| Abstract: |
This study is an attempt to measure the numeracy and financial literacy of
forest dependent communities (FDCs) in India using data from the two
economically different forest communities in the state of Andhra Pradesh. In
an attempt to rehabilitate degraded forests, the Government of India launched
the joint forest management (JFM) program in 1990 with the involvement of
FDCs. This has not only helped increase their income levels, but through
interactions with and help of Government officials, have also given them a
first-hand exposure to financial management at JFM. While there is some
evidence on numeracy and financial literacy of urban and rural households and
fishing communities in India, there is no evidence on numeracy and financial
literacy of Indian FDCs. This study attempts to fill that gap by providing
background on FDCs in two economically different regions of Andhra Pradesh
(Rayalaseema and Coastal Andhra) and provides evidence on their numeracy and
financial literacy. While the performance on both numeracy and financial
literacy differs for the two regions, it is found that the participants scored
better on numeracy skills than on financial literacy. It was found that while
in general participants had difficulty in recognizing mathematical symbols for
addition and multiplication and performing the corresponding operations, they
were generally able to perform the same operations when orally instructed in
their local language without difficulty. While the empirical evidence on
financial literacy is less strong, roughly a third of the participants had
some basic knowledge of economic concepts like simple interest and time value
of money |