Investigating the Type and Rate of Forest Use and Its Impact on the Livelihoods of Jaji Aryoub Forest Inhabitants (Paktia Province-Afghanistan)

Rural communities in developing countries are facing challenges for their livelihood due to various reasons such as resources limitations, low income and job opportunities. In forested areas, wood and non-wood forest products have created an opportunity for self-consumption and have become a source of income for local residents. In this regard, the present study seeks to identify the type and rate of forest product utilization and its impact on livelihoods of local communities in the Jaji Aryub forests of Paktia province, Afghanistan.

This study was an applied study that was conducted as a survey in Jaji Aryub forests of Paktia province in Afghanistan. The statistical population of the study consisted of 1404 household heads in 14 villages, of which 303 were selected based on Krejcie Morgan table. The main research instrument was a researcher-made questionnaire consisting of 20 items related to the type of forest products use in five sections: 4 items fuel consumptions, 3 items construction consumptions, 7 items food and nutrition uses, 2 medication uses, 4 items outdoor recreational services. Livelihood level of the local communities were studied in three dimensions of employment and income with 12 items, nutrition and health with 5 items, and support and housing with 6 items. Expert opinion was used to determine the content validity of the questionnaire and calculated Cronbach's alpha coefficient was used to estimate its reliability. After data collection, analysis was performed using SPSS 21 software in two parts: descriptive and inferential statistics.

According to the respondents' viewpoints, in average, fuel consumption with 3.94 and outdoor recreation with 2.57 (from 5 point), had the highest and the lowest using rates by local communities, respectively. Livelihood of rural families was correlated to usage of wood and non-wood forest products with medium rate (approximately 3 from 5) in three dimensions of nutrition and health, support and housing, and employment and income. The results indicated that, there is a significant positive correlation between the using rate of forest products by local communities and their total livelihood (99% confidence level). The results also showed that there was a positive significant relationship (99% confidence level) between respondents' use of forest products and their age and number of household members with correlation coefficients of 0.163 and 0.148, respectively. While a negative significant correlation with their education level were distinguished.

livelihoods of local communities in the Jaji Aryub forests of Paktia province, Afghanistan are, highly, depended to the forest resources due to various reasons such as environmental limitations, individual characteristics, lack of welfare, and limited income and job opportunities. Providing new energies (solar radiation, wind and oil), new job opportunities, creating local and regional markets and supplying processed products, as well as conducting training workshops based on participatory and social forestry were recommended.