Coffee Forest Conservation

In this book, Teklu Tesfaye argues that a number of interacting local-level institutions, both formal and informal, influence the conservation and use (management) of coffee forests in South West Ethiopia. Formal institutions were found to have been acting in a unilateral mechanism through top-down and narrow technocratic processes. They offer little chance, if any, for the participation of the ultimate resource users and thus failed to respond to their felt needs. They therefore were not in a position to safeguard coffee forests from the rampant deforestation. Informal institutions, although having played their part some time in the past, have simply been disabled through government measures such as policies and legislations. Those that have withstood the test of time were very much confined in their sphere of influence and most ended up serving social purposes instead of ensuring the management of natural resources. Besides, the linkages between them and formal institutions have been very weak thereby worsening the situation. The ownership of coffee forests has largely remained public. However, the existing public property right system has not been effective enough in producing the resources in sufficient amount to meet the ever increasing demand. Thus, it needs to be revised and a robust and flexible property right system needs to be put in place.