Farmers’ usage preferences for Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park

Abstract

Purpose Policymakers and stakeholders lack empirical evidence on the effectiveness of community participatory management for agribusiness development and environmental conservation. The purpose of this paper is to assess the management preferences, approaches and practices of farm communities in Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park (VNP). Design/methodology/approach Primary data collected from 191 farmers were used. A choice experiment on current and potential park management practices and utilization levels was conducted along with a survey on socioeconomic, farm and institutional behavior characteristics. Findings Results show that farmers prefer preserving VNP resources for the production of agribusiness crops that are low input and environmental friendly and provide high income to farmers in addition to handcraft production to enhance cultural, plant and wild animal tourism development. Farmers highly value integrated stakeholder participatory decision making about the parks natural resources. High-income farmers prefer to restore traditional cultural heritage park sites for recreation, and ancestral intellectual and cultural property rights. Research limitations/implications The sample size limited the analysis to a conditional logit model. Originality/value This is the first study to assess the management preferences of farm communities in the VNP area.

Effects of soil and water conservation investment on household income in the Volcanoes National Park of Rwanda: an instrumental variable quantile approach

“…In addition, soil degradation due to heavy water erosion and persistent poverty hinders the development of the farm-level investment. Furthermore, low adoption of SWC measures has accelerated the rate of erosion and water quality deterioration, leading to heavy investment costs incurred by local farmers (Musafili et al, 2019). To reduce the effects of erosion and promote investment in soil and water conservation (SWC) and soil fertility (SF), the country introduced a nationwide crop intensification programme (CIP).…”