. Using a sustainable livelihood assets framework to
measure adaptive capacity, my research examines the contribution of CF to climate change
adaptation in the dry zone of Myanmar.
My research suggests that CF offers a critical contribution to adaptation in Myanmar, but faces
several operational challenges. While CF provides a platform for vulnerable groups to increase
their knowledge on land rights, transect walks and focus group discussions reveal that
overlapping land claims are hindering CF implementation. Tensions between livelihood needs
and conservation objectives through CF development highlight areas where land use policy may
not always be synchronized. So, while CF increases community engagement in natural resource
management, in the absence of tangible benefits to the community, the contribution of CF as an
adaptation tool may be limited.
Keywords: Myanmar, community forestry, climate change adaptation, adaptive capacity,
sustainable livelihood assets, dry zone
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Acknowledgments
This thesis would not have been possible without the contribution of some key individuals and
organizations that have invested their time and financial support to this project. First, I would
like to thank my thesis supervisors Dr. Adam Martin at the University of Toronto and Dr. David
Gritten at RECOFTC – The Center for People and Forests who consistently provided their
guidance and constructive criticism throughout my research. David was one who planted the
seed for this research topic. I am grateful for his constant encouragements to get the ball rolling
even during times of uncertainty. Additionally, I am very fortunate to have Adam as my
supervisor while I was abroad and in Canada, as he generously offered his insights on research
areas that needed further improvement. Despite their busy schedules, both David and Adam
revised my chapters multiple times and probed me on concepts that needed clarification, helping
to shape me as a researcher and academic.
I express my sincere gratitude to Dr. Binod Chapagain who took me on as an intern at
RECOFTC. During my internship, Binod showed great patience in explaining to me the role of
monitoring and evaluation in community forestry. He only had one goal for me as an intern,
which was to learn as much as I could. I hope Binod continues to instill the values of a learning
environment wherever his path takes him so that he can unravel the talents and strengths of
individuals who may not always get the opportunity to do so. Special thanks to all RECOFTC
staff including Mr. Martin Greijmans, Mr. Lok Mani Sapkota, Mr. Julian Atkinson, Mr.
Ronnakorn Triraganon, and Dr. David Ganz who offered words of wisdom on my research.
My research would not have been possible without the support of RECOFTC’s Myanmar
Country Program. I would like to thank Dr. Maung Maung Than, U Aung Kyaw Naing, Daw
Khin Moe Kyi, Daw Thin Yadanar Su, and Daw Yuzana Wai for welcoming me into Myanmar. I
am indebted to the SUComFor field staff and volunteers, including U Kyaw Nyunt, Daw Khin
Thiri Htun, Daw Kyi Phyu Thet, U Kyaw Zay Latt, and Daw Zar Zar Win. None of the research
data presented below would have existed without their tirelessly committed effort to facilitating
the research tools. Daw Khin Thiri Htun was the focal person who translated all the research
material from Myanmar language to English and exceeded my expectations of having a resource
person in the field. She was an excellent researcher, facilitator as well as companion during my
stay in the dry zone. It was a great pleasure and eye-opening experience to work with the
Myanmar Country Program and the SUComFor field staff.
While providing data for my research, community members of Tha Yet Kwa and Thit Gyi Taw
shared a glimpse of their lives that I will continue to cherish. These community members invited
me into their homes and generously found time to answer my research questions.
Last but not least, I would like to thank members of the Centre for Critical Development Studies
for fostering a culture of critical thinking.
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This work was funded by the Royal Norwegian Embassy. The views expressed herein do not
reflect the official opinion of the donor nor supporters for this research except my own.
I dedicate this thesis to the people of Tha Yet Kwa and Thit Gyi Taw.
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Table of Contents
Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... 1
Acknowledgments ......................................................................................................................... 2
Table of Contents .......................................................................................................................... 4
List of Tables ................................................................................................................................. 7
List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ 7
List of Equations ........................................................................................................................... 7
Acronyms and Abbreviations ...................................................................................................... 8
1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 9
1.1 Background Context ........................................................................................................... 9
1.2 Literature Review ............................................................................................................... 9
1.2.1 Conceptual Understanding, Benefits and Critiques of Community Forestry ................ 9
1.2.2 Role of Community Forestry in Climate Change Adaptation ..................................... 10
1.2.3 Community Forestry Development in Myanmar ......................................................... 11
1.2.4 Procedures for Establishing a Community Forestry in Myanmar ............................... 13
1.2.5 Dominant Approaches to Adaptive Capacity .............................................................. 13
1.2.6 Measuring Adaptive Capacity...................................................................................... 14
1.3 Conceptual Framework .................................................................................................... 16
1.4 Aim and Objectives ........................................................................................................... 17
2 Study Region and Methodology .............................................................................................. 19
2.1 Project Context.................................................................................................................. 19
2.2 Central Dry Zone .............................................................................................................. 19
2.2.1 Geographical Location ................................................................................................. 19
2.2.2 Climate ......................................................................................................................... 20
2.2.3 Impacts of Climate Change .......................................................................................... 21
2.3 Rationale for the Selection of Case Communities .......................................................... 22
2.4 Primary Data and Sampling Strategy ............................................................................. 23
2.4.1 Sampling Method ......................................................................................................... 24
2.4.2 Focus Group Discussion .............................................................................................. 24
2.4.3 Key Informant Interview.............................................................................................. 25
2.5.4 Seasonal Calendar ........................................................................................................ 25
2.4.5 Transect Walk .............................................................................................................. 26
2.4.6 Resource Mapping ....................................................................................................... 26
2.4.7 Social Mapping ............................................................................................................ 27
2.4.8 Well-being Ranking ..................................................................................................... 27
2.4.9 Household Survey ........................................................................................................ 27
2.4.10 Daily Activity Clock .................................................................................................. 28
2.5 Secondary Sources ............................................................................................................ 28
2.6 Data Analysis ..................................................................................................................... 28
2.7 Derivation of Criteria and Indicators to Measure Adaptive Capacity ........................ 29
2.7.1 Criteria and Indicators for Sustainable Livelihood Assets .......................................... 29
2.7.2 Calculation for Adaptive Capacity ............................................................................... 30
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3 Results ....................................................................................................................................... 31
3.1 Summary of Sustainable Livelihood Assets in Study Sites ........................................... 31
3.2 Human Capital .................................................................................................................. 32
3.2.1 Education ..................................................................................................................... 32
3.2.2 Access to Household Labour ....................................................................................... 32
3.2.3 Access to Healthcare .................................................................................................... 33
3.2.4 Nutrition ....................................................................................................................... 33
3.3 Social Capital ..................................................................................................................... 34
3.3.1 Access to Information .................................................................................................. 34
3.3.2 Social Cohesion ........................................................................................................... 35
3.3.3 Participation in Organizations ...................................................................................... 35
3.4 Natural Capital.................................................................................................................. 36
3.4.1 Land Resources and Land Quality ............................................................................... 36
3.4.2 Off-Farm Livelihood Activities ................................................................................... 37
3.4.3 Water Resources .......................................................................................................... 37
3.4.4 Livestock ...................................................................................................................... 38
3.5 Financial Capital ............................................................................................................... 38
3.5.1 Sources of Income........................................................................................................ 38
3.5.2 Reliability of Income Sources ...................................................................................... 39
3.5.3 Access to Loans ........................................................................................................... 39
3.5.4 Access to Savings ........................................................................................................ 40
3.6 Physical Capital ................................................................................................................. 40
3.6.1 Mobile Communication ............................................................................................... 40
3.6.2 Access to Electricity .................................................................................................... 40
3.6.3 Access to Motorbike .................................................................................................... 41
3.6.4 Access to Machinery .................................................................................................... 41
3.7 Social Impacts of Establishing a Community Forestry in the Study Area .................. 41
3.7.1 Community Forestry Development and Land Use Rights ........................................... 41
3.7.2 Participation of Vulnerable Groups ............................................................................. 42
3.7.3 Subsistence and Commercialization of Forest Resources ........................................... 44
3.8 Coping Strategies to Climate Change ............................................................................. 45
4 Discussion.................................................................................................................................. 46
4.1 Synthesis of Community Forestry Contribution and Gaps .......................................... 46
4.2 Progress and Challenges in Community Forestry Development .................................. 47
4.3 Application of the Research for Climate Change Adaptation ...................................... 48
4.4 Recommendations ............................................................................................................. 49
4.4.1 Recommendations to Policymakers ............................................................................. 49
4.4.2 Recommendations to Civil Society Organizations ...................................................... 49
4.4.3 Recommendations to Local Communities ................................................................... 49
4.5 Limitations ......................................................................................................................... 50
4.5.1 Limitations of the Methodology .................................................................................. 50
4.5.2 Study Limitations ......................................................................................................... 51
4.6 Way Forward for Research.............................................................................................. 52
References .................................................................................................................................... 53
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Appendices ................................................................................................................................... 61
Appendix 1. General focus group discussion questionnaire ............................................... 61
Appendix 2. Key informant interview questionnaire .......................................................... 62
Appendix 3. Seasonal calendar (example from Tha Yet Kwa) ........................................... 63
Appendix 4. Transect walk map (example from Thit Gyi Taw)......................................... 64
Appendix 5. Resource map (example from Tha Yet Kwa) ................................................. 65
Appendix 6. Social map (example from Tha Yet Kwa) ....................................................... 66
Appendix 7. Well-being ranking (example from Tha Yet Kwa) ........................................ 67
Appendix 8. Household survey questionnaire in English .................................................... 68
Appendix 9. Translated household survey questionnaire in Myanmar language ............ 74
Appendix 10. Sustainable livelihood assets scores in Tha Yet Kwa and Thit Gyi Taw ... 84
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List of Tables
Table 1. Definition and examples of sustainable livelihood assets .............................................. 15 Table 2. Land use in the dry zone ................................................................................................. 19 Table 3. Community forestry membership data for Tha Yet Kwa and Thit Gyi Taw .................. 23 Table 4. Data analysis framework ................................................................................................ 28 Table 5. List of criteria and indicators to measure adaptive capacity ........................................... 29 Table 6. Limitations of research tools ........................................................................................... 50
List of Figures
Figure 1. Conceptual research framework on climate change adaptation .................................... 16 Figure 2. Map of dry zone of Myanmar ........................................................................................ 20 Figure 3. Annual rainfall in Myaing Township, Magway Region between 1990 and 2015 ......... 21 Figure 4. Research design covering main research objectives ..................................................... 24 Figure 5. Seasonal calendar exercise in Tha Yet Kwa.................................................................. 26 Figure 6. Sustainable livelihood assets scores in the study area ................................................... 31 Figure 7. Education level in the study area ................................................................................... 32 Figure 8. Village health clinic in Tha Yet Kwa ............................................................................ 33 Figure 9. Market share of main food items in the study area ....................................................... 34 Figure 10. Main livelihood activity in the study area ................................................................... 37 Figure 11. The diversity of income sources by village ................................................................. 39 Figure 12. Map of proposed community forestry area in Tha Yet Kwa ....................................... 43 Figure 13. Main coping strategies to climate change in the study area ........................................ 45
List of Equations
Equation 1. Calculation of indicator score .................................................................................... 30 Equation 2. Calculation of asset score .......................................................................................... 30
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Acronyms and Abbreviations
CF
CFC
CFI
CFMC
CFMP
CFUG
DAC
FD
FGD
HHS
KII
LUC
MoNREC
NLUP
PFE
RECOFTC
RM
RO
SC
SLA
SM
SS
SUComFor
TGT
TW
TYK
UN
WBR
Community Forestry
Community Forestry Certificate
Community Forestry Instructions
Community Forestry Management Committee
Community Forestry Management Plan
Community Forestry User Group
Daily Activity Clock
Forest Department
Focus Group Discussion
Household Survey
Key Informant Interview
Land Use Certificate
Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation
National Land Use Policy
Permanent Forest Estate
Center for People and Forests
Resource Mapping
Research Objective
Seasonal Calendar
Sustainable Livelihood Assets
Social Mapping
Secondary Source
Scaling-Up Community Forestry
Thit Gyi Taw
Transect Walk
Tha Yet Kwa
United Nations
Well-being Ranking
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1 Introduction
1.1 Background Context Scientific evidence now firmly indicates that climate change is undermining development and
human well-being around the world, particularly in resource-dependent regions (Solomon et al.,
2009, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2014). In turn, climate change adaptation
serves as a critical means by which communities can envision and develop the tools and
knowledge needed to manage natural resources under shifting climate (Ayers & Forsyth, 2009).
Over the past 20 years, numerous participatory natural resource management interventions have
been designed in attempts to diversify local livelihoods and build climate-resilient communities
(Ayers & Dodman, 2010; Reid, 2016).
At the international and national level, community forestry (CF) is a frequently cited mechanism
to simultaneously achieve both conservation and development goals (Center for People and
Forests & the ASEAN Working Group on Social Forestry, 2017). For example, with the support
of the Royal Norwegian Embassy and Center for People and Forests (RECOFTC), the Myanmar
government has launched a country-wide project to establish CF demonstration sites to
strengthen its national CF program (RECOFTC, 2015). In Myanmar’s National Adaptation
Programme of Action, policymakers have included CF as a priority adaptation activity to restore
degraded areas in the country’s dry, hilly and mangrove zones (Ministry of Natural Resources
and Environmental Conservation & Ministry of Transport, 2012). The outcome has led to a slow,
albeit significant, shift toward the decentralization of the national forest estate, which is opening
up opportunities for securing land rights, generating employment, and alleviating pressure on
agricultural land (Prescott et al., 2017).
1.2 Literature Review
1.2.1 Conceptual Understanding, Benefits and Critiques of Community Forestry Community forestry emerged in the international arena between the 1970s and 1990s as a
response to widespread deforestation and rural poverty in developing countries (Poffenberger,
2006; Padgee et al., 2006). At the eighth World Forestry Congress, delegates defined CF as “any
situation that intimately involves local people in forestry activity” (Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations, 1978). Although CF was expected to achieve the win-win
goal of conservation and poverty alleviation, early projects that involved traditional forest users
were unsuccessful since these activities ignored issues related to governance and land rights
(Arnolds, 2001).
