1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Research background
Vietnam is a traditional agricultural country with more than 70% of the population workingin agriculture, of which a large proportion of agroforestry in mountainous areas, agriculture - ruralareas - farmers occupy an important position in the economy and Vietnamese society. Themountainous areas of Vietnam are inhabited by ethnic minorities with resources and livelihoodsdirectly dependent on natural resources, mainly forest resources and land. However, these resourcesare depleted and degraded due to the pressure of population growth, shifting cultivation, timberexploitation for consumption and industrial production. These adverse changes make it even moredifficult for poverty reduction and economic development efforts. The life of the communities istherefore still very difficult, especially the ethnic minorities in and near the forest areas. The majorchallenge for the sustainable management of forest resources and land in the mountainous areas ofVietnam is the protection and development of resources along with the reduction of poverty forlocal people.
Non-timber forest products include products derived from organisms other than timber,exploited from forests, forest land and trees. Many non-timber forest products are used forproduction and people's life. Hundreds of thousands of tons of bamboo are used in pulp and paperprocessing industry, tens of thousands of tons of medicinal plants are used each year. Non-timberforest products are also valuable exports and export value of non-timber forest products. Theexploitation and processing of non-timber forest products has attracted hundreds of thousands oflabors, mainly in rural and mountainous areas, contributing significantly to hunger elimination andpoverty reduction in forested localities. In the off-season, farmers often go to the forest to collectforest products to earn money to buy food and consumer goods, and to pay for children's medicineand education. In addition, non-timber forest products are also a daily source of food for households:bamboo shoots, forest vegetables, etc. Therefore, developing non-timber forest product productioncontributes to hunger eradication and poverty reduction in ethnic minority and mountainous areas,protect and sustainably develop forest resources, improve people's lives and contribute to thenational economy development.
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1.2 The significance of the study
The significance of this paper is as follows:
In the world, NTFPs are very perse and abundant, especially in tropical countries. However, theseresearches of NTFPs in Vietnam as well as Bac Giang province are still limited and not in system,so this research is contributing to knowledge and conservation of NTFPs in Bac Giang province,Vietnam.
Meaning perspectives:
(1) It is beneficial to promote the rational development and utilization of NTFPs resources in BacGiang province, Vietnam
Based on the field investigation of Bac Giang province, Vietnam, this research analyzes the currentsituation of the development and utilization of NTFPs in the forest areas, and puts forwardcountermeasures and suggestions for the rational development and utilization of NTFPs in theforest area, which undoubtedly has important guiding significance.
(2) It is useful to promote the increase of income of households in Bac Giang province, Vietnam
Strengthening the development and utilization of NTFP resources can not only meet the daily lifeneeds of the households in the forest area, but also provide income for them. Based on the fieldsurvey of the income of the households in Bac Giang forest area, this paper quantitatively analyzesthe impacting factors to income derived from NTFPs of the households in the forest area, and putsforward countermeasures and suggestions to promote the income of households in the forest area.This study has important practical significance for increasing the income of forest workers andhouseholds and improving people's livelihood.
(3) It is meaningful to the research on the development and utilization of NTFPs
The income status of households and the influencing factors can provide the basis for thegovernment to implement the development and utilization policy of NTFPs that is conducive to theincome increase of households, and also be beneficial to the reference for the forestry enterprisesin the forest region to reasonably develop NTFPs.
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2. LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Overview of NTFPs
2.1.1 Definition of NTFPs
Currently, there are many definitions of non-timber forest products in the world, thisconcept not only changes according to authors and organizations but also changes over time.According to many forestry scientists and managers in Vietnam, although there are manydefinitions of NTFPs, in order to be suitable for regional countries, Vietnam should use the NTFPsdefinition agreed at the conference of Asian and Pacific countries, meeting in Bangkok, Thailandhas adopted the following definition of NTFPs: NTFPs include all specific and renewable products,in addition to firewood and charcoal, exploited from forests, forest land or woody trees. Therefore,products such as sand, stone, water, eco-tourism are not NTFPs.
According to WWF - The Economic Value of Non-Wood Forest Products in Southeats Asia1989: "Non-wood products cover all other biological wood materials, exploited from natural forestsfor purposes of human, including foods, medicinal herbs, flavorings, essential oils, sap, glue, latex,tannin, dyes, ornamental plants, wild animals, raw materials and firewood, rattan and bamboo,small wood and yarn".
Recently, JHDe Beer (1996) authored many documents of non-timber forest products,including the "Analysis of Vietnam's Non-Timber Forest Products" in July 2000 as a publicationof the project "Sustainable Use Non-timber forest products” are defined as follows: Non-timberforest products include materials of biological origin, not from wood, exploited from forest to servepeople. These include food, medicine, spices, essential oils, plastics, latex, canines, dyes,ornamental plants, wild animals (live animals or their products), firewood and raw materials likebamboo, rattan, small wood and fiber.
