NTFPs on Nakai Plate.. - TABI

4 Importance of NTFP’s in the family economy
4.1 Ranking exercises with groups of villagers
Importance of NTFP’s in the family economy was assessed in three ways. Firstly, villagers
were asked in two groups (men and women) to rank all products found in the forest in order
of importance. There were usually some differences between these groups, with women
giving more importance to edible products, men attaching more importance to sellable
products and wildlife. The results shown in table 2 are the combined rankings of both men
and women’s groups. Kisi resin (14 %), fish/frogs(14%), rattan shoots (12%), cardamom
(12%) and wildlife (10%) are considered to be the most important products from the forest.
Food products are more numerous and considered more important (56%) than non-food
products (44%).
Table 2: Villagers ranking of importance of NTFP’s in 5 villages on the Nakai
Plateau, March 1997.
No Product KhoneKen Kaoy Nakai N. Sophen Thalang TOTAL
1 Kisi resin 12 % 12 % 14 % 18 % 15 % 14 %
2 Fish, frogs 14 % 14 % 16 % 9 % 16 % 14 %
3 Rattan shoots 14 % 16 % 12 % 7 % 13 % 12 %
4 Cardamom 14 % 11 % 10 % 10 % 4 % 10 %
5 Wildlife 10 % 14 % 9 % 9 % 7 % 10 %
6 Bong bark 7 % 4 % 8 % 5 % 6 % 6 %
7 Bamboo shoots 8 % 10 % 5 % 2 % 4 % 6 %
8 Vegetables 7 % 6 % 7 % 1 % 5 % 5 %
9 Rattan canes 3 % 3 % 13 % 4 % 5 %
10 Mushrooms 3 % 9 % 3 % 4 % 4 %
11 Kho leaves 4 % 9 % 3 %
12 Bamboo canes 4 % 5 % 2 %
13 Khamphep fruits 3 % 2 % 4 % 2 %
14 Chouang bark 6 % 1 %
15 Fruits 2 % 2 % 3 % 1 %
16 Tubers 6 % 1 %
17 Kheua hem 6 % 1 %
18 Eaglewood 6 % 1 %
19 Galangal (kha) 3 % 2 % 1 %
20 Mak khen spice 2 % 1 % 1 %
22 Hak tin houng 2 % 0 %
Total Food 61 % 60 % 63 % 41 % 52 % 56 %
Total Non-food 39 % 40 % 37 % 59 % 49 % 44 %
A second way of assessing the importance of NTFP’s in the family economy consists of
asking villagers to rank their sources of cash income from sales or barter trade. The outcome
of this exercise is presented in table 3. NTFP’s account for 76 % of average family income
over all five villages surveyed. Livestock sales are the second most important source of
income (16%). Within the NTFP’s, kisi resin (14%), fish (12%), cardamom (11%) and
wildlife (10 %) are the most important products sold.