The book "Joint Forest Management: A Case Study in Khordha District of Odisha" gives the structure and functioning of JFM committees, socio-economic status, and livelihood dependence of forest-fringe villages in Khordha Forest Division. Based on primary data from 100 randomly selected respondents, collected through structured questionnaires and analyzed using statistical tools, the study reveals active community participation with significant involvement of women and tribal households. Agriculture emerged as the primary livelihood source, followed by forest resources, particularly NTFPs such as sal and siali leaves. The findings indicate a strong positive relationship between livelihood, income, employment, and marketing, with socio-economic variables explaining 70% of income variation. Constraints such as illiteracy, limited benefits, and institutional bottlenecks were identified, highlighting the need for strengthened participatory approaches to enhance the effectiveness of JFM.
