Pathways for sustainable livelihoods through non-timber forest products in India

The current study constructs a new Sustainable Livelihood Index (SLI) which integrates five capitals, that is, human capital, financial capital, physical capital, social capital and natural capital, in order to estimate the contribution of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) to the sustainable livelihoods in the Indian states. The key objective is to investigate the role of NTFPs and impact controlled with agriculture, industry, manufacturing, services moderated by institutional quality on sustainable livelihood in India. To investigate the same study selected 33 Indian states from 2012–2023. 62% variances in PCA determines interstate variation: western and southern states are the most successful because they have been diversified and have good infrastructure, but the northeastern areas and union areas are absent because they have geographic and institutional constraints. Dynamic Panel two-step system GMM, FMOLS and DOLS provide a high positive and significant (0.780, 3.16 and 7.14 respectively) influence of NTFP value on SLI supported by positive and complementary livelihood strategies Agriculture, manufacturing, industry and services that strengthen the impact of NTFPs on SLI. Institutional quality effectively moderates the role of NTFPs in SLI during short run dynamics captured by dynamic GMM. State specific results indicate that Southern, western, eastern states are significantly contributing in SLI through NTFPs and with other complimentary livelihood strategies whereas north-eastern states, and Punjab are performing worst. Similar findings were confirmed by PCA for high, moderate and low SLI states as these states share large forest cover and livelihood resources. Results depict that NTFPs to be at the centre of resilience to provide meaningful household income and safety nets. The policy is aimed at enhancing NTFPs through complementary livelihood strategies which enhances human, physical and digital infrastructure investments, strengthening rural services, role of institutions for FRA enforcement, Van Dhan Vikas Kendra/TRIFED development, SHG/FPO linkages, open pricing, and synergies.