With growing pressure placed on governments to reduce deforestation rates, from
intergovernmental organizations such as the World Bank and the United Nations (UN), national
policymakers began crafting new forest legislation (Charnely & Poe, 2007). These policies
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sought to empower local forest users and local governments in forest management (Poffenberger,
2006). Through the decentralization and devolution of forest resources, localized success cases
of CF became prevalent throughout multiple countries including India, Nepal, and Mexico,
where people-centered forest policies existed alongside a strong community movement toward
sustainable forest management (Timsina, 2003; Bray, 2004; Charnely & Poe, 2007).
In theory, forests that operate through a common-property regime, such as CF, provide forest
users with secure land tenure and private property rights (McKean & Ostrom, 1995). These
secured rights encourage forest users to invest in activities that would deliver tangible
socioeconomic and ecological benefits for the community (McKean & Ostrom, 1995; Keenan
2015). Common-property refers to the arrangement by which collective members of a group
organize and manage land (McKean & Ostrom, 1995). Private property rights in this context are
held by members of a CF user group (CFUG). Although the presence of a legal structure is not
required, legal recognition and thus protection of the CFUG can foster a sense of responsibility
and ownership among CFUG members to enforce management rules (Casse & Milhoj, 2011).
With CF offering a platform for collective action, members can access and share information
related to forest management, enabling a learning environment to make informed decisions
(Keenan 2015).
Despite the potential of CF in contributing to land security, criticism of CF is abundant. Some
scholars have argued that mainstream perspectives on CF tend to assume preferences and values
over forest management are the same across households and individuals (Li, 2002; Lane &
Corbett, 2006). Li’s findings (2002) suggest that community-based natural resource management
discriminates against groups that do not fit the mainstream image of the sustainable community
developed by policymakers and donors. She found that resource rights depended upon the
assumptions formed around the lifestyle and identity of specific groups, which determines if they
are capable of carrying out sustainable resource management (Li, 2002). Communities that
exemplify the image of the environmental steward experience an additional burden to produce
sustainable outcomes often with little to no support from external agencies (Li, 2002; Dressler et
al., 2010; Anderson et al., 2015). While it is challenging to overturn stereotypes on
environmental stewardship, there have been successes in remedying issues on the representation
and inequality between forest users through formal policies at the local level (Varughese &
Ostrom, 2001; Fritzen, 2007; Saito-Jenson et al., 2010).
1.2.2 Role of Community Forestry in Climate Change Adaptation The original aim of CF has expanded to include climate change issues through mitigation and
adaptation related activities (Pandey et al., 2016). Mitigation, which refers to actions intended to
reduce carbon emissions, is discussed extensively in the forestry and climate change literature
(Leach & Leach, 2004; Porter-Bolland et al., 2012; Santika et al., 2017). While mitigation
activities are concerned with alleviating the severity of climate change, adaptation activities are
focused on changing action and behaviour in light of climate change. (Smit et al., 2000). In
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contrast to research on climate change mitigation, evidence on the contribution of CF to climate
change adaptation is elusive. It is difficult for researchers to discern the causal relationships
between the array of social-ecological variables that affect adaptation interventions (Keenan,
2015).
Nonetheless, community involvement in forest management is increasingly significant under
changing climate with about 13% of the global forest area estimated to be owned by indigenous
peoples and local communities (Rights and Resources Initiatives, 2014). Forest and tree products
currently constitute an integral source of food, fuel, and income for 1.6 billion people in the
world, according to the UN’s first strategic plan for forests (UN, 2017). By granting tenure rights
to forest users, national governments can facilitate an environment to enhance the role of forests
as a safety net and source of livelihood diversification (Pramova et al., 2012). In many agrarian
communities, agroforestry has helped regulate water, soil, and microclimate for more resilient
crop production (Verchot et al., 2007; Sharma & Vetaas, 2015). Since the impacts of climate
change are localized, communities that are affected by changes in the climate can better adopt
adaptation techniques if they have the rights to manage the surrounding forests.
Regulatory environments that do not support local innovation are barriers to the implementation
of adaptation strategies in the forest sector. Forest-based communities often cannot profit from
the sales of high-value forest products such as timber due to their lack of capacity to comply with
government regulations that favour big players (Gritten et al., 2015). Increasing market access to
local communities can lead to positive outcomes for livelihood resilience by presenting
opportunities for value-addition on forest products that would otherwise be produced for
subsistence purposes (Pramova et al., 2012). Market access may also result in exploitation of
high-value and high-demand products. But awareness of these consequences can motivate local
forest users to develop and enforce management rules that offset shocks and stresses caused by
market and environmental forces (Pramova et al., 2012).
In some notable cases, relying on forests resources served as a coping strategy for households
following climatic and disaster-related shocks (Fisher et al., 2010; Volker & Waibel, 2010;
Liswanti et al., 2011). For example, Liswanti et al. (2011) found households with the fewest
resources depended on the forests the most after a catastrophic flooding event in East
Kalimantan, Indonesia. After the flood, households made more frequent use of the forests to
access necessities as well as marketable products (Liswanti et al., 2011). But while households
may feel safe in the forests, Liswanti et al. (2011) caution that people's reliance on forests should
not be idealized, especially since it can be a poverty trap for some household.
1.2.3 Community Forestry Development in Myanmar Following the 1992 UN Conference for Environment and Development, the government of
Myanmar began adopting a series of policies to support international initiatives on sustainability
(Tint et al., 2011). In the 1995 Forest Policy, the government aimed to deliver “people-based
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development” through the involvement of the public in forestry activities such as CF (Ministry of
Forestry, 1995a). This aim was however short-lived.
In December 1995, the legislation entitled “Community Forestry Instructions” (CFI) was passed
to give land use rights to local communities (Tint et al., 2011). But this same document placed
restrictions on the commercialization prospects of CF products (Tint et al., 2011). The 1995 CFI
described CF as “neither a regional development forestry operation nor a large scale forest
operation” (Ministry of Forestry, 1995b, p. 3). Thus, this legislation limited CF to meeting only
the subsistence needs of communities.
In the early years of the CFI, the Forest Department (FD) managed CF woodlots for local
consumption (Tint et al., 2011). Since local communities did not have the right to enforce
management rules on these woodlots, woodlots were quickly degraded as a result of illegal
encroachment by outsiders (Tint et al., 2011). Due to weak political commitment, progress in the
CF program in Myanmar was slow, and the main investors of CF projects were bilateral donors
rather than the national government (Tint et al., 2011).
In the past two decades, CF in Myanmar has received a considerable boost in its activities. The
Myanmar government’s plan of establishing 2.27 million acres of CF (919,000 ha) by 2031,
coupled with the introduction of land reforms under the Thein Sein administration (2011-2016)
have re-invigorated the national CF program (Tint et al., 2011; Prescott et al., 2017). More
recently, the 1995 CFI was replaced by the 2016 CFI, which now recognizes the role of CF in
providing employment and supplying financial funds for community development (Ministry of
Environmental Conservation and Natural Resources, 2016). The 2016 CFI is also supported by
Myanmar’s first National Land Use Policy (NLUP), which seeks to provide equitable land use
access to all citizens including smallholder farmers and landless people (Republic of the Union
of Myanmar, 2016).
To address the vulnerability of the rural population to climate change, the government of
Myanmar has promoted CF as an adaptation tool in its national climate change strategies
(Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation & Ministry of Transport, 2012;
Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation, 2016). In Myanmar’s National
Adaptation Programme of Action, the national government promotes CF as a way to diversify
livelihood, increase the local uptake of technological innovations and streamline local
participation in climate change efforts (Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental
Conservation & Ministry of Transport, 2012). Revisions to the CFI along with the introduction
of the NLUP may, after all, achieve the “people-based development” articulated in the 1995
Forest Policy.
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1.2.4 Procedures for Establishing a Community Forestry in Myanmar Under the 2008 Constitution, the state has ultimate ownership of all land in Myanmar (Republic
of the Union of Myanmar, 2008). The Ministry of Environmental Conservation and Natural
Resources (MoNREC) is responsible for managing forestland. Forestland falls into two main
categories, which are i) Permanent Forest Estate (PFE) and ii) non-PFE (State Law and Order
Restoration Council, 1992). The FD administers PFE while the state uses non-PFE at its
disposal. Permanent Forest Estate consists of protected areas, public protected forests, and
reserved forests. When customary land is inside the PFE system, CF becomes one of the only
available options for landowners to formally secure rights to those land.
Under the 2016 CFI, community members who are interested in establishing a CF must form a
CFUG and a CF management committee (CFMC). The CF management committee governs the
activities of the CFUG and represents the executive branch. After the formation of both the
CFUG and CFMC, the CFUG needs to submit a CF application to the FD. In this application, the
CFUG will identify the area allocated for the CF. The District Forest Officer who is in charge of
issuing the CF certificate (CFC) needs to verify if the proposed CF boundary is suitable for CF
activities. Once the District Forest Officer approves the CF boundary, the CFMC can start
drafting the CF management plan (CFMP). The CFMP has to outline specific forest management
activities that the CFUG intends to carry out.
By having the CFC, the CFUG can formally undertake the activities and responsibilities
prescribed in their CFMP. Community forest certificates are issued to a group rather than an
individual, requiring individual customary landowners to consult all members of the CFUG
before making changes to their land. Given that the government has ultimate ownership of
natural resources, CFC represents a 30-year land lease to the allocated forestland. While the
CFUG can renew the CFC after the 30-year period, the CFC has no transactional value, which
means that landowners cannot sell, lease or mortgage their land.
1.2.5 Dominant Approaches to Adaptive Capacity While adaptation has gained prominence in the development field as a way to build climate-
resilient communities (Burton & Pilifosova, 2001; Ayers & Dodman, 2010), the primary focus of
this research is on adaptive capacity. Since climate change is just one of many threats to the well-
being of communities in Myanmar, an adaptive capacity lens allows for a direct analysis between
resource management and resource mobilization to address climatic as well as non-climatic
shocks.
The concept of adaptive capacity appeared in the field of biology and anthropology as a means to
explain organismal and human responses to environmental change (Parson, 1964; Brooks, 2006;
Darwin, 2009). Adaptive capacity describes the ability to adapt. In the climate change literature,
adaptive capacity is related to the concept of adaptation. Similar to the research challenges
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around adaptation, it is difficult to evaluate the impacts of policies on adaptive capacity since
adaptive capacity is contingent on a wide range of variables including the location and time-
frame of respectively where and when the concept is measured (Adger et al., 2005). In the case
of participatory forest management, CF in many countries is still at its early stages of
development, which also makes evaluations on the effectiveness of using CF to address climate
change challenging (Gilmour, 2016). The framing of adaptive capacity in what it does and does
not constitute can, however, help establish a systematic and comparative way of monitoring
people’s ability to adapt.
In recent studies, researchers have recognized the importance of the local ecological and social
processes on adaptation outcomes, and have characterized adaptive capacity as a function of the
resources available in the local environment (Engle & Lemos, 2010; Pearce et al., 2010).
Building on these studies, Nelson et al. (2007, p. 397) describes adaptive capacity as “the
preconditions necessary to enable adaptation, including social and physical elements, and the
ability to mobilize these elements.” Thus, the ability to mobilize livelihood resources is essential
for reducing the potential risks of environmental stresses beyond climate change (Ayers &
Forsyth, 2009).
Although there is no consensus on the characteristics of adaptive capacity, researchers have
promoted principles that encourage a flexible approach to resource mobilization (Folke et al.,
2003; Keenan, 2015; Phuong et al., 2017). Folke et al. (2003) propose four dimensions to
adaptive capacity and resilience, which consists of i) learning to live with change and
uncertainty; ii) nurturing diversity for reorganization; iii) combining different knowledge
systems for learning, and; iv) creating an opportunity for self-organization. Adaptive capacity is
thus an iterative process that occurs throughout the lifespan of individual projects.
1.2.6 Measuring Adaptive Capacity Since researchers cannot directly observe adaptive capacity, a set of indirect indicators are
needed to measure its presence. Drivers or sources of adaptive capacity fall into two main
categories, which are generic and specific capacities (Smit & Pilifosova, 2003; Brooks & Adger,
2004; Mortreux & Barnett, 2017). Generic components of adaptive capacity cover a wide range
of variables, including economic resources, governance systems, and education levels, each of
which is aimed at addressing aspects of human development (Smit & Pilifosova, 2003, Eakin et
al., 2014). Specific factors to adaptive capacity include a narrower scope of variables, such as
risk management, access to climate data, and climate change-related technologies, each of which
is focused on specific climatic threats such as droughts, floods, and hurricanes (Eakin et al.,
2014). While neither suite of variables is superior, studying the linkages between generic and
specific factors is crucial for developing policies and strategic plans that intersect issues across
different spatial-temporal scales.
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Various approaches to adaptive capacity represent different goals and perspectives on measuring
this concept. Three frequently used methods to measure adaptive capacity in the climate change
literature are i) frameworks that used sustainable livelihood assets (SLA), ii) governance
indicators or iii) a composite of the two. To a lesser extent, researchers have also used
psychometric techniques to identify the relationship between people’s behaviour and their
adaptive capacity to climate change (Lockwood et al., 2015, Murphy et al., 2016; Mortreux &
Barnett, 2017).
Case studies that have focused on developing local recommendations have applied an SLA
framework to measure the impacts of adaptation interventions on household assets (Nelson et al.,
2010; Egyir et al., 2015; Pandey et al., 2017). At the sub-national to the national level, a
governance framework is suitable to identify factors that affect institutional responses to climate
change (Pahl-Wost, 2009; Engle & Lemos, 2010; Gupta et al., 2010). Some researchers have
also used a composite approach that includes both asset and governance indicators to measure
adaptive capacity (Yohe & Tol, 2002; Defiesta & Rapera, 2014; Abdul-Razak & Kruse, 2017).
With a range of variables to consider, Brooks and Adger (2004) argue that a composite approach
may not be suitable for providing practical recommendations if researchers do not choose
variables at appropriate scales.
