Socio-Economic Conditions Influencing the Decision of Communities to Retain Gum Producing Stands in the Gum Belt of the Sudan
[1]
Taha Mohamed El Nour, Senior Lecturer and Associate Professor in Forest Management, Faculty of Natural Resources and Environmental Studies, Kordofan University, Sudan.
[2]
Bekele Tsegaye, Senior Lecturer and Associate Professor in Wood Technology at Wondo Genet College of Forestry and Natural Resources, Hawassa University, Ethiopia.
[3]
Hammad Zeinab Mohamed, Senior Lecturer and Assistant Professor in Silviculture, Faculty of Natural Resources and Environmental Studies, Kordofan University, Sudan.
Gum arabic, a product from Acacia Senegal, is a major product of rain fed agricultural sector in Sudan. It contributes considerably to a household income of gum farmers and foreign exchange earnings for the country. The objective of study was to identify socio-economic conditions of farmers that influence their decision to retain gum arabic stands. The study covered selected parts of Kordofan and the Blue Nile areas. Target groups were identified along with economic performances that determined their livelihoods. Primary and secondary data were collected through field survey. The survey has used semi-structured questionnaires by involving randomly selected gum arabic farmers and key-informants besides visiting the surrounding markets. In the survey, 173 respondents representing a total population of 2081 households were selected with an overall average sampling percentage of 8.3%. The results of the study revealed that the probability of farmers’ decision to retain gum arabic stands as a component of their farming system was based on independent explanatory factors that included age of the respondents, type of land ownership, total land area and reliability of gum arabic as a source of income to a household. Covariance and regression mathematical models have shown that Acacia senegal area and gum production to be functions of decision making and have verified additional influential variables such as total land area per household, size of a family and farm income. The results obtained have also revealed that the farmers retained the old practices of land use, which included rearing animals, production of cash and food crops. Such land use pattern has contributed to risk reduction in addition to conservation of natural environment as a consequence of having forest as part of the cropping pattern in the study areas.
Gum Arabic, Rainfed Agriculture, Benefits, Bush-Fallow, Rotation
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