Valuing the Hidden Harvest: Methodological approaches for local-level economic analysis of wild resources

This paper compiled by IIED's Sustainable Agriculture and Environmental Economics Programmes describes the methodologies developed over the six years of the Hidden Harvest project. The process has been iterative, papers being written and revised, their content evolving as more and more experience was gained, and discussions and debates took place between the economists and participatory practitioners involved. The methodology now in place offers some means to bring together the external and local perspectives that are so often in conflict when economic assessments are made, and to give more prominence to the value of wild resources to the livelihoods of rural people.