My research uses the SLA framework to measure adaptive capacity because of its practical
dimensions in identifying cross-sectoral resources needed for local adaptation. In the late 1980s,
a team of researchers at the Institute of Development Studies developed the SLA framework
(Chambers & Conway, 1992; Scoones, 1998). Through this framework, tangible and intangible
assets are grouped into five standard forms of capital, which are i) human; ii) social; iii) natural;
iv) financial, and; v) physical capital (Table 1). This research uses the terms “asset” and “capital”
interchangeably, as capital denotes resources that contribute to productive livelihood activities.
These five types of capital constitute the resource base at the household and community level.
Table 1. Definition and examples of sustainable livelihood assets
Asset Example Measurement
Human capital refers to the
availability and health of the
workforce, and the amount
and quality of knowledge
and skills possessed by the
population
Education level
Literacy rate among target
households/youth enrolment in
higher education
Nutrition
Number/percentage of target
households who are food self-
sufficient
Labour availability Proportion of household members
who are in the workforce
Social capital includes the
social resources that people
Attendance at
community meetings
Number of households attending
community meetings
16
use to achieve their
livelihood objectives
Relations with
individuals outside the
community
Reliance on external networks of
support
Natural capital refers to the
natural resources derived
from ecosystem services,
which can be tangible and
intangible
Arable land
Number of households owning
more than two acres of arable land
Potable water
Number of households with potable
water throughout the year
The diversity of tree
species
Number of tree species in
customary forests
Financial capital includes the
available financial stock and
regular inflow of money
Access to financial stock
such as savings and
liquid assets
Proportion of households with
access to loans and savings
Income Annual profit from income-
generating activities
Physical capital refers to the
infrastructure and producer
goods that support livelihood
activities
Roads
Availability of graveled/coal-tarred
roads
Reservoirs Number of reservoirs near the
community farmland
Definition adapted from Department of International Development UK, 1999.
1.3 Conceptual Framework My research adapts RECOFTC’s climate change adaptation framework to analyze the
contribution of CF to adaptive capacity. The research areas of interest are outlined in orange in
Figure 1. This narrower research scope is chosen because CF in Myanmar is still in its early
development stage, which limits an in-depth analysis on the effects of CF on the political and
institutional structure. By using this framework, this research assumes local actors respond to
rather than contribute to climate change.
Figure 1. Conceptual research framework on climate change adaptation
Adapted from RECOFTC and USAID Adapt Asia-Pacific, 2016.
1. Climate Change Threats
and Opportunities
5. Institutional and Political
Setting
2. Local Actors and
Environment
3. Adaptive Capacity
(SLA)4. Adaptation
Co
mm
un
ity
Fo
rest
ry
17
In this framework, climate change threats and opportunities have direct and indirect impacts on
local actors and their surrounding environment (Box 1. in Figure 1). Climate change threats refer
to unwanted climatic changes such as droughts and floods, which may jeopardize current and
future livelihood activities. Climate change opportunities consist of desirable changes in the
climate such as more frequent rainfall in arid regions, which can be beneficial to local
livelihoods. The magnitude and severity of climate change affect the behaviour and actions of
local actors (Box 2. in Figure 1). If actors, in this case, CFUGs, want to take collective action in
response to expected or actual climatic stimuli, their ability to do so will be determined by their
adaptive capacity (Box 3. in Figure 1).
By adopting an SLA lens, this research characterizes adaptive capacity as a function of the
quantity and quality of SLA that a household or community possesses. If both climatic threats
and assets are low, local actors may not be inclined to respond to these threats. This inaction may
also occur if climate change threats are high and SLA are low. Individuals or communities may
want to moderate potential risks associated with a climatic threat but are constrained to do so by
their low adaptive capacity. Similarly, if climatic opportunities are high and assets are low,
actors may not be able to take advantage of these opportunities. Adaptation in this framework
describes adjustments in current behaviour and actions (Box 4. In Figure 1).
The social and ecological benefits attributed to CF are evaluated based on its contribution to the
institutional and local environment (Box 5 and Box 2 in Figure 1, respectively). The institutional
and political settings refer to the norms and policies developed through formal and informal
channels such as parliamentary debates, protests, and roundtable meetings. Outputs from these
settings include the national climate change strategies plans and the NLUP, which can either
increase as well as decrease adaptive capacity, thereby creating a feedback loop in the
framework.
1.4 Aim and Objectives
While CF has been effective in restoring degraded land, few studies have examined the potential
of using CF to improve people’s ability to adapt to climate change. Considering the investments
in CF thus far, this research explores the contribution and limitation of CF to adaptation and
more specifically to local adaptive capacity in the dry zone of Myanmar. The dry zone of
Myanmar is selected as the case study for this research because of the pronounced effects of
climatic variability on local livelihoods in this region, reflecting people's reliance on their natural
environment for their well-being. Although the national CF program in Myanmar is still in its
early stages of development, the country is undergoing a rapid series of land reforms, which
present suitable conditions to develop policy recommendations related to land use practices.
18
Two research objectives with associated questions follow:
Research objective 1. To identify household resources needed for sustainable livelihood
activities and to examine the impacts of climate change on these resources
i) What are the effects of climate change or weather-related events on household assets?
ii) Which household assets are most important to the community?
Research objective 2. To analyze the interaction between local, subnational and national policies
that lead to specific outcomes in the CF landscape
i) Which policies affect CF implementation in the dry zone?
ii) Do these policies meet the objectives that it sets out to accomplish?
iii) What are the key opportunities and barriers to CF?
19
2 Study Region and Methodology
2.1 Project Context
Under the Scaling-Up Community Forestry project (SUComFOR), this research selected the dry
zone as the study area. SUComFOR is a three-year project that aims to establish 103 CF
demonstration sites across seven landscapes in Myanmar (RECOFTC, 2017). Out of these seven
landscapes, Magway Region, which represents the dry zone, is the only location where none of
the target villages have received CFCs.
2.2 Central Dry Zone
2.2.1 Geographical Location
The dry zone is a semi-arid region located in central Myanmar, which covers three divisions
including Magway, Mandalay, and Sagaing (Figure 2). Despite representing only 13% of the
country’s total land area, the dry zone is home to a quarter of the country’s total population
(Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, 2015). The population density for this area is 99 persons
per square kilometre (Tun et al., 2015).
According to the data from the Dry Zone Greening Department, about 40% of the country’s total
arable land is in the dry zone, which highlights the importance of agriculture to the regional
economy (Bann et al., 2017). While agricultural land makes up over half of the total land area in
the dry zone, forests cover more than one-fourth of this region (Table 2). Fuelwood from natural
and secondary forests is a vital source of energy for the dry zone population (Weine, 2013).
Table 2. Land use in the dry zone
Land Use Type Area (ac in millions) Area (ha in millions) %, 2015
Closed forest 4.26 1.73 19.7
Degraded forest 1.82 0.74 8.4
Shifting cultivation 2.81 1.14 13.0
Agriculture 11.97 4.85 55.5
Other land uses 0.42 0.17 2.0
Water bodies 0.30 0.12 1.4
Total 21.58 8.73 100.0 Modified from Bann et al., 2017.
20
Figure 2. Map of dry zone of Myanmar
Map from Myanmar Information Management Unit, 2013.
2.2.2 Climate
Myanmar has a monsoonal climate with three distinct seasons: i) winter season from mid-
November to mid-February ii) summer season from mid-February to mid-June, and iii) rainy
season from mid-June to mid-November (MoNREC, 2016). The central dry zone lies in the rain
shadow belt of the Rakhine Yoma mountain ranges (Tun, 2000). A drier inland atmosphere is
due to the relative location of the dry zone to these mountain ranges (Myint et al., 2011). Annual
rainfall in the dry zone ranges from 500mm to 1000 mm (MoNREC, 2016). Although the dry
0 30 6015
km
Disclaimer: The names shown and designations used on this map donot imply official endorsement or acceptance by the United Nations.
Source: Boundary: WFP modified by MIMU (2008); Place name: GAD (2008)
Map ID: MIMU163_ADPC_DryZoneTownships_090601_v02
Dry Zone Map
1:2,300,000State/Division Boundary
Dry Zone Townships
Township Boundary
District Boundary
Shwebo District
Thayet District
Minbu District
Yamethin District
Monywa District
Magway District
Pakokku District
Meiktila District
Myingyan District
Kyaukse District
Sagaing District
Nyaung-U District
Shan
Chin
Magway
Sagaing
Mandalay
Bago
Rakhine
Kayin
Kayah
Kachin
Kanbalu
Pauk
Salin
Minhla
Mindon
Tharzi
Aunglan
Ta Sei
Ye-U
Myaing
Palae
Minbu
Natmauk
Myothit
Kyaukse
Wetlet
Magway
Ngape
Yamaethin
Tabayin
Thayet
Pyawbwe
Seikphyu
Sinbaungwe
Butalin
Kanma
Sagaing
Wundwin
Chauk
Natogyi
Khin-U
Nyaung-U
Pakkoku
Taungdwingyi
Nay Pyi Taw-Tatkon
Meikhtila
Tada-U
Taungthar
Kyaukpadaung
Pwintbyu
Shwebo
Mahlaing
A Ya Daw
Yesagyo
Ngazun
Myitthar
Myingyan
Yinmabin
Myin Mu
Salingyi
Monywa
Yenanchaung
Myaung
Chaung Oo
97°E
97°E
96°E
96°E
95°E
95°E
94°E
94°E
23°N
23°N
22°N
22°N
21°N
21°N
20°N
20°N
19°N
19°N
21
zone receives little rainfall throughout the year, this region experiences high variability in rainfall
and temperatures levels across localities and seasons.
For a five-year interval between 1990 and 2015, the township of the study area, Myaing,
observed high inter-monthly and intra-annual rainfall levels (Figure 3). During the summer
monsoon season, rainfall intensity can reach up to 250mm in a single day and over 100mm
hourly (Tun et al., 2015). Data on temperature levels in the dry zone also suggests high
variability in seasonal and diurnal temperature. Between March and April, which are the hottest
months of the year, temperature ranges from a minimum of 12°C to a maximum of 42°C (Tun et
al., 2015).
Figure 3. Annual rainfall in Myaing Township, Magway Region between 1990 and 2015
Data from Agricultural Department in Myaing Township, Magway Region, accessed in 2017.
2.2.3 Impacts of Climate Change
Since agricultural land occupies over half of the dry zone area, farming is not surprisingly the
main livelihood activity. Even among the growing landless population, many households are
farm labourers (Japan International Cooperation Agency, 2010). The weather in the dry zone
presents favourable conditions for cultivating drought-resistant oilseed crops such as groundnut
(Arachis hypogaea) and sesame (Sesamum indicum), giving the dry zone its name as the oil pot
of Myanmar (Kyi, 2012). In the face of increasingly erratic rainfall, farmers have adjusted their
planting season and cropping method (Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, 2015). In addition
to local agricultural techniques, the government has initiated irrigation projects to provide secure
water supplies to dry zone farmers to counteract the effects of sporadic rainfall (Myint et al.,
2011; Poe, 2011).
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
500
Jan Feb March April May June July August Sep Oct Nov Dec
Rai
nfa
ll le
vel (
in m
m)
Month
Average Monthly Rainfall in Myaing Township, Magway Region Five-year interval between 1990-2015
1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015
22
Despite changes in cropping methods and improvements in irrigation systems, the frequency in
the number of climatic events such as droughts and floods has made the dry zone one of the most
vulnerable areas to the impacts of climate change (Raitzer et al., 2015). In a study on farmers’
vulnerability to climate change, Kyi (2012) found that the probability of a drought occurring in a
dry zone township was once every five years. An expression in Myanmar language ‘a nyar thar,
ta moe loe hnit mawe’ is commonly known in the dry zone, signifying that dry zone people can
become poor just after one drought (Kyi, 2012).
While droughts and temperature fluctuations are inherent to the dry zone, the Department of
Meteorology and Hydrology has found rainfall and temperature levels to be more intense and
unpredictable over the last six decades (MoNREC, 2016). Similarly, Horton et al. (2016)
observed mean temperature increases of 0.14°C and 0.35°C per decade for coastal and inland
regions, respectively, between 1981 and 2010. During the same period, the data that they
collected also revealed decadal increases in annual rainfall by 157mm in coastal areas and by
37mm in inland areas (Horton et al., 2016). Although there is only a slight increase in overall
rainfall levels, rainfall intensity is increasing. Research shows a one-week reduction in monsoon
seasons (Lwin et al., 2002). Since the monsoon circulation system is central to rainfall in the dry
zone, shorter monsoon periods mean more variable and intense rainfall.
2.3 Rationale for the Selection of Case Communities
Under the SUComFor project, RECOFTC works with 11 villages in Myaing Township, Magway
Region. Out of the 11 villages, this research chose two villages as the study sites based on a
broad list of variables and suggestions from the field staff. To create a collaborative learning
environment for this research, numerous participatory tools were used to collect primary data.
Since participatory tools can be time-consuming, an inclusion variable was used to scope out
communities with <200 households. To minimize research fatigue among participants, this
research excluded project villages that had previously participated in research on climate change.
All villages were at least one hour from the SUComFor office so proximity was not a decisive
factor.
By using these broad variables, this research selected Tha Yet Kwa and Thit Gyi Taw as the two
study sites. From here on out, Tha Yet Kwa and Thit Gyi Taw are abbreviated as TYK and TGT,
respectively. In TYK, 26% of the village households are members of the CFUG while in TGT,
33% of the village households are members of the CFUG. Although the CFUG membership by
household in these two villages is roughly one-third of the total household population, the
proportion of landless CFUG members in TGT is double the amount of that in TYK (Table 3).
