IIED. Sustainable Agriculture and Environmental Economics Programmes

Valuing the hidden harvest : methodological approaches for local-level economic analysis of wild resources.

This paper is based on case studies from Zimbabwe, Botswana, Brazil, Nigeria and Papua New Guinea, in which an attempt was made to value species not incorporated in formal economic calculations. The studies were carried out by combining economic approaches for resource valuation or for incentives for resource management, with participatory research techniques, based largely on RRA and PRA. The two traditions are summarised and the way in which they can be combined explored, with reflections on some of the challenges encountered.