Local communities’ willingness to pay towards sustainable shea trees conservation and production in Bongo District, Ghana
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Date
July 2016
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Abstract
Shea tree, Vitellaria paradoxa is a tree that does well in arid and semi-arid areas of Northern Ghana. Due to recent competing demands for various uses of the tree without conservation, its stock is declining continuously. The study seeks to examine the monetary value that local people are willing to pay as well as investigate socioeconomic factors that influence respondents’ WTP towards sustainable shea tree production and conservation to halt its decline. A total of 100 respondents were selected using multistage and systematic random sampling. A structured questionnaire was used to conduct a face-to-face interview to collect data for the study. The mean willingness to pay was estimated at GH¢11.00 to GH¢16.500 per year. Ordinary least square regression results show that, income, educational level, livelihood activity and marital status were statistically significant and positively influenced respondents’ willingness to pay. There were no institutional arrangements or structures that can facilitate and coordinate any payment scheme for environmental services. It is recommended that, government provides subsidies to encourage commercial shea seedlings production and conservation of existing trees as well as establish legal and institutional arrangement that would support effective design of PES to boost shea tree production in the area.
Keywords: Willingness to pay, conservation, payment for environmental services, institutional arrangement
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A thesis submitted to The Department of Silviculture and Forest Management College of Agriculture and Natural Resources in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy Natural Resources and Environmental Governance,