23
Table 3. Community forestry membership data for Tha Yet Kwa and Thit Gyi Taw
Village Population No. of
households
CFUG
membership
by
household
Landless
CFUG
member by
household*
CFMC
membership
by
individual
Estimated
CF area
(ha)
TYK 866
(M=405,
F=461)
151 39 (26%) 11 (28%) 5 (M=3,
F=2)
165.25
TGT** 244 ***
(M=97,
F=127)
40 36 (33%) 23 (64%) 7 (M=1,
F=6)
88.4
M = Male, F = Female
* Households that do not own customary land in the proposed CF area are considered landless CFUG
members.
**Although CFUGs are usually formed on one community to one CFUG basis, the CFUG in TGT
comprise of households from three nearby villages since land in the proposed CF area is owned by
households in all three villages.
***The population count for TGT does not include households from nearby villages.
2.4 Primary Data and Sampling Strategy
The principal researcher and field staff collected primary data over the span of three weeks from
mid-January to mid-February of 2017. This research used mostly participatory action research
(PAR) tools to collect primary data. PAR tools encourage data sharing and data transparency
between the researcher and participants. Compared to conventional surveyed-based tools, PAR
tools allow participants to actively facilitate the discussion on a research topic that is pertinent to
the local community. PAR tools are valuable for fostering an environment where participants and
researchers produce mutually beneficial partnerships (O’Brien, 1998). Frequently, researchers
who use PAR tools involve participants in the research design and formulation of the research
questions. For this research, participants were involved in the later research stages through the
data collection process due to the travel and logistical challenges associated with preparing the
research in a different country.
A total of nine research tools were used to gather data related to the research objectives (Figure
4). These research tools were selected based on extensive literature review and suggestions from
the SUComFor project field staff. From their research experience in the study area, SUComFor
field staff modified the research tools to suit the local context. The principal researcher prepared
all research tools before entering the field and made slight changes to the procedures and
questionnaires in the study area. All the research tools, excluding the transect walk and
household surveys, took place in the community meeting place because of its convenience and
ease of access for most community members. SUComFor field staff facilitated the research tools
in Myanmar language.
24
2.4.1 Sampling Method
The CFMC in the two villages took the lead in selecting participants for the majority of the
research tools. Both females and males were involved in the research tools, excluding the focus
group discussions that targeted female community members. This research employed a quota
sampling strategy for the household survey to ensure the inclusion of households from the “very
poor” and “poor” well-being group.
Figure 4. Research design covering main research objectives
This figure shows the type of data collected and the various tools used in this research.
The sample size of the household surveys depended on the available number of field staff and the
amount of time necessary for the field staff to complete each survey. By calculating the time
needed to complete each survey, the field staff came up with a target number of household
surveys, which was used to meet the quota for each well-being group. The varying population
size of the two villages also influenced the sample size. The household surveys captured
approximately 20% of the household population in TYK (n=30) and 40% of the household
population in TGT (n=16).
2.4.2 Focus Group Discussion (eight completed)
Focus group discussions were first conducted in both villages to obtain the free, prior and
informed consent of the community members. After obtaining community consent, eight village
Objective 1
Based on primary data
Qualitative and quantitative
Objective 2
Based on primary and
secondary data
- Focus group discussion
- Key informant interview
- Transect walk
- Resource mapping
- Social mapping
- Wellbeing ranking
- Household survey
- Government data
- Literature
- Focus group discussion
- Key informant interview
- Transect walk
- Seasonal calendar
- Resource mapping
- Social mapping
- Wellbeing ranking
- Household survey
- Daily activity clock
Qualitative and quantitative
25
administrators gathered in the first round of focus group discussions. They provided information
on the historical changes that have shaped the CF landscape in the community. These responses
laid the foundation for identifying past trends that continue to have a significant influence on
current-day land use practices. Focus group discussion with CFUG members followed the focus
group discussions with village administrators. Members of the CFUG answered questions on the
role of forests in livelihood activities. Additional focus group discussions involved women,
farmers, and youths to get their perspectives on the local impacts of climate change. Building on earlier responses from focus group participants, questionnaires were subsequently
revised to compare perspectives between participants. A general interview guide for the focus
group discussions was drawn up in advance to the fieldwork (Appendix 1). This research
conducted a total of eight focus group discussions, five in TYK and three in TGT. Focus group
discussions helped guide the process of selecting participants who were willing to share more
information on a topic of interest for the key informant interviews.
2.4.3 Key Informant Interview (eight completed) Key informant interviews gathered in-depth qualitative data. There was no particular strategy in
selecting participants for these interviews, but field staff made some suggestions based on their
experiences in the communities. For example, to understand the livelihood impacts of climate
change from a female perspective, SUComFor field staff recommended interviewing the CFMC
secretary who was well-acquainted with the impacts of climate change on agriculture due to her
farming background. While some of the key informants only participated in these interviews, many of them played an
active role throughout the research. Eight key informant interviews were conducted in this
research, five in TGT and three in TYK. Although a general questionnaire was used (Appendix
2), questions were tailored to match the participant’s background. Key informants covered a
range of topics from farming, cart-making, to tailoring. Each informant provided invaluable
insights to the research by illustrating the diversity of socioeconomic and political challenges
faced by households beyond climate change.
2.5.4 Seasonal Calendar (one completed)
Farmers participated in a seasonal calendar exercise after participating in the focus group
discussion. SUComFor field staff provided a chart paper with 13 columns, with one column to
include the main topics affecting farmers’ well-being and the other 12 columns for each month
of the year. In this exercise, farmers discussed the cyclical patterns regulating resources for their
livelihoods (Figure 5). Some topics that farmers included on the calendar were the availability of
water, the sowing and harvesting periods of staple crops, and the extraction period of forest
products (Appendix 3). One seasonal calendar was produced in this research by participants in
TYK.
26
Figure 5. Seasonal calendar exercise in Tha Yet Kwa
2.4.5 Transect Walk (two completed) Transect walks were completed on the second day of fieldwork. These walks verified the
biophysical data mentioned on the first day of focus group discussions. Transect walks are
structured walks through a specific area of land, which was, in this case, the proposed CF area.
Members of the CFUG selected the transect. Three to four CFUG members joined the walk to
note differences in land use zones and biophysical features surrounding their village. Each
village participated in a transect walk. During the walk, the principal researcher and field staff noted down the diversity of forest
resources and unexpected land use practices such as farming in the proposed CF area. Although
the dry zone population has individual land ownership, no fences or physical barriers existed to
separate one person’s land from another. The absence of fences suggests the presence of a strong
customary tenure arrangement. After completing the transect walk, CFUG members including
those who participated in the walk discussed the different soil types, tree species, crops as well as
land ownership status in distinct segments of the village to create the transect map (Appendix 4).
2.4.6 Resource Mapping (two completed)
After the transect walk, participants drew key resources, boundaries and other physical features
in their village on a blank piece of chart paper. Project field staff started the resource map by
locating the community meeting place in which this exercise took place. Participants then
discussed the geographical placement of resource points in the community. Eight participants
took turns to map individual plots of agricultural landholdings, water access points, and trees
species within and surrounding the village (Appendix 5). Each village completed one resource
map.
27
2.4.7 Social Mapping (two completed) During the social mapping exercise, participants mapped attributes that defined each household
in the community on chart paper. Project field staff facilitated the discussion on the household
attributes that the social map should capture. These attributes ranged from CFUG membership,
the presence of migrant workers, to the gender of household heads. Members of the CFMC took
the lead to draw individual houses in the community including the physical composition of those
houses. Active discussions arose on the accuracy of the household data shown on the map,
signifying the need for consensus among participants. Along with showing the diversity of assets
held by each household, these maps convey the spatial distribution of assets (Appendix 6).
2.4.8 Well-being Ranking (two completed) By understanding that income is just one determinant of well-being, participants carried out a
well-being ranking exercise to include assets and attributes that define well-being in the locale.
For this exercise, participants were provided a piece of chart paper with five blank columns for
each level of perceived well-being from “very poor” to “very rich.” Using this template, around
five participants in each study site filled out the columns by listing indicators that differentiated
households in each category (Appendix 7). Although criteria of well-being groups are specific to a location, the comparison of well-being
criteria between villages highlights differences as well as similarities in the perception of well-
being. In both villages, well-being categories that were left blank meant that households in those
categories possessed a mixture of attributes listed in its adjacent columns. For example, the
criteria for households in the “poor” well-being category include a composite of variables from
the “very poor” and “medium” well-being category. Well-being ranking was conducted twice in
this research, once per village.
2.4.9 Household Survey (42 completed) The household survey consisted a series of questions on topics ranging from the level of
education, income sources, and quality of household assets (Appendix 8 and Appendix 9). The
household head or their spouse was the respondent in these surveys. Survey questions were
adapted from the household survey found in Feurer (2016). This research employed a quota
sampling strategy to include participants in the lower socioeconomic strata. Building on the social map, participants in the well-being ranking exercise assigned a number to
each household in the community according to a household’s designated well-being group. In
addition to the well-being numbers, the principal researcher gave all households a unique
identifier number. Individual households were sorted into columns based on their well-being
group. Excel’s RANDBTWN tool was then used to select numbers that referred to households'
unique identifier. Project field staff completed a total of 42 household surveys, 30 in TYK and 16
in TGT.
28
2.4.10 Daily Activity Clock (eight completed) After participating in the household surveys, some participants were selected for the daily
activity clock interviews to discuss changes in their workload for each season. The goal of these
interviews was to capture the dynamic nature of resources across seasons and between genders in
a household. Since these interviews required participants to recount their daily activities for each
season, the results from these interviews were not as useful as hoped, as participants had
difficulty providing an hourly breakdown of their average working days. However, the results
did show an increase in leisure time during the hot summer months and the differentiated roles
between men and women. Project field staff completed six daily activity clocks interview in
TYK and two in TGT.
2.5 Secondary Sources This research consulted secondary data to analyze the political factors affecting local outcomes
in CF development. Sources of secondary data included peer-reviewed articles, non-
governmental project reports, and official government documents. Relevant secondary material
was provided by SUComFor staff and gathered through online databases including the Land,
Agribusiness and Forestry Forum Myanmar (www.mylaff.org), the Online Burma Library
(www.burmalibrary.org), and Myanmar Information Management Unit (www.themimu.info).
2.6 Data Analysis Various tools in this research collected overlapping data, which allowed for data triangulation.
For example, focus group discussions, transect walks, and social maps all gathered data on the
role of CF in the community (Table 4). Research data was analyzed in the field with the
assistance of project field staff. After each day of fieldwork, project field staff translated the
research data from Myanmar language to English and gave a summary of participants’ responses.
To supplement this information, the principal researcher took field notes to capture the body
language of research participants. Translated information was coded and analyzed in Microsoft
Word and Excel. The data analysis framework used in this research aligns closely with the
research design (Figure 4) presented in Chapter 2.5.
Table 4. Data analysis framework
Topics FGD KII TW SC RM SM WBR HHS DAC SS
Role of CF (RO.1 & 2) X X X X X (RO.2)
Impacts of Climate
Change (RO.1)
X X X X X
Livelihood Activities
(RO.1)
X X X X X X
Livelihood Assets
(RO.1 & 2)
X X X X
R.O. = Research Objective, FGD = Focus Group Discussion, KII = Key Informant Interview, TW = Transect
Walk, RM = Resource Mapping, SM = Social Mapping, SC = Seasonal Calendar, WBR = Well-being
Ranking, HHS = Household Survey, DAC = Daily Activity Clock, SS = Secondary Source
29
2.7 Derivation of Criteria and Indicators to Measure Adaptive Capacity
2.7.1 Criteria and Indicators for Sustainable Livelihood Assets
Based on literature review and site observation, the principal researcher developed criteria and
indicators for the five SLA to capture the range of assets that are important for the livelihood
activities of the dry zone population (Table 5). All indicators measure the possession of assets
held by households in the previous 12 months. Table 5. List of criteria and indicators to measure adaptive capacity
Asset Criteria Indicator (I) Source of Indicator
Human Educational
attainment
1.1. Literacy rate among household head
(percentage of the household head receiving
six or more years of formal education)
Deressa et al., 2009;
Defiesta & Rapera,
2014; Egyir et al.,
2015 1.2. Adult literacy rate (percentage of any
household member receiving six or more
years of formal education)
Access to
family/household
labour
1.3. Inverse family dependency ratio (inverse
of the ratio of working population aged 15
and 64 to the number of dependents)
Pandey et al., 2017;
Abdul-Razak &
Kruse, 2017
Access to health
services
1.4. Percentage of the population receiving
medical treatment
Brooks et al., 2004
Nutrition 1.5. Self-sufficiency of main food items
(inverse of average market dependency for
main food items)
Brooks et al., 2004
Social Access to
information
2.1. Percentage of households having
members working outside the community
Phuong et al., 2017
Social cohesion 2.2. Percentage of households attending
community meetings
Islam & Nursery-
Bray, 2017
Participation in
organizations
2.3. Organization participation index (ratio of
organizations in which households are
involved in to organizations that households
are aware of in the community)
Pelling & High,
2005; Eakin et al.,
2011; Egyir et al.,
2015
Natural Land resources 3.1. Percentage of households with land Pandey et al., 2017
3.2. Land quality index (index based on
average scoring on a four-point Likert Scale
of different land types)
Bryan et al., 2009
Off-farm
livelihood
activities
3.3. Natural resource diversification index
(inverse of the number of activities
dependent on natural resources)
Deressa et al., 2009;
Ta, 2016; Pandey et
al., 2017
Water resources 3.4. Percentage of households having access
to clean drinking water
Site observation
Livestock 3.5. Percentage of households with livestock Pandey et al., 2017
Financial Diversity of
sources of income
4.1. Income diversity index (inverse of
Herfindahl-Hirschman Index)
Defiesta & Rapera,
2014; Pandey et al.,
2017
30
Reliability of
income source
4.2. Reliability of income source index
(rating based on a four-point Likert Scale)
Site observation
Access to loans 4.3. Percentage of households receiving loans
or borrowing from relatives/friends
Eakin et al., 2011,
site observation
Access to savings 4.4. Percentage of households with savings
Physical Mobile
communication
5.1. Percentage of households with mobile
phones
Key informant
interviews, site
observation 5.2. Mobile communication quality index
(index based on average scoring of phone
service)
Access to
electricity
5.3. Percentage of households with electricity Asian Development
Bank et al., 2016 5.4. Electricity quality index (average scoring
of quality of electricity)
Access to
motorbike
5.5. Percentage of households owning a
motorbike
Site observation
Access to
machinery
5.6. Percentage of households owning
machinery
Defiesta & Rapera,
2014
2.7.2 Calculation for Adaptive Capacity
Based on the criteria and indicators presented in Table 5, this research modified the equations
found in Abdul-Razak & Kruse (2017) to calculate adaptive capacity. By using a five-point
Likert scale, Abdul-Razak & Kruse (2017) assessed the adaptive capacity of smallholder farmers
in northern Ghana. Within this scale, five represents very high adaptive capacity whereas one
represents very low adaptive capacity. Each indicator (I) in this research is assigned a value on a
five-point Likert scale, according to its percentage or index value from the cumulative responses
of the household surveys. Equation 1 shows the calculation of the indicator score.
