Role of Micro Credit in Fuel Wood Conservation and Living Standard

Abstract

This study analyzed the role of micro credit on fuel wood conservation and improving household living standard in the surrounding communities of Chitral Gol National Park in Pakistan. For this purpose a sampled survey was conducted in  13 villages in which 286 respondents were interviewed, among them 143 were taken from recipients of micro credit house-holds and 143 from non-recipient households through random sampling. For analyzing the data various statistical  tools were used including independent sample test, least square and multi nominal logistic  model were used for analysis. The empirical analysis of  the study indicates that micro credit has a positive impact on fuel wood con-servation and living standard. And those who are Loan recipient households were com-paratively better standard of education, housing type and health. The consumption pat-tern of loan recipient households is also better than the non-recipient households The chosen methodology may lack generasibility and further testing through impact evalua-tion is recommended. This paper has empirically studied the effect of micro credit pro-gram on fuel wood conservation and living standard using primary data.