ABSTRACT
Why attempt to estimate the economic value of environmental resource use to rural households? There are three main reasons for collecting quantitative data in this area. Firstly, rural households often use environmental resources extensively (and these are largely plant resources), so that such resources can be critical to the well-being of these households, especially during droughts and other times of crises (Cavendish, 1999a; Martin, 1995; Wollenberg and Nawir, 1998). However, there have been few systematic attempts to measure the value of natural resources to rural households, and there are thus many outstanding questions about the workings of the rural economy. For example, who depends upon plant resources? Are they rich or poor? Male of female? Young or old? What might happen to the rural economy if plant resources disappeared? What might happen to the poor? As these questions suggest, there are major uncertainties about how plant resource use interacts with the incomes and welfare of rural dwellers.