Equation 1. Calculation of indicator score I = cumulative response score / maximum response score * 5
After calculating the indicator scores, Equation 2 is employed to obtain the asset or index score.
The asset score is equal to the summation of the all the indicators for one asset divided by the
maximum indicator score and multiplied by the maximum Likert value of five.
Equation 2. Calculation of asset score
Asset score = ∑𝐼
𝑚𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚 𝐼 𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑒 * 5, where ∑I is the summation of all the indicator scores for
one asset
The SLA scores are visualized on a radar chart to compare the differences in the level of SLA
between study sites.
31
3 Results
3.1 Summary of Sustainable Livelihood Assets in Study Sites
While TYK and TGT differ in their level of social capital, they share similarities in the scores of
their highest and lowest asset. In both villages, human capital is the highest asset, and financial
capital is the lowest asset (Figure 6). The varying levels of human, social, and physical capital
underpin the main differences in the SLA scores between TYK and TGT. Among the indicators
used to measure each asset, differences in indicator scores range from 0.1 to 5.0 on a five-point
Likert scale (Appendix 10).
For human capital, households in TYK have higher levels of education compared to households
in TGT. Thus, TYK scored higher in educational attainment. Additionally, there is a nine-fold
difference in the self-sufficiency of food items between TYK and TGT. A larger percentage of
households in TGT rely on the market for their food items. This reliance may be a result of low
rates of land ownership among households in TGT. For social capital, TGT’s organization
participation index is over three times greater than TYK, meaning that relatively more
households in TGT are members of social organizations in the community based on their
awareness of existing organizations. For physical capital, TYK scored higher than TGT in two
out of the three indicators for this asset. While a larger percentage of households own machinery
in TGT, a larger percentage of households in TYK have access to mobile communication and
electricity. Differences and similarities in the SLA scores between the two study sites are
presented in-depth in sections 3.2 to 3.6.
Figure 6. Sustainable livelihood assets scores in the study area
Scores were calculated using criteria and indicators listed in Table 5.
1
2
3
4
5Human capital
Social capital
Natural capitalFinancial capital
Physical capital
SLA Scores in TYK and TGT
TYK
TGT
32
3.2 Human Capital
3.2.1 Education Adult literacy rate among household heads is 90% in TYK and 67% in TGT. In both villages,
household heads who lack formal education were more likely to be female. This probability has a
particularly negative impact on TGT, which has 40% of its total households headed by females.
For TYK, illiterate household members are mostly from the older generation, >70 years of age. When excluding household heads in the calculation of adult literacy rate, a greater proportion of
household members in the two villages have more than five years of formal education.
Infrastructural improvements and higher standards of living over the past decades have propelled
higher educational enrolment. All individuals who have secondary or post-secondary educations
are <30 years old (Figure 7).
Figure 7. Education level in the study area
Data collected from household surveys. Level of education: 0 = Illiterate, 1 = Primary School,
2 = Middle School, 3 = High School, 4 = University, 5 = Post-graduate.
3.2.2 Access to Household Labour The average inverse family dependency ratio is 58%, meaning that there are more household
members part of the workforce than there are children and adult dependents in a household. This
percentage may overestimate the population that is earning income for a household. In TGT,
one-third of the average income is from remittances, highlighting the importance of migrant
33
workers for the local economy. With more children attending school past their legal working age,
the reliance on just a few family members for the total household income is increasing. The distinct role of men and women in the community makes it difficult to define the parameters
of the workforce. Through site observation, more women stay at home to attend to household
chores and less frequently accompany their husbands to the farm. However, the workload of
women in the communities have increased over the last decade as their husbands and sons have
found work in urban areas.
3.2.3 Access to Healthcare The mental and physical health of the population reflects the productivity and the overall well-
being of the community. In the last 12 months, 87% and 75% of households have received
medical treatment in TYK and TGT, respectively. Through the support of non-governmental
organizations and the local government, TYK has a clinic with a nurse and midwife (Figure 8).
The nurse and midwife are government employees who perform regular check-ups and diagnose
common illnesses such as fevers and colds. For more serious health problems, the health staff in
TYK refers patients to the nearest hospital in Myaing Township, which is about four miles from
the village. Patients can get to this facility by riding the village van (shown in Figure 8). No
village clinic currently exists in TGT, but an assistant nurse is available to provide a diagnosis as
well as referrals to a nearby clinic, about two miles away. Villagers in TGT have plans to build a
clinic but have not yet developed a strategy for acquiring the necessary funds for this project.
Figure 8. Village health clinic in Tha Yet Kwa
Village van is shown on the right-hand side in this figure.
3.2.4 Nutrition By having productive resources such as land, a household can be food self-sufficient and reduce
its exposure to price volatility and food shortages. On average, 97% and 83% of main food items
consumed in TGT and TYK, respectively, were purchased in the market in the previous 12
34
months. In the household surveys and focus group discussions, a large number of landowners
reported drastic declines in their crop yields in recent years and cited irregular rainfall and
temperature changes as the primary causes. Consequently, falling surpluses in crop yields have
forced more farmers to purchase food from the market. While this research did not find a correlation between landholding size and market dependency
for food items, this research did find a positive relationship between land ownership and food
self-sufficiency. For the consumption of rice, households that owned rice paddy fields, on
average, relied on the market to supplement 56% of their consumption needs whereas households
that did not own paddy fields relied on the market to meet 100% of their consumption needs.
Similarly, landowners, on average, purchased 43% of their pulses to meet their consumption
needs whereas landless households, on average, purchased 99% of their pulses to meet their
consumption needs. In this sample, fewer households in TGT were landowners, leading to a
relatively higher market share of the main food groups for this village (Figure 9).
Figure 9. Market share of main food items in the study area
Data collected from household surveys.
3.3 Social Capital 3.3.1 Access to Information Intrafamilial migration provides access to opportunities for households that would otherwise
have limited ways to stay up to date with current news. While <10% of total households in TYK
have family members who work outside the village, nearly 30% of households in TGT have at
least one family member working outside the village. In both villages, the decline in the
profitability of livelihood activities prompted migration.
0
20
40
60
80
100
Pulses Grain (rice) Vegetable Egg andegg
products
Fruit Meat Fish Tuber Dairyproducts
% o
f h
ou
seh
old
s
Food group
Frequency of Purchasing Main Food Items in TYK and TGT
TYK
TGT
35
In TGT, the mainstay of the local economy is weaving. Weaving is predominantly led by women
and does not offer much work opportunities for men, which in part explains the 90% migration
rate among male youths in this village. The liberalization of the national economy coupled with
better roads has also played a role in attracting young workers to urban areas. Young men
usually carry the financial responsibility of supporting their family after their departure from
school and thus they have more freedom to work outside the community, compared to their
female counterparts. Nonetheless, both young men and women, especially with higher education,
prefer to work in urban areas such as Yangon and Mandalay. 3.3.2 Social Cohesion Community meetings usually take place on an ad hoc basis for villagers to plan upcoming social
events and discuss proposals for community projects. The attendance rate for these meetings is
high. Among the surveyed households, 100% of households in TGT and 86% of households in
TYK reported attending community meetings in the previous 12 months. Households that
reported not attending these meetings in TYK were all from the “very poor” and “poor” well-
being group. The lack of participation among households in these groups highlights the
importance of maintaining a strong network in the community to stay informed about social
events and news. In the focus group discussions, male participants were often the first to respond to questions
asked by the project field staff. Female participants displayed confidence in agreeing to, as well
as objecting to, the earlier points made by their male counterparts. In one key informant
interview, a female CFMC member in TGT said that although women have no specific roles in
the community, they attend all the community meetings and make most of the decisions. This
occurrence is a result of men temporarily leaving the village to find work. Women in both
villages also saw the change in village leaders as a positive stimulus for increasing their
confidence to express new ideas in community meetings. Although village leaders have
encouraged women to take decision-making roles, some members of the community, including
the village elders, have criticized women's involvement in these roles. This opposition to women
taking on leadership positions is more prominent in TYK, as fewer female-headed households
exist. 3.3.3 Participation in Organizations By participating in social organizations, households have access to resources and opportunities
that may only be available to organization members. Despite the high level of awareness for the
various social organizations in the community, few households in TYK are members of these
social organizations. On average, households in TYK named six organizations that they know to
exist in the village but only participated in one of these organizations. In comparison, households
in TGT named on average two organizations and participated in one of two organizations,
resulting in a higher participation index. The large number of organizations in TYK reflects the
historical influence of external agencies such non-governmental organizations in the community.
Through development projects, non-governmental organizations have helped TYK to develop
36
internal committees that now negotiate for the interests of all households. These committees
work on a range of issues including negotiations with township officials to get the village
connected to the power grid. In the context of CF, 26% of households in TYK and 33% of households in TGT are CFUG
members. CFUG members expect this membership rate to increase once they begin generating
income from the CF. With support from SUComFor field staff, CFUG members have access to
information on land use policies through training sessions at the community level. They also
have access to a formal network on CF development through their attendance at subnational and
national level networking events. In the focus group discussions and key informant interviews,
participants said they were interested in establishing a CF because of the short-term and long-
term benefits of increasing their income, securing their customary land, and improving the health
of the forest. While 28% of CFUG members are landless in TYK, over 60% of CFUG members are landless in
TGT (Table 3 in 2.4). Landless CFUG members view their participation as an opportunity to
enhance their knowledge on sustainable forest practices and to expand their social network. In
regard to the age distribution of CFUG members, many of the youths who participated in the
focus group discussions have not heard of SUComFor or RECOFTC. The lack of awareness of
CF organizations signals the poor engagement of the younger generation in CF activities. As
more of the educated villagers become migrant workers, CF may become an institution overrun
by the older population. 3.4 Natural Capital 3.4.1 Land Resources and Land Quality Villagers in the two study sites listed land ownership and size of landholdings as indicators for
higher levels of perceived well-being. Households without land are considered to be in the “very
poor” or “poor” well-being group. Land ownership refers to possession of land either through
inheritance or formal registration processes. Land in the dry zone is mostly individually owned
and acquired through inheritance. The percentage of households owning land is 93% in TYK and 50% in TGT, meaning that
agriculture functions as an important livelihood in TYK and to a lesser extent in TGT. Similar to
these differences, landholding size between the two villages is different with median landholding
being five acres (~two hectares) in TYK and a quarter of an acre (~one-tenth of a hectare) in
TGT. A focus group participant in TYK stated that “land is necessary but has been shrinking
because, as the population grows, land size gets smaller, leading to indebtedness when
agricultural production is bad.” Since smallholder farmers have fewer resources to offset their
losses in production, farmers with small landholding are more susceptible to the negative
consequences of climate change as compared to farmers with large landholdings. Among
households that own land, they reported their land quality to be, on average, “fair” (across a five-
point rating scheme from “poor” to “excellent”).
37
3.4.2 Off-Farm Livelihood Activities Off-farm activities in TGT have been on the rise, as the profit margins in agriculture have
declined. Off-farm activities in this research exclude livestock rearing. In TGT, 86% of
livelihood activities, by household, are off-farm activities. The main livelihood activity in TGT is
weaving fabric for sale. Some women have purchased hand-weaving machines for the
convenience of working at home (shown in Figure 10. A). All weavers in TGT sell only the raw
material to wholesale buyers in a nearby village. Households in TYK have also experienced a declining reliance on agriculture for their livelihood
needs but, to a lesser degree compared to TGT. About 57% of livelihood activities, by
household, consists of off-farm activities in TYK. Farming is still a mainstay of the local
economy, but production of resin is growing in prominence. Resin is a by-product of the sha tree
(Acacia Catechu) and is used as a filler in betel nut, which is a popular stimulant in Southeast
Asia. After a two-day boiling process (shown in Figure 10. B), six blocks of resin can be
produced and sold at the market, retailing at 4500 kyats per viss (~3 USD per 1.63 kg). Due to
unsustainable forest extraction practices in the past, households that are involved in making resin
must purchase parts of the sha from outsiders.
A. B. Figure 10. Main livelihood activity in the study area
A. shows a female weaver using a hand-weaving machine in her front yard in Thit Gyi Taw.
B. shows the boiling apparatus for making resin in Tha Yet Kwa.
3.4.3 Water Resources All surveyed households had access to clean drinking water in the previous 12 months. But
among these households, only half of them had continuous access to drinking water throughout
all seasons. In both villages, households do not have water pipes connected to their homes, and
thus, must travel by foot or cart to access water. Despite the recent installation of a water tank in
TYK and two groundwater wells in TGT, households in both villages reported facing water
shortages between March and June, which coincide with the hottest months of the year. If the
38
water source runs dry, villagers must travel to a nearby village to extract water, and in some
cases, pay water pumping fees. In the two villages, few irrigation systems exist, making the majority of agricultural production
dependent on rainfall. During the rainy seasons, households spend less time collecting water as
rainwater in their home storage tanks becomes a source of drinking water. While there is often a
surplus of water in the rainy season, there is no collective strategy to harvest this water. In turn,
participants have expressed their inability to take advantage of higher than expected levels of
groundwater.
