The 'Role of Community Forestry in Rural Livelihood and Poverty Alleviation in Ohangwena and Caprivi Regions in Namibia defined the role of community forestry in net benefit generation by comparing the cost benefit analysis (CBA) of community forestry to those of other rural industries namely: forestry, agriculture, wildlife and eco-tourism in two community forests in Namibia during the period 2003-2008. These community forests cover a total of 55 918 hectares and 19 888 hectares of which are located in the northern communal area of Namibia. Both communities, Okongo and Kwandu, had been granted legal community forest rights from the Government of Namibia in 2006 and could start to benefit fully from their respective forest areas such as from inter alia timber sales.

The CBA explained the importance of community forestry for benefit generation, poverty alleviation and the objective of attaining sustainable forestry in these community forests. Moreover, the Net Benefit Ratios and the Net Benefit Investment Ratios were elaborated. Land and labour productivities of rural industries were also compared. The household level poverty was calculated by the proportion of the total expenditure on food and the cost of basic needs approach methods in both communities. The headcount index was also used in poverty comparisons. The community level poverty change was calculated from the difference of net benefits for the years 2006 and 2008, and poverty ratios were calculated for this change. The study also created scenarios and alternatives for the sustainable community forest development such as REDD-plus, which aimed at indicating how to sustain these valuable and fragile forest areas for the future community forestry and wildlife activities.