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2.2 Review of international and domestic researches
2.2.1 Global studies
(1) Research on non-timber forest products
Foreign research and exploration in the field of NTFPs started earlier. Before the 1990s,foreign scholars focused on the social and economic benefits of NTFPs; after the 1990s, foreignscholars began to pay attention to the ecological benefits while paying attention to the social andeconomic benefits of NTFPs. This is because at the end of last century, there was a seriousecological crisis in the world. Many scholars began to focus on the ecological benefits of non-timber forest products. Foreign scholars mainly focus on the connotation and classificationecological and socio-economic benefits, development and utilization of existing problems ofNTFPs.
(2) Study on the connotation and classification of non-timber forest products
Many countries call of NTFPs, such as non-timber forest products, forest by-products, multiuse forest products, special forest products, forest by-products, etc. The term "non-timber forestproducts" has been adopted in FAO and international forestry research for many years has beenaccepted by most countries and organizations in the world. At the "Expert consultation on non-timber forest products " (1991) held in Bangkok, Thailand, it was defined as: all renewable products(excluding wood, fuelwood, charcoal, stone, water and tourism resources) w produced in the forestor on the ground for any similar purpose. In the research of FAO and Guojing forestry (19%), nontimber forest products are defined as various products for commercial, industrial and householduse obtained from forest and its biomass. Because there are many kinds of non-timber forestproducts, the standard of garden pision in the world is not the same. The UN Food and AgricultureOrganization (1996) classifies non timber forest products into two types, which are suitable forhome use and suitable for market access. The former refers to forest food, health care products,perfume cosmetics, wild animal protein and woody edible oil, etc. the latter refers to Taketo'sknitting products, edible fungus products, insect products, forest natural spices and other. Due tothe clear definition and classification of non timber forest products, few foreign scholars havestudied this problem since w in 1996. In the 2005 global forest resources assessment report (2006)issued by the FAO, the name of non wood forest products was adopted again, but before that, theFAO generally used the term.
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3.1 NATURAL CONDITIONS .................................16
3.1.1 Geography ....................................16
3.1.2 Climate ............................17
4. DEMOGRAPHIC AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS AND NTFPS USED AND EXPLOTEDBY THE HOUSEHOLDS ....31
4.1 Reseach methods ........................31
4.1.1 Data collections.............................31
4.1.1.1 Secondary data ...........................31
4.1.1.2 Primary data .......................31
5. DETERMINANTS OF NTFPS COLLECTION DECISION OF HOUSEEHOLDS............46
5.1 Reseach methods and data descriptions....................46
5.2 Total monthly income of households ........................49
6. FACTORS AFFECTING TO INCOME DERIVED FROM NTFPS OFHOUSEHOLDS
6.1 Reseach method and data descriptions
The multiple linear regression model (Gujarati, 2004; Wooldridge, 2005) was used toestimate the factors affecting NTFPs harvest. In this case, the income (currency value) from NTFPsis considered as a dependent variable representing the NTFPs harvest. In order to calculate the totalmonthly income from NTFPs, the number of NTFPs harvested for business and subsistencepurposes is multiplied by the market price. The following econometric models are used:
Where Y is the result of NTFPs income (INTFP), βiis the vector of the estimated coefficientof the explanatory variable, and ε is the random disturbance term.
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7. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
7.1 Conclusion
Based on the analysis of the development and utilization of NTFPs and the income ofhouseholds in Bac Giang province, this paper uses the method of qualitative analysis andquantitative analysis to analyze the influencing factors to the NTFPs collection decision and theincome derived from NTFPs of households, and summarizes the following conclusions:
(1) The study described the situation of society as well as economy of the NTFPs collectorsincluding family size, age, education, employment in perse sectors, and household incomeof the experimental area, etc. as well as NTFPs resources that households exploit and utilizeby descriptive statistics method.
(2) The main non-timber forest products developed and utilized in this forest area are Ornamentalplants (Rhododendron (red flower, white flower, yellow flower), Begonia, Orchids), Plantsfor food including types of Mushrooms (Nhedzi, Chihomobiro), fruits (Vitepayos,SyzigiumGuineensesubap) and vegetables (Melientha suavis, Dendrocalamus latiflorusMunro) and plants for handicraft (Calameae, Bambusa arundinacea), of which the outputvalue of mushroom products are the largest. The development and utilization degree of non-timber forest products in the forest area is relatively low, mainly raw products.
(3) Based on the secondary data of the current situation of the development and utilization ofNTFPs in Bac Giang province, the development and utilization of NTFPs and the existinglimitations were analyzed, including over exploitation of NTFPs, insufficient investment intechnical training, lack of effective information channels, difficulty in households’ finance,small scale of land management, and low cultural level of local people.
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