3.4.4 Livestock Livestock such as oxen, chickens, goats, and pigs are sources of labour and food in the dry zone.
Around 20% of households in TYK own some form of livestock, compared to only 8% of
households in TGT. Based on the data from the well-being ranking exercise, villagers consider
households that own livestock to be in the “medium” to “very rich” well-being category. Most
farmers own oxen or have access to them to prepare their agricultural land. Goats and chickens are popular commodities as these animals require few inputs and livestock
owners can readily sell them in the market. In the household surveys, livestock owners reported
feed shortages as the main problem affecting the health of their goat and cattle herds. Feed
shortages have occurred due to the prevalence of pest infestation in maize and sorghum crops.
With growing irregularities in rainfall, more goat herders are using veterinary services to
improve the health of their animals. On balance, the livestock population in the two villages have
also been declining because fewer youths want to rear livestock after their completion of school. 3.5 Financial Capital 3.5.1 Sources of Income The diversity of income-generating activities is fairly low in the two villages with households
relying on an average of three activities for their total income. In TYK, the majority of household
income comes from resin, agricultural crops, and remittances. In TGT, remittances and weaving
each account for one-third of total household income. Sustainability of income sources is a
problem in both villages, given that neither communities have a strategy to address market
failures in the sale of their products. Household data suggests that TYK is more diverse in its income sources, compared to TGT, but
has a higher dependence on a fewer number of income-generating activities (as shown in Figure
11). Median annual income by household is 1,500,000 kyats (~1100 USD). Income ranges from
200,000 to 7,930,00 kyats (~145 – 5758 USD) in TYK and from 180,000 to 4,200,000 kyats
(~131 – 3047 USD) in TGT. While TYK has a higher value range in income, TGT displays
smaller variations in income values, implying less income disparity in TGT.
39
Figure 11. The diversity of income sources by village
*Small business refers to local shops, making resin, and weaving. Data collected from household surveys.
3.5.2 Reliability of Income Sources Mean reliability of total income sources is 59%, which means households’ expectations of what
they will receive from their income sources are met 59% of the time. Income reliability is highest
for small businesses and lowest for agriculture. Households in the two villages predict the
reliability of generating income from agriculture will diminish in the next few years. In the focus
group discussions, participants have articulated their lack of desire to invest in this sector.
In TYK, households reported selling forest products as a reliable income-generating activity.
They have rated this activity as the second most reliable income source after making resin.
Although financial investment in forest extraction is the lowest among all income sources, the
labour inputs for this activity is relatively high. Households that depend on forest extraction as an
income source must have access to abundant labour inputs to offset the high harvesting costs. In the household surveys, households in TYK and TGT gave remittances a rating of two,
representing low-income reliability, on a four-point Likert scale. Although remittances occupy a
fraction of total household income in both villages, there is uncertainty on whether households
will receive remittances during times of climatic stress. In a semi-structured interview with a
former cart maker, who is a father of seven children, the cart maker said that all five of his sons
are working outside the community, but he only receives remittances from one of his sons. Thus,
although migration can expand the social and financial network of a household through greater
access to information and disposable income, it can also put a strain on families, affecting the
elderly and youth who are often left behind. 3.5.3 Access to Loans In TGT, 64% of surveyed households have obtained a loan in the previous 12 months, compared
to 38% of surveyed households in TYK. Households acquired the majority of these loans
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
TYK TGT% c
on
trib
uti
on
to
ho
use
ho
ld in
com
e
Village
Distribution of Income Sources
Remittances
Forest Products
Trade
Small Business*
Seasonal Labour
Daily Labour
Livestock Rearing
Rice Cultivation
Agricultural Crops
40
through quasi-formal and informal channels. Quasi-formal channels include microfinance
institutions that are established by non-governmental organizations whereas informal channels
refer to borrowing from friends and relatives. The interest rate of informal loans depends on the
supplier but is often higher than loans from formal channels such as government institutions. To have access to government loans, households must have assets such as registered land, which
they can use as collateral. Registered land refers to land with a land use certificate (LUC) from
the Settlement and Land Records Department under the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and
Irrigation, which secures the ownership rights of farmers. However, even with a LboUC, farmers
may not receive the necessary funds to cover their farm operating costs because these loans are
often distributed based on the size of land rather than individual needs. If farmers can access
loans from formal institutions, they will be bound to a contract that is usually more stringent than
informal ones.
3.5.4 Access to Savings Savings refer to surplus household income at the end of the calendar year. Participants associated
savings with households in the “very rich” well-being category. In contrast, they associated
indebtedness with households in the “very poor” well-being category. Access to savings is
relatively low in both villages, with 21% of households in TYK and 17% of households in TGT
reported having savings in the previous 12 months. Without savings, households have to resort to
selling their livestock, land and other liquid assets as a coping mechanism during economic
uncertainty. Thus, individuals with few financial assets run the risk of relying on loan sharks to
meet their subsistence needs.
3.6 Physical Capital 3.6.1 Mobile Communication Many of the households in the two study sites have mobile phones. They rate the quality of their
telecommunication signal between “fair” to “good” on a scale from “poor” to “excellent.”
Households use mobile phones to communicate with relatives who are working outside the
community as well as to access information through news channels and social media platforms.
For business transactions, households use mobile phones to negotiate prices for goods including
crops and forest products and to order capital inputs such as fertilizer and machinery. 3.6.2 Access to Electricity Access to non-biomass energy among households is slowly emerging in the two villages.
Fuelwood, by far, remains an important energy source to the dry zone population. Among the
surveyed households, 90% of households said that they had access to electricity in the previous
12 months. But only 61% of households reported having continuous access to electricity
throughout the seasons. Households in the two villages are not connected to the power grid,
which means they must rely on either individual or collective sources of electricity.
41
Individually-owned solar panels and a village-owned generator are the sources of electricity for
households in TYK and TGT, respectively. Electricity from these sources is only sufficient to
power small appliances and devices such as mobile phone, radio, and television. The availability
of electricity throughout the day depends on the season. Solar panels provide about five hours of
electricity per day and are used to light the house. It costs a household around 80,000 kyats (~60
USD) to purchase a 50-watt solar panel and a 50-watt battery. In TGT, households pay 2000
kyats (~1.5 USD) per month for two hours of electricity each day. Community members can
donate 1000 kyats (~0.7 USD) to supply all households with one extra hour of electricity, but
this rarely happens due to the lack of surplus income within most households 3.6.3 Access to Motorbike Households that own motorbikes are considered to be in the “medium” to “very rich” well-being
category. In TYK, 87% of households own at least one motorbike, compared to 67% of
households in TGT. Households purchased motorbikes after having access to sealed roads. This
factor may explain why fewer households in TGT own motorbikes since TGT was connected to
the main road network after TYK. Participants in the focus group discussions said that access to better roads have allowed them to
travel to the market to sell their products at higher prices. The majority of roads in the
communities are still, however, unpaved, which poses a safety hazard during the rainy season. A
shop owner in TGT said that she must set aside a portion of her income throughout the year so
that she can stock up on products before road conditions get bad after a heavy rainfall event. 3.6.4 Access to Machinery On average, <15% of households have access to machinery. The majority of households in the
study area rely on physical labour to carry out their livelihood activities. Since electricity can
only power small appliances and are not always available, most machinery owned by households
require little to no electricity. The possession of machinery can increase productivity and the
value-added potential of marketable products. In TYK, some women own hand-weaving
machines so that they can weave fabric in the comfort of their home. For agriculture, few farmers
own machinery given its high up-front costs.
3.7 Social Impacts of Establishing a Community Forestry in the Study Area
3.7.1 Community Forestry Development and Land Use Rights Participants of CF training sessions have expressed greater knowledge in sustainable forest
management and awareness of their land rights. Project field staff have facilitated CF training
sessions to disseminate information related to land use policies. These training sessions have
encouraged CFUG members to lead training sessions in the community. Despite the growing
awareness of CF in the community, progress in establishing CF has been slow, as a result of
various internal and external factors.
42
Internally, <40% of the total household population has joined the CFUG in the two study sites,
which creates uncertainty in this group’s decision-making power. Compared to agricultural
LUCs, CFCs do not offer villagers the ability to sell, lease or use their land as collateral, making
CFCs unattractive to many landowners. Since CFCs are issued to a group rather than an
individual, some landowners have worried about their ownership status once it is under the
management of the CFUG. From an external standpoint, participants did not view the FD as a central player in developing
CF. The weak presence of the FD in the community frames CF as more of a donor-run project.
Project field staff have facilitated the majority of CF training sessions. They act as intermediaries
between the FD and project villages. Although the SUComFor project may be extended for
another phase, villagers are not sure if government officials will be committed to advancing the
national CF program following the SUComFor project. In the two study sites, the CFUG has proposed their CF area inside the PFE. Since the CF is
inside the PFE, the FD has the final authority in approving land use changes, which may lead to
tensions if there is a disagreement between the FD and the project villages. Similar to other
villages under the SUComFor project, villagers in TYK and TGT were not consulted, nor
informed, before FD’s decision to gazette their customary land as part of the PFE. Only after
many years later, villagers discovered this information through signposts and word of mouth.
Many customary landowners also found out that their land was under the control of the FD when
the Settlement and Land Records Department rejected their application for a LUC. Although the Settlement and Land Records Department cannot legally issue LUCs on areas
classified as forestland, the issuance of LUCs on these lands occur quite often. Villagers see the
lack of communication and data sharing between the two ministries as the main challenges to
enforcing land use policies. A CF leader in an adjacent village to TGT expressed that one of his
concerns in establishing a CF is that the FD may refuse to issue the CFC to his community if
they found out that CFUG members have LUCs inside the proposed CF area. While neither the
Forest Department nor the Settlement and Land Records Department admit that LUCs exist
inside the PFE, data collected during the transect walk suggests the contrary. A digitized map of
the proposed CF area in TYK shows sporadic clusters of LUCs, also known as Title 7, within the
CF area (Figure 12). 3.7.2 Participation of Vulnerable Groups Through CF networking events at the community, subnational and national level, villagers have
started to change their view of the FD. CFUG members see the potential of the FD as a partner in
their community development. Networking events have brought together villagers, government
officials and civil society representatives to discuss the opportunities as well as challenges of CF
development. These events present a platform for villagers to air their grievances on land use
policies.
43
Fig
ure
12
. M
ap
of
pro
pose
d c
om
mu
nit
y f
ore
stry
are
a i
n T
ha
Yet
Kw
a
Dat
a pro
vid
ed b
y S
UC
om
For
fiel
d s
taff
.
44
CFUG meetings in TYK and TGT are held on a monthly basis and usually have >90%
attendance rate, as attending meetings is one of the core responsibilities of CFUG members. In
both villages, a large number of landless households are CFUG members. Landless CFUG
members who took part in this research said that they wanted to join the CFUG to obtain
membership benefits. These benefits include having a say in making decisions on land use
changes and the distribution of CF income. Some households also wanted to get tree seedlings
from the CF nursery so that they can establish a home garden. While landless CFUG members
have limited powers in influencing the land use decisions of individual landowners, these CFUG
members do have a decisive role in managing the collectively owned CF area in TYK, which is
around 25 acres (~10 hectares). Along with the participation of landless households, many female villagers are involved in the
CFUG as both general and executive members. In TGT, seven out of the eight CFMC members
are women, and in TYK, two out of the five CFMC members are women. This ratio aligns with
Article 8.e in the 2016 CFI, which emphasizes the importance of gender equity for the formation
of the CFMC. Although villagers select CFMC members in a democratic manner, with one
member entitled to one vote, it is not clear if individuals from the lower socioeconomic strata are
well-represented in this voting process. The CFUG in TYK and TGT do have plans to develop a
benefit-sharing mechanism to involve households in the “poor” well-being group in CF activities
through the distribution of CF funds. 3.7.3 Subsistence and Commercialization of Forest Resources The proposed CF area is currently a source of food and energy for the majority of households in
TYK and TGT. Households in these two study sites depend on the forests to meet their
subsistence needs through harvesting fuelwood, small timber, mushroom, and bamboo shoots.
There are not many large trees in the forests due to over-extraction of forest resources in the past.
To build a diverse and productive CF for the future, CFUG members in the two study sites have
expressed their desire to plant high-yielding trees such as sha phyu (Sterculia versicolor),
thanatkha (Limonia crenulata), and yinma (Chukrasia tabularis). Although FD officials are supposed to provide technical support to help communities establish a
viable CF enterprise, community members have said that they will resort to other resources for
this endeavour. These resources include television shows on how to process raw forest materials
into marketable products. Without governmental support, villagers may incur a higher than
expected operating costs from learning to harvest and market forest resources. In some customary lands, households have planted thanatkha along agricultural fields as a form
of crop insurance. Thanatkha retails for 20,000 kyats per pole (~15 USD) and takes around 20
years to mature. Thanatkha is commonly used for health and cosmetic purposes throughout
Myanmar. A thanatkha seller negotiates its price over the phone and can demand a higher price
based on the offers from other buyers. Some villagers have also grown thanatkha in their front
yard since thanatkha requires little space.
45
In the focus group discussions, participants said their forest cover has improved over the last two
decades but at the expense of the forest quality. Despite the CFUG’s desire to develop a
productive forest, an invasive tree species known as gandasein (Prosopis juliflora) is widespread
in the proposed CF area in TYK and TGT. Under the Tun Tin administration (1988), FD officials
introduced gandasein in the dry zone to improve the forest cover. Unfortunately, they did not
foresee the consequences that this tree species would have in competing with native species. The
high germination rate and long root structures of gandasein have created a challenge in growing
tree seedlings in the CF area. The CFUG in TGT plans to grow tree seedlings in areas where
gandasein are not growing but acknowledges their uncertainty in using this method, given that
few trees can survive alongside gandasein.
3.8 Coping Strategies to Climate Change The coping strategies for households during or in anticipation of a weather-related event are i)
selling assets, ii) doing daily labour, and iii) borrowing from friends or relatives. These strategies
show the importance of assets, in particular physical, human and social capital, in reducing the
potentially negative impacts of climate change (Figure 13). Despite the use of agroforestry as
insurance against weather-related agricultural losses, only one household considered using
forests resources as a coping strategy. While households reported various types of coping
strategies, some of these strategies may be a reactionary afterthought for households that did not
view environmental risks as threats to their livelihood.
