HOW DOES COMMUNITY FORESTRY AFFECT RURAL HOUSEHOLDS? A LABOR ALLOCATION MODEL OF THE BOLIVIAN ANDES By Randall Bluffstone, University of Redlands

In rural areas of developing countries, farming systems tend to be household-based. These household production systems are also highly integrated with land-based natural resources such as forests, range areas and pasture lands. Households depend on these resources for fuels, animal food, building materials, fruits and medicines, and often these resources have ownership and control structures that are something other than private property. Forms of “common” ownership and control are by far the most important structures in which households access the land-based natural resources that support production by often poor, rural households. Indeed, common land areas can provide very significant portions of incomes for certain populations. For example, local commons contributed 15-25 percent of total income among households in eighty Indian villages (Jodha, 1986).