Role of Indigenous Eco‐Friendly Technologies and Microfinance for Forest‐Living Communities’ Livelihoods: Case Study of Andhra Pradesh, India

Abstract Eco‐friendly technologies (EFTs) and microfinance provide impetus for securing the livelihoods of forest‐living communities. Use of EFTs arrests the degradation of forests in addition to enhancing people's livelihoods. Forest‐living people adopt unsustainable harvesting methods due to a lack of access to and unawareness of EFTs. Sustainable harvesting of forest produce by employing EFTs reduced harm to the forest by 40–50%. Microfinance accessibility is essential for the adoption of EFT at community level for value addition to Non‐Wood Forest Products (NWFPs), which enhanced livelihoods by 200–300%. The main objective of this paper is to investigate how EFT and microfinance provide impetus to the value addition by NWFPs and the securing of the livelihoods of forest‐living communities. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment