Can Income Programs Reduce Tropical Forest Pressure? Income Shocks and Forest Use in Malawi

Seasonal household data from Malawi are used to study links between income shocks and forest use. A Tobit model is estimated to examine whether household forest use responds to receipt of a positive income shock (delivered as a technology assistance package), and the characteristics of households reliant on forests for shock coping. Results show households experiencing an income boost had lower forest extraction compared to households that did not receive such a shock, ceteris paribus. We find households most dependent on forests for natural insurance are those located near woodlands and headed by an individual who is relatively young and male.