A Report from Albania: Forest as a Safety Net for the Poor

Maxhun Dida, Vasillaq Mine, Hilmar Foellmi, Haki Kola and Janaq Male [1]

Abstract
More than half of Albania's surface is classified as forests (1 026 000 ha) and pastures (446 000 ha), and more than 50% of the population live in these rural areas. No other sector has such a fundamental impact on Albania's poverty-stricken rural population as the forest and pasture sector. In Albania, poverty reduction is a national objective and most projects or programmes have at least a partial objective to reduce the nation's poverty. The Albania Forestry Project (FP) funded by the World Bank (WB) and by the Italian and Swiss Governments is being implemented with the objectives, among others, of Achieving a sustainable increase in the productivity of forest and pasture areas and Empowering local governments in order to meet requirements of the population for forest and pasture products, developing non-wood products, protection and restoration of natural ecosystems. The FP focuses on four main aspects of forest and pasture management: institutional strengthening, sustainable forest management, communal forest and pasture management and protected areas management. In combination, these components are expected to have a direct and positive impact on the productivity of these areas, on the reduction of erosion and protection of the many irrigation schemes in rural areas. Project activities are also expected to lead to a more rational use of pastureland and to halt the current degradation process that is most threatening to biodiversity and sustainability of ecosystems. At the same time the project is supporting the government's decentralization efforts and is facilitating the actual transfer of forests and pastures to the communes and the strengthening of capacities at all level of the forestry and pasture sector. Since 2001, the World Food Programme (WFP) has also been supporting the project through food aid to ensure a sufficient level of food security for the workers. As a result of the FP, there have been attitudinal changes towards health and education, although a quantitative assessment was not possible. An interesting fact is that about 45% of families rely on at least some income generated by school-aged children, which may explain some lower school attendance figures in rural areas. The effects of the FP on reduction of risks and on the increasing involvement and influence in the decision-making processes are easier to assess. The FP has very much contributed to increasing the transparency of the processes and to facilitating communication and common decision-making in forest and pasture resources management.

Introduction
In 1995, the Albanian Government, the WB, the Italian Government and the Swiss Government signed the project documents of the Albania Forestry Project (FP). Poverty reduction is one of the overriding objectives of the FP that in the course of its six years of activities has involved a wide spectrum of the country's population. Qualitative assessments indicate that the project as a whole has had a positive impact on poverty alleviation and that particularly the Communal Forest/Pasture Management (CFPM) component with its targeted interventions in rural areas, has contributed significantly to reducing poverty in very vulnerable areas. Based on defined national indicators, this study has been designed solely to assess the impact of the FP on poverty reduction as related to these five indicators.

Poverty Situation in Albania

The Albanian society underwent a fundamental transition marked by changes in the production structures, high unemployment, unprecedented emigration, changes to the family structure and to the socio-economic dynamics within the family itself. Albania has a relatively rich endowment of natural resource and, thanks to its coastal location and proximity to some of the world's wealthiest economies, has great economic development potential mainly in the agricultural sector, which also includes the rural agro-forestry aspects. The WB ranks Albania 100-th on its list of 174 poor countries and Albania is the Eastern European country with the highest level of poverty.

Income as an indicator of poverty

The low or very low level of income is a measure of poverty. The analysis of poverty through incomes is based on two levels of relative poverty. -"The poor" and" very poor ". The very poor are those living on less than USD 1/day, whereas people living on less than USD 2/day are classified as poor. In some areas, employment in the forestry sector (in State or Communal Forests) is the only opportunity for local employment and one of the main factors reducing poverty and emigration.[2] Forest and pasture areas also provide conditions for grazing and for the production of fodder for livestock that can contribute to household income. While this is a very crucial potential for revenue generation for the rural population, overgrazing has had a very detrimental impact on the sustainability of the resources in some areas and, if left uncontrolled, will result in diminishing returns for the population.

Health as an indicator of poverty

Lack of access to and the quality of health services has been identified as a main indicator of Poverty in Albania.[3] According to Ministry of Health statistics, the average life expectancy in Albania is relatively high: 69 years for men and 75 years for women. In 1996, only 6% of the health budget was spent on basic health services in rural communities. The inefficient use of these insufficient funds by local authorities further exacerbates the poor quality of preventive and curative services in rural Albania.

