A triple win? The impact of Tanzania’s Joint Forest Management programme on livelihoods, governance and forests

This study by Persha and Meshack assesses the impact of Tanzania’s Joint Forest Management (JFM) programme on three sets of outcomes -- restoring forests, improving livelihoods and strengthening local governance. Researchers found that JFM had a strong positive impact on local governance. There were no significant impacts on livelihoods or change in the deforestation rate. But there are weak indications of improvements in subsistence forest product harvesting. There is also some evidence that households may be changing their harvesting behaviour in JFM reserves due to stricter protection and more effective patrols.