Figure 13. Main coping strategies to climate change in the study area
Data collected from household surveys.
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
No
. of
ho
use
ho
lds
Coping strategy
Coping Strategies to Cimate Change
46
4 Discussion
4.1 Synthesis of Community Forestry Contribution and Gaps The findings from this research suggest that CF as a national program offers a critical
contribution to climate change adaptation, but faces numerous operational challenges. These
operational challenges impede the effectiveness of using CF as an adaptation intervention.
Although CF has improved the level of human and social capital among households in the study
sites (Figure 6), it has fallen short in increasing the level of natural, financial, and physical
capital (Figure 6). Long-term political commitment for sustainable forest management at the
subnational and national level is needed to up-scale CF programming to deliver tangible benefits
to local communities.
Community forestry provides a platform for households to access information on land rights and
responsibilities. Household participants in the two study sites expressed greater confidence in
addressing land use problems to their township council after attending CF training sessions.
Training sessions are central to CF development in that villagers have access to knowledgeable
resource persons to increase their awareness of land use policies. These resource persons break
down policies in an accessible manner, enabling local residents to employ specific articles in
legislation to claim their rights.
Landless and female forest users are involved in the CFUG as both general and executive
members in TYK and TGT. The involvement of these forest users in the CFUG conveys greater
decision-making power of potentially marginalized groups in the community. While landless
members have limited control over the land use decisions of individual landowners, many of
them view their participation as a way to expand their knowledge on forest management and
their existing social network.
Social networking presents households with work opportunities and allows them to stay up to
date with current news. Female CFUG members have also seen an expansion in their social
network through their participation in CF meetings and networking events. Networking events
with government officials, civil society members, and other CFUGs have given landless and
female forest users an avenue to extend their connections to people outside their community. By
inviting all interested households to join the CFUG, CFUG members are creating a collaborative
environment for sustainable forest management.
Despite the positive contribution of CF to human and social capital (Chapter 3.7.1 and 3.7.2), CF
has not yet provided tangible benefits to local households. This outcome is a result of challenges
mainly outside the control of the CFUG. Members of the CFUG view the delay in the issuance of
the CFC as a barrier to CF development since this document enables CF landowners to formalize
and secure their land claims. While the absence of the CFC may discourage investment in
47
sustainable forest management, none of the CF owners were opposed to carrying out
conservation activities on their land without the CFC. The lack of governmental support in CF
activities, rather than the absence of the CFC, appeared to be the source of impediment to CF
development.
In addition to having governmental support, CFUGs need to develop strategies to overcome
problems related to urban migration. The trend of local residents working outside the
community, especially male youths, poses a challenge in acquiring the necessary labour inputs to
drive CF activities. Reforestation, forest extraction and removal of invasive species require high
labour inputs that may not always be readily available as more men become migrant workers.
Although remittances from migrant workers can attract financial investment in CF activities,
dependence on remittances can also make villagers more vulnerable when this financial source
does not arrive during times of climatic stress.
Outside the formal CF program, customary landowners in TYK and TGT are practicing
agroforestry to offset losses in agricultural production. This strategy can be incorporated into the
CFMP to build on the lessons learned from existing land use practices so that households can
better adapt to changes in the climate. Although annual crops cannot be cultivated on forestland
nor can perennial species such as trees be planted on land with a LUC, these conflicting practices
are common throughout the dry zone (Figure 12 in 3.7.1). Many customary landowners prefer
having a LUC over a CFC, as they can use the LUC as collateral to access loans. The on-the-
ground challenges associated with CF implementation, highlight the tensions between livelihood
needs and policy objectives, which may not always be synchronized in land use policy. So, while
CF presents many benefits in terms of community engagement with natural resource
management, in the absence of tangible benefits to the community, the effectiveness of CF as an
adaptation intervention may be limited.
4.2 Progress and Challenges in Community Forestry Development Following the adoption of the 2016 CFI, CFUG members can now extract and utilize timber and
timber products from the natural forest area (MoNREC, 2016). This policy change opens up
opportunities for improving the financial and physical capital of local communities. The 2016
CFI also broadens the scope of CF to include agroforestry models and income-generating
activities that were restricted in the 1995 CFI. With greater ability to generate profit from the CF,
the CFUG in TYK and TGT has incorporated a benefit-sharing mechanism from the sales of CF
products in their CFMP.
While the new CFI has taken on a people-oriented approach to forest management, this
legislation also states that the rights and responsibilities of CFUGs must align with other existing
protocols, laws and policies that govern land in Myanmar. The need to ensure that all CF
activities are compatible with legislation already in place results in an additional layer of
48
complexity to interpreting and enforcing CF rules. Some of the laws referred in the 2016 CFI,
such as the 1992 Forest Law, do not mention CF, thereby creating legal ambiguity on whether
local communities can commercialize resources in the natural forests. With various outdated
policies underpinning the adoption of new legislation, multiple layers of laws existing under
Myanmar’s legal framework create barriers to climate change adaptation.
4.3 Application of the Research for Climate Change Adaptation This research serves as a baseline study to evaluate the contribution of CF to climate change
adaptation in the dry zone of Myanmar. Previous studies on forest management in the dry zone
have focused on the socioeconomic benefits of local participation with none to the author’s
knowledge examining the impacts of local forest management activities on climate change
adaptation. The quantification of adaptive capacity through an SLA framework extends the role
of CF in improving people's ability to mobilize assets for adaptation.
The proposed CF area in the two study sites is only meeting the subsistence needs of the
communities mainly through the supply of fuelwood but has strong potential to deliver tangible
benefits such as marketable products. In Feurer’s study (2016), she found that, on average, 25%
of household income came from CF products among four villages with CFCs in Ayeyarwady
Delta, Myanmar. This contribution shows the promising tangible benefits from CF that can also
be realized in the dry zone.
While customary landowners in the dry zone are practicing agroforestry as a form of crop
insurance, few households consider using forest resources as a coping strategy to climate change
(Figure 14). Similarly, even though communities in the delta region heavily relied on the forests
in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis, Feurer (2016) observed that the target households did not
report CF as the main coping strategy. This outcome may be the result of the restrictive policy
environment in Myanmar, which does not necessarily allow villagers to effectively exploit the
forests during times of economic and environmental stress. The influence of the military regime
in the past may also impose a high opportunity cost for villagers to transgress legislation that
does not confer resource benefits onto local communities.
Despite the national government’s ongoing efforts to harmonize land use policies and to promote
CF as an adaptation tool, political control over forestry is still fairly centralized. The
centralization of forest resources weakens the incentive for local actors to participate in
sustainable forest management (Prescott et al., 2017). The dry zone landscape has a complex
network of forestry and farming activities that often coincide each other. Overlapping land
claims, in particular, pose a vulnerability risk to landowners who may not be able to validate
their land rights when called upon by law enforcers. To overcome the barriers to adaptation at
the local level, findings from this research supports the development of a data sharing platform
between ministries such as OneMap Myanmar (Bastide et al., 2017).
49
4.4 Recommendations
4.4.1 Recommendations to Policymakers 1. The FD should designate at least one staff officer to work closely with civil society
organizations to facilitate training sessions and activities related to CF development. While the FD is responsible for providing technical support to local communities, SUComFor
field staff have been the key resource persons for CF development in the study sites and have, so
far, facilitated the majority of CF training sessions. Through focus group discussions and key
informant interviews, participants in TYK and TGT have discussed ways to grow and process
suitable tree species in their proposed CF area but have not mentioned the role of the FD in these
activities. Since CF enterprises require high up-front costs, CFUGs will likely face the
challenges of sustaining the momentum for carrying out CF activities if a strong governmental
support system is not established.
4.4.2 Recommendations to Civil Society Organizations 1. Civil society organizations including RECOFTC can reduce the intergenerational gap in
sustainable forest management by offering CF training sessions to youths. Research participants from the younger generation did not know much about the role of
RECOFTC despite RECOFTC’s presence in the community for well over a year. With few
leadership opportunities available for youths in both villages, RECOFTC field staff can fill this
gap by offering training sessions to younger members of the community so that they can develop
a greater sense of responsibility in forest management.
2. Civil society organizations should work towards not only promoting CF to interested
households but also enhancing the internal capacity of households in project villages to
participate in CF. The research findings suggest that female heads of a household are more likely to be illiterate,
which may discourage them from engaging in CF activities and taking on leadership roles.
Additionally, while attending CF meetings is one of the responsibilities of CFUG members, poor
households are often occupied with livelihood activities to sustain their family, resulting in a
high opportunity cost of attending these meetings.
4.4.3 Recommendations to Local Communities 1. In partnership with civil society organizations and the FD, CFUGs should develop a market
development strategy for their CF products so that they can acquire the necessary tools and
resources to overcome potential shocks in the market. The majority of households in TYK and TGT are involved in low value-added production as part
of their livelihood, which can lead to a blind spot in the production and marketing of CF
50
products. While the CFUG in the two study sites want to grow high-yielding trees that they can
process and sell at the market, it is unlikely this plan will succeed if CFUGs across multiple
townships attempt to profit from similar CF products. Without a plan to strengthen the value
chain production and to encourage product differentiation, CFUGs run the risk of losing the
confidence and trust of villagers in the face of volatile price fluctuations, which may jeopardize
the whole CF operation.
4.5 Limitations
4.5.1 Limitations of the Methodology Limitations to methodology stemmed from the various tools used in this research and time
constraints in collecting data, which influenced the sampling strategy. This research used
numerous PAR tools that required the active involvement of research participants. Since all
primary data had to be collected within a short time span, villages with an active CFUG along
with a small population size were seen as suitable study sites. An active CFUG better facilitated
an environment for an outsider to enter the community to collect primary data.
In the initial research stages, a SUComFor and non-SUComFor village were selected to allow for
a comparative analysis of the level of adaptive capacity between a project and non-project site. It
was challenging to find a village outside the SUComFor project because the project field staff
had limited knowledge about the inner workings of external villages. Collecting research data in
the non-SUComFor village was difficult due to the low rate of community participation in the
research tools. After a few days of being in that village, we found out that villagers had a
negative perception of SUComFor project staff because of unresolved disputes over forest
boundaries with the FD. Villagers saw the project staff as aides to the FD.
While this research sought to engage a range of participants, the reliance on CFUG members as
the primary gatekeepers influenced the data that was collected on the role of CF in the
community. Table 6 presents the weaknesses and limitations associated with each research tool. Table 6. Limitations of research tools
Research Tool Limitation
Focus Group
Discussion
- Since focus group discussions were held in a public setting such as the
community meeting place, it was difficult to control villagers’ participation
- The village leader and members of the CFMC were present throughout the
majority of the focus group discussions. Their presence may have refrained
some participants such as youths from expressing their true thoughts
- While focus group discussions took place in the afternoon when most
villagers took their mid-day break, the timing of these discussions may
have prevented individuals who were busy with household chores from
participating
51
Key Informant
Interview
- Some informants tended to paint the community in a very positive light
- Villagers who are not well-connected in the community may not have had
the opportunity to participate in the key informant interviews
Transect Walk - Although the proposed CF area was generally degraded and in poor health,
participants who guided the transect walk may have selected a path that
showed better land conditions
Seasonal
Calendar
- The timing of the social calendar exercise may have prevented potential
participants from getting involved
Resource
Mapping
- Resource mapping took a longer than expected time and thus hazard
mapping was not carried out
Social
Mapping
- Since CFUG members took the lead to plot individuals households to
produce the social map, other participants with potentially contradictory
viewpoints may have been sidelined in this activity
Well-being
Ranking
- A small group of participants developed the criteria for each level of
perceived well-being. Some indicators that are important to the well-being
of specific households may have been overlooked
Household
Survey
- The household survey collected information on each asset, and took, on
average, about one hour to complete. Thus, depth of information was
gathered at the expense of a large sample size
- Five SUComFor field staff conducted the household surveys all at the
same time, posing a challenge in validating the accuracy of information
Daily Activity
Clock
- It was difficult for participants to recall their activities in a typical working
day for each season. Accordingly, rather than interviewing villagers one by
one, this research tool was completed in a group setting between male and
female participants
Short-term interactions with participants also pose a limitation to this study. While a large
percentage of landless and female forest users are involved in the CFUG, Agarwal (2001) warns
that not all forms of participation promote empowerment. In a previous study on CF in
Myanmar, Lin (2005) found illiteracy and lack of consideration to the local knowledge as
barriers to the participation of poor households in the CFUG. To ensure that marginalized groups
are making decisions, and not just observing them, Lin (2005) argues that CFUG should develop
the internal capacity of local villagers to participate in CF so that these villagers foster a sense of
ownership to the CF project.
4.5.2 Study Limitations
The adoption of an SLA framework provided benefits and insights to expanding the scope of CF
to beyond the forest sector. There are some drawbacks in using this approach for understanding
the trade-offs and time-sensitivity of assets to climate change. The conceptual framework for this
research placed all assets in one box (Figure 4) with the assumption that these assets worked
together to contribute to adaptation needs. In reality, however, assets are constantly being
modified. For example, households can sell natural capital for financial capital, resulting in a
52
trade-off between the two assets. In Li et al. (2017), a correlation analysis was used to test
complementary and substitution between the livelihood assets among farmers in the Loess
Plateau. They found that a complementarity-substitutive approach identified areas where trade-
offs can be minimized to enhance adaptive capacity. By employing a complementarity-
substitutive approach, this research’s conceptual framework can be strengthened to reduce the
substitutive effects of assets as well as to assess the sensitivity of assets under climatic stress.
The use of indicators and indices can oversimplify reality and should be thoroughly examined
before informing decisions. While this research consulted various sources to develop the SLA
indicators and indices, some types of capital, namely social capital, cannot be easily quantified.