Educational as an indicator of poverty

During the last 10 years, public financing for education has covered 10% of the budget expenditures, but this share has been constantly decreasing. These indicators fell from 3.8% in 1995, to 3.3% in the year 2000, which is much lower than in East-European Countries. The enrolled level has fallen for both preschool and secondary education. The figures indicate tangible decreases 37% and 36% respectively (compared with the 1990 level).[4]

Exposure to high risk as an indicator of poverty

According to the WB's study about 75 % of the poor families in addition to their economic problems (lack of income or unemployment), also suffer from social problems, such as divorce, death of one of the household heads, disability and health problems. However, there is no clearcut division between the groups at risk and economic poverty because they are inter-related and determine one another.

Exclusion from decision-making as an indicator of poverty

The poor have little voice or influence in today's decision-making processes.The Government's policies are clearly intended to shift power from the central level to the local level. Among the important policy developments in Albania are the recognition of private property rights and the privatization of public property; decentralization and strengthening of the role and capacity of local government; continued transformation to a market-driven economy. The development of forestry and pasture sector activities throughout the country and to ensure their optimal contribution to the socio-economic growth and sustainable development of the country.[5] A concrete example of decentralization is the Government's Komuna transfer programme, which calls for the transfer of 40% of state forest and 60% of pasture lands by the end of 2004 (see also Box 2). Box 1. Description of the Forest and Pasture Transfer Scheme The programme for transferring state forests and pastures in use to communes aims at sustainable and participatory management of forests and pastures and at strengthening of local governments. It calls for the transfer of 40 percent of the state forest area and 60 percent of the state pastureland by the end of 2004. The transfer of forests and pastures in use to communes that has been supported by the FP of the WB and USAID has led to improved management of degraded forests by increasing the interest

and participation of communities and local government. This process is already completed on 40 percent of the communes.One key problem encountered in this process that still needs to be resolved is the sharing of responsibilities and cooperation between the district forest service, local government and community and the extent of communal authority in using their resources

Forestry Project activities

Components
The FP is an integrated project combining all aspects of forest resource administration, management and protection and consists of the four components; (i) Institutional development, (ii) Sustainable forest management, (iii) Communal forest and pasture management, (iv) Protected areas management.

Improvements of forest and pasture

The investments made by the FP in forest and pasture improvements are expected to have a significant long-term impact on forest and pasture resources. In line with the project objectives, the FP has invested into all crucial aspects of forest and pasture management. Commencing with a revised resource planning approach the project has introduced more integrated and participatory resource planning both for state forest management and communal forest and pasture management. To date some 125 such plans have been prepared and most of them are at various stages of implementation. Implementation activities include thinning (>16,000 hectares), forestation (820 ha), erosion control fencing and wall construction (6300 m3), pasture improvements (350 hectares), construction and reconstruction of water points for livestock (117). In support of better resource management, monitoring and control, the FP has made significant investments in acquisitions of vehicles, and motorcycles, radio-communication and office equipment for DGFP headquarters and for the district offices, such as computers, copying and fax machines. Significant investments were also made in improving the working environment for forest service staff through rehabilitation of offices and community participation. An important aspect for the sustainability of FP activities is the extensive training programme that is being supported by the FP. Capacity building is also one of the main thrusts of the FAO-TA Project, which in close collaboration with the FP assists in the delivery of training programmes and provides technical assistance to all stakeholders in the forest and pasture sector.

The World Food Programme

In October 2000, the Government of Albania formally approached WFP to provide assistance in support of Communal Forestry and Pasture Management in order to expedite the progress of implementation. After long discussions with DGFP/PMU and FAO, WFP decided to participate in the Communal Forestry and Pastures Management component with monthly food package.

Main Findings

The analysis of the responses from the numerous households and organizations has provided very valuable information that allows the authors to formulate the following specific findings. Probably the most important finding of this assessment is that the FP has been able to work with the most appropriate target group, namely the extreme poor in the rural areas, mainly, but not exclusively through the communal forest component. The median total income of the surveyed households in 2001 was 130,000 Lek (USD 929), including the cash contributions of the FP and in-kind benefits such as food supplements and the benefits from the utilization of forest and pasture resources. 1. The level of income from forestry activities for participating households is estimated at about 39,000 Lek (USD 270/year), or 30% of total income. This is in line with the level of input, which is on average about 3 months. The contribution of WFP is targeting the most direct need and gives households some more room to make expenditures for other needs. Furthermore the people indicated that the income obtained from the FP is mainly used for food, to a lesser extent for health, transport and education 2. In providing these opportunities for additional income and in improving the forest resources potential, the FP has contributed to strengthening the sense of security by increasing the disposable income. The findings of the survey suggest that financial resources from the FP are a contributing factor for health and education and that the awareness about both aspects has increased due to the FP. 3. One of the critical findings of this survey is that people want to work and be self-reliant. Employment opportunities are what most people want and only a minority of those surveyed think that assistance programmes such as the FP and the WFP are the long-term solution to their problems. They are seeking other options for realizing their own economic potential and a majority would like access to a small loans/credit programme to help them get started. Economic hardship is by far the most cited risk factor in rural areas and also the main reason why almost 70% of the respondents have considered migration. Barriers to migration have prevented them from doing so, and for many the FP has made staying a bit easier. There is a definite expectation for increased benefits in the future from the forest resources, particularly in terms of fodder for livestock, timber and from increased site productivity. These benefits are directly linked to the investments made into forest and pasture. Participation in project activities has strengthened the participation in forest and pasture resource management. Most respondents are satisfied with their associations and also find the collaboration with the DFS as a productive, although there is considerable room for improving the participatory processes at all levels.

