The impact of forest resource decline: Analyzing forest-related income supplements to reduce income inequality and poverty of the Kouy indigenous people living in Kampong Thom province, Cambodia

Tropical forests for sustainable development: Shaping the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development with knowledge from the field

“…The impacts of deforestation on forest-related livelihoods are complex and may disproportionately affect indigenous people. Nhem et al explore the relationship between declining forest resources and income inequality and poverty in a case study based in Kampong Thom province, Cambodia (Nhem, Lee, & Phin, 2018). Through surveys, the authors compare the contribution of income earned from three sources: agriculture, forest-related resources, and self-employment and wages.…”

Forest income and inequality in Kampong Thom province, Cambodia: Gini decomposition analysis

“…The economic value of forest resource extraction by rural households can be estimated. It has been suggested that forestry or environmental services' income should be included in national socioeconomic surveys (Wunder et al 2016;Nhem et al 2018) as at least 20% of rural household income, in developing countries, is provided by forest and tree products (FAO 2018). Two years ago, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) introduced important guidance, 'National socioeconomic surveys in forestry: Guidance and survey modules for measuring the multiple roles of forests in household welfare and livelihoods ' (Wunder et al 2016).…”

“…The reasons may include lack of accurate data related to forest services at community level and problems with measurement methods (Babulo et al 2009). The studies claimed that the more accurately forest resources used by forest-dependent communities are valued, the better the understanding of dependence on forest products and the more realistic the measurement of rural poverty and income inequality (Babulo et al 2009;Nhem et al 2018).…”

“…Even though forest income may not provide the largest percentage of the total income of rural household, it is extremely important for households operating at subsistence level. It helps to fill gaps in short-or long-term income (Babulo et al 2009;Nhem et al 2018) and is a safety net for income crises (Babulo et al 2009;Nasar et al 2016). It has been recognized that income from forest resources also helps to reduce poverty and income inequalities (Fonta and Ayuk 2013;Worku et al 2014;Jiao et al 2015;Nhem et al 2018;Nguyen and Tran 2018).…”

“…Recent literature indicates that inequality has declined over the last few decades but will rise again after 2027 because of increasing population growth, economic growth and the age of the labor force (Kakwani 1980;Adams 1994;Martins 2015;Rougoor and Marrewijk 2015;Nhem et al 2018). However, the decline of forest resources, from which forest-dependent people extract daily for food and income generation, are sometimes overlooked in the assessment of future rural inequality and poverty.…”