Qualitative data is thus important to augment the SLA scores. The directionality of indicators is
also debatable: for example, access to loans may reduce people’s well-being if they cannot pay
back their loans. The SLA index and its corresponding scores were intended to provide a
graphical and quantifiable assessment of adaptive capacity. Thus, one should not place too much
emphasis on analyzing the numeric value of the scores. This research supplemented the SLA
scores with qualitative data to highlight the heterogeneous distribution of each asset in the study
area.
4.6 Way Forward for Research
A follow-up study on the level of adaptive capacity in the study area after the issuance of CFCs
should be conducted to evaluate changes in assets before and after certification. From these
findings, there are various areas where researchers can explore:
i. Mapping adaptive capacity in the dry zone Based on the SLA scores, adaptive capacity can be geographically mapped to provide time-
scaled spatial data on areas of high and low adaptive capacity. While Holland et al. (2017) used
an index score to map the spatial distribution of adaptive capacity of smallholder farmers in
Latin America, their analysis was dependent on “expert” knowledge. To ground maps in the
local experiences, it would be useful for local villagers to participate in these mapping exercises.
ii. The effects of migration on CF
With more household members working outside the community, research on the effects of
migration on CF will be useful to provide insights into the decision-making structure of CFUGs,
which must accommodate for this change.
iii. Tenurial disputes between relevant stakeholders in the CF landscape In villages that have a high proportion of landless CFUG members, research into how land
ownership affects the distribution of CF benefits can inform policy guidelines for the CFI.
53
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Appendices
Appendix 1. General focus group discussion questionnaire
Livelihood activities and level of livelihood diversification
1. What are the main sources of income for you and for your family? Has this changed over
the last five years?
2. How many hours in a day do you spend working?
3. How much leisure time do you have in a day?
4. Have the hours of your work increased, decreased or stayed the same over the five years?
If there has been a change in the number of hours you’ve worked, what are the reasons
for these changes?
Impacts of climate change
5. Have you observed changes in the weather or climate in the last five years? If yes, do you
feel that these changes have an impact on your livelihood activities?
6. Have you made a deliberate change in any of your livelihood activities because of
observed changes in the climate? E.g. diversify crops in home garden, delayed planting
season, increased the use of fertilizer, etc.
7. Are there any barriers preventing you to fully implement your adaptation strategies?
Community forestry
8. Do you have access to the community forestry sites?
9. Have you obtained benefits from the community forestry? If yes, what are these benefits?
If no, what are the reasons for this (e.g. lack of knowledge of existing management plan
and CF regulations, poor quality of forest resources)?
10. How often do you use forest resources in the community forestry? When can you use
these resources?
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Appendix 2. Key informant interview questionnaire
Perception of climate change
1. Can you describe the weather and climatic conditions in your community and in the
region?
2. Have you observed any changes in the weather or climate over the last 5 years?
Impacts of climate change
3. Do you see these changes as a threat to the economic and social well-being of your
community?
4. Have changes in the climate affected the livelihood of individual households? If yes, can
you provide an example? If no, has the well-being of the households increased, decreased
or stayed the same over the last 5 years?
5. Which specific areas in the region have been affected by climate change?
Addressing climate change
6. What are the current practices you are doing to adapt to climate change?
7. Who is involved in developing adaptation strategies? Is adopting adaptation measures an
individual choice or a collective community decision?
8. How effective are current tools in buffering against the negative impacts of changes in
the climate?
Non-climate risks
9. What other risks do you have in the region that is a threat to your community’s economic
and social development?
10. How has your community addressed other risks not related to climate change in the past?
Who was involved in this process?
Community forestry
11. Do you see benefits from community forestry in enhancing your community’s economic
and social development (e.g. more income from forest products, increasing women’s role
in decision-making processes)? If yes, what are the advantages of community forestry for
climate change adaptation? If no, how can community forestry be improved to meet your
community’s needs?
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Appendix 3. Seasonal calendar (example from Tha Yet Kwa)
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Appendix 4. Transect walk map (example from Thit Gyi Taw)
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Appendix 5. Resource map (example from Tha Yet Kwa)
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Appendix 6. Social map (example from Tha Yet Kwa)
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Appendix 7. Well-being ranking (example from Tha Yet Kwa)
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Appendix 8. Household survey questionnaire in English
Household Survey
Date:
Household head:
Interviewer:
Religious affiliation (#):
Village:
Ethnicity (#):
Basic Information
1. a) How long has your household lived in this community?
Less than 1 year 1-5 years 6 to 10 years More than 10 years
b) If this village is not your native village, where does your family come from?
c) Does your household share this dwelling with another household? Yes No
Human Asset (See attached table)
2. a) Are any of your household members migrant workers? Yes No
b) If yes, how many household members are migrant workers?____________
c) For how long does each household member work outside the village (mark with X)?
No. Gender Less than 3 months 3-6 months 7-12 months 1 year-2 years More than 3
years
d) How far is the nearest health clinic from your house? _______mi
e) In the previous 12 months, did you use this health clinic? Yes No
f) If yes, how frequently did you use this health clinic? 1x 2x 3x 4x >5x
g) What were the reasons for these visits? __________________________
Social Asset
3. a) How many organizations do you know in the community?
b) In the previous 12 months, how many community organizations did you participate in?
c) Does your household usually participate in community meetings?
Yes, always Yes, sometimes No
d) If yes, which member(s) of the household usually participate in these meetings? ___________
Natural Asset
4. a) Land
Type Land tenure Area (ac) Quality of land
1-Poor, 2- Fair, 3- Good, 4
Excellent
Comments
Farm Land Own Rent 1 2 3 4
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Rice Paddy Field Own Rent 1 2 3 4
Home Garden Own Rent 1 2 3 4
Forest Proposed CF
Customary
only
1 2 3 4
b) Crops during the previous 12 months
Crop Total
growing
area
(ac)
Harvest
(ac)
Use (mark with X) Kyat/Viss Comments
Consume Give Trade Sell
Chickpea
Cotton
Green Gram
(Mung bean)
Groundnut
Jaggery
Jujube
Maize
Pigeon pea
Pumpkin
Rice
Sesame
Sorghum
String bean
Sunflower
seed
Roots and
Tuber:_____
Vegetable:___
Fruit:_______
c) Livestock during the previous 12 months
Livestock Number Use (mark with X) Income
per
animal
(kyat)
Comments
Consume Give Trade Sell
Cattle
Chicken
Goat
Pig
Sheep
d) In the previous 12 months, have you used animal healthcare services? Yes No
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e) Forest product during the previous 12 months
Product Amount
harvested
Use (mark with X) Kyat/kg Comments
Consume Give Trade Sell
Fuelwood
Cart
Fodder
Cart
Timber
Ton
Small
Timber
(incl. pole)
Ton
Bamboo
Pole(s)
Thanatkha
No. of trees
Mushroom
Viss
Bamboo
shoot
Viss
Medicinal
plants
Viss
f) In the previous 12 months, did you have access to clean water?
Yes, always Yes, sometimes No
Questions
on water
resources
Summer season Rainy season Winter season
g) Where
do you get
clean
water?
h) How
long does it
usually take
to fetch
water from
this source?
Less than 30 minutes
30 minutes to 1 hour
1 to 2 hours
More than 2 hours
Less than 30 minutes
30 minutes to 1 hour
1 to 2 hours
More than 2 hours
Less than 30 minutes
30 minutes to 1 hour
1 to 2 hours
More than 2 hours
i) Who is
responsible
for fetching
water in
your
household?
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j) How
many total
numbers of
individual
trips per
day is
needed to
fetch water?
k) In the previous 1 month, how often do you consume the following food and which share (%)
is bought at the market?
Food
Type
Frequency of Consumption Market
(%)
Comments
Grain 1x/d >1x/d 1x/w 2-4x/w 1x/m 2x/m >2x/m
Pulses 1x/d >1x/d 1x/w 2-4x/w 1x/m 2x/m >2x/m
Tuber 1x/d >1x/d 1x/w 2-4x/w 1x/m 2x/m >2x/m
Meat 1x/d >1x/d 1x/w 2-4x/w 1x/m 2x/m >2x/m
Fish 1x/d >1x/d 1x/w 2-4x/w 1x/m 2x/m >2x/m
Vegetable 1x/d >1x/d 1x/w 2-4x/w 1x/m 2x/m >2x/m
Fruit 1x/d >1x/d 1x/w 2-4x/w 1x/m 2x/m >2x/m
Dairy
products
1x/d >1x/d 1x/w 2-4x/w 1x/m 2x/m >2x/m
Egg and
egg
products
1x/d >1x/d 1x/w 2-4x/w 1x/m 2x/m >2x/m
Physical Asset
5. a) Which mode of transportation do you own? Bicycle Motorbike Car Tractor
b) Do you have electricity? Yes, always Yes, sometimes No
c) If yes, what is your source of electricity? _________________
d) Are you connected to a phone line? Yes No
e) How is the quality of your phone coverage? Poor Fair Good Excellent
f) Do you own machinery? Yes (what type):________________ No
Financial Assets
6. a) In the previous 12 months, which different income sources did you have and what were
their share in total income?
No. Income Source Share
(%)
Reliability
1-Very low
2-Low
3-High
4-Very High
Labour Input
(time)
1-Very low
2-Low
3-High
4-Very High
Income Investment
(finance)
1-Very low
2-Low
3-High
4-Very High
Agricultural
Crops
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
Rice Cultivation 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
72
Livestock rearing 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
Daily labour 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
Seasonal labour 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
Small business 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
Salary 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
Trade 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
Forest product 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
Remittance 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
b) Do you have savings? Yes No
c) In the previous 12 months, have you used micro-credit loans? Yes No
d) In the previous 12 months, have you borrowed from relatives/friends? Yes No
Information on climate change
7. Where do you receive information about weather-related news?
Radio
Television
Journal/newspaper
Friends/relatives
Government officials
School/university
Other:_______
Have no access to
weather-related news
Coping Strategies
8. What are your coping strategies during or in anticipation of future natural shocks (e.g. floods,
drought, crop failure, etc.)?
Sell assets
Access credit
Use savings
Access CF resources
Reduce expenditure
Consume less food
Migration
Daily labour
Borrow from
relatives/friends
Dropout from school
Other:
9. Please rate the impact of each environmental risk on your livelihood activities
(4 being strong impact and 1 being no impact)
Environmental
Risk
No Impact Little impact Some impact Strong impact
Drought
Extreme
Temperature
Irregular rainfall
Strong wind
Comments:
73
Tab
le 1
. H
um
an a
sset
No.
Nam
e G
end
er
1-M
, 2
-F
Age
Ed
uca
tion
0-i
llit
erat
e 1-p
rim
ary
2-m
iddle
3-h
igh s
chool
4-u
niv
ersi
ty 5
-post
gra
duat
e
Liv
eli
hood
acti
vit
ies
Hosp
ital
trea
tmen
t
(pre
vio
us
12
month
s)
Tota
l in
com
e
(pre
vio
us
12
month
s) i
n
Kyat
M
ain
O
ther
s
Y
es
No
Y
es
No
Y
es
No
Y
es
No
Y
es
No
Y
es
No
Y
es
No
Y
es
No
Y
es
No
74
Appendix 9. Translated household survey questionnaire in Myanmar language
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
Appendix 10. Sustainable livelihood assets scores in Tha Yet Kwa and Thit Gyi Taw Asset Criteria Indicator TYK TGT Data
Source
Human Educational
attainment
1.1. Literacy rate among household head (percentage of the
household head receiving six or more years of formal
education)
4.5 3.3 HHS
1.2. Adult literacy rate (percentage of any household member
receiving six or more years of formal education)
4.7 5.0 HHS
Access to
family/household
labour
1.3. Inverse family dependency ratio (inverse of the ratio of
working population aged 15 and 64 to the number of
dependents)
2.7 3.1 HHS
Access to health
services
1.4. Percentage of the population receiving medical treatment 4.33 3.8 HHS
Nutrition 1.5. Self-sufficiency of main food items (inverse of average
market dependency for main food items)
0.9 0.1 HHS
Cumulative index score 3.4 3.1
Social Access to
information
2.1. Percentage of households having members working outside
the community
0.5 1.4 Social
Map
Social cohesion 2.2. Percentage of households attending community meetings 4.3 5.0 HHS
Participation in
organizations
2.3. Organization participation index (ratio of organizations in
which households are involved in to organizations that
households are aware of in the community)
0.7 2.5 HHS
Cumulative index score 1.8 3.0
Natural Land resources 3.1. Percentage of households with land 4.65 2.5 HHS
3.2. Land quality index (index based on average scoring on a
four-point Likert Scale of different land types)
2.7 3 HHS
Off-farm livelihood
activities
3.3. Natural resource diversification index (inverse of the
number of activities dependent on natural resources)
2.9 4.3 HHS
Water resources 3.4. Percentage of households having access to clean drinking
water
2.2 1.7 HHS
Livestock 3.5. Percentage of households with livestock 1.0 0.4 Social
Map
Cumulative index score 2.67 2.37
Financial Diversity of sources
of income
4.1. Income diversity index (inverse of Herfindahl-Hirschman
Index)
1.1 0.9 HHS
Reliability of
income source
4.2. Reliability of income source index (rating based on a four-
point Likert Scale)
2.9 3.0 HHS
Access to loans 4.3. Percentage of households receiving loans or borrowing
from relatives/friends
1.9 3.2 HHS
Access to savings 4.4. Percentage of households with savings 1.0 0.8 HHS
Cumulative index score 1.7 2.0
Physical Mobile
communication
5.1. Percentage of households with mobile phones 4.8 3.8 HHS
5.2. Mobile communication quality index (index based on
average scoring of phone service)
3.2 3.0 HHS
Access to electricity 5.3. Percentage of households with electricity 3.2 3.0 HHS
5.4. Electricity quality index (average scoring of quality of
electricity)
3.2 2.9 HHS
Access to motorbike 5.5. Percentage of households owning a motorbike 4.3 3.3 HHS
Access to
machinery
5.6. Percentage of households owning machinery 0.5 0.8 HHS
Cumulative index score 3.2 2.8