Effects on Organizations

The majority of organizations, state or private, noticed an overall increase in funding over the last five-year period and for 57 % of the respondents this increase is due to FP activities. The contributions of the FP is especially important for the CFPUAs (almost 100% of investments come from the FP) and the private companies who received some 80% of their 2001 revenues from the FP. This strong economic dependency of CFPUAs and private contractors is a risk for future viability of these non-state organizations, although some 73% of the organizations expect the future situation in the forest and pasture sector to improve, even without the assistance by a project. At the commune level, the overall condition with respect to forest and pasture resources should gradually improve, especially in areas where the CFPUA manage their forests and pastures properly and generate revenues from fees and from the sales of products from forests and pastures. The contributions made by the FP in terms of infrastructure, communication equipment, and transportation and particularly training, have significantly increased functionality and the efficiency of the DGFP.

Effects on Natural Resources

The FP has a direct impact on the environment and on the future potential of the resources. The investments into forestation, thinning and erosion control have added to the forest growing stock, and growing potential in the communes and will contribute a future stream of benefits to these communes. The expected future benefits are in form of better grazing opportunities, increased yields of fodder for livestock, sustainability in fuelwood production and higher value of commercial timber.

Conclusions and Recommendations

Conclusions
1. From the data collected and analyzed it can be concluded that the FP has had a positive impact on poverty reduction in Albania in those areas where project activities were implemented. Over 50% of the household expenditures go towards covering food costs, which is very characteristic for very poor households. It makes them very susceptible to risks, as any reduction to their income will affect almost directly their budget available for food. Thus, support to their income and food supplies are very effective and will diminish their sensitivity towards risks. 2. Although this contribution is relatively significant, it is not enough to change the poverty status of the affected families, which remain extremely poor. It is clearly evident, that the additional cash resources and food supplements are an important contribution that facilitates coping with the serious problems caused by poverty.

3. That the institutional strengthening, sustainable forest management and protected areas management component also support the poverty reduction objective is also evident from the survey. This process, however, is still at an early stage and should increase with further decentralization. 4. Closer analysis however shows that this optimism rests on the assumption that the government of Albania continues to invest into the sector after the completion of the FP. Indeed, achieving these general expectations, the efforts towards sustainable forest and pasture management have to be continued.

Recommendations
1) Government and donors have to continue the efforts to reduce extreme poverty in the rural areas of Albania. The considerable technological and infrastructural improvements introduced by the FP should be an incentive for the government to secure the needed resources to build on and fully benefit from the investments made so far by the FP. 2) Decentralization within the Forest Administration should proceed in close collaboration with other Ministries to ensure proper cooperation and allocation of resources; 3) Capacity building and participatory processes should be further developed in connection with the decentralization process and DGFP extension services should be strengthened. 4) Since in many areas it will take considerable time until communal forests and pasture areas become sufficiently productive to provide a net return to the people in the communes, longerterm cash flow projections based on management plan interventions should also be prepared. 5) Communes could be specifically supported to facilitate integration into these regional plans that should cover broad economic development objectives based on resources, skills and tourism potential. 6) Environmental and natural resources management planning should be more and more based on watersheds, rather than on smaller management units. 7) Capacity building of all actors (DGFP, DFS, CFPUA) is needed to achieve sustainable natural resources management. An integrated multi-disciplinary approach to capacity building should be aimed at - driven by government policies. 8) In line with decentralization, the main partners for implementation of any assistance programmes should be the DFS and the local governments. 9) CFPUAs should be formally organized at the regional and national level. 10) With the review of the legal framework of the forest sector, the further steps towards private ownership of forest and pastureland should be considered as one of the options to solve rural poverty.

[1] [2]

Email: jmale@dppk.net Michel Midre report "Communal Forest and Pasture Management Evaluation Report" [3] Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy - GPRS 2002-2004 [4] Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy 2001 [5] Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy 2001