The non-timber forest policy process in Nepal: actors, objectives and power

The importance of commercial non-timber forest products (NTFPs) to the livelihood strategies of rural collectors in Nepal is increasingly recognized. This paper provides suggestions for improving rural collectors' possibilities for income generation. The formation and implementation of NTFP policies in Nepal is examined by investigating the area of interactions between policy formation, choice and implementation of forest policy tools within the new political economy approach, and suggestions are subsequently evaluated within the found practical political context. The study is based on approximately 400 interviews carried out with some 1000 stakeholders in the period 1992-98. Following a qualitative research strategy hypotheses are formulated on the basis of patterns emerging from the data collected. The main stakeholders in NTFP collection and trade are identified to be: rural collectors and traders; local level politicians; lower level government staff; high level politicians; conservation-oriented institutions; and development oriented institutions. The objectives and influence of these stakeholders on the non-timber sector are identified and proposals for change are discussed in the light of distribution of objectives and power. It is hypothesized that NTFP policy formation, implementation and the field reality are weakly connected: implemented policy tools do not correspond to the aims of formulated policies, and field reality is not regulated in the envisioned direction by policy tools. This situation is explained by the fact that stakeholders at different levels of the policy hierarchy can influence their own level only. It is further hypothesized that a number of changes in forest legislation and regulations can have immediate and powerful effects on rural livelihoods of collectors. Taking into account the present political situation, such changes may not be introduced from within the decision making process and, therefore, the view is put forward that pressure from outside the forestry sector is needed to bring about significant changes in favour of rural collectors.