Evaluating socioeconomic and equity outcomes in livelihood interventions: Insights from Community Resource Management Areas (CREMAs) in northern Ghana

Over the past 25 years, Ghana's Community Resource Management Area (CREMA) program has expanded to cover 2 million hectares across 600 communities, aiming to achieve its dual objectives of biodiversity conservation and poverty reduction. As Ghana's flagship Community-Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) initiative, it has attracted significant investment from international organizations for livelihood interventions to reduce poverty and incentivize conservation. Yet little is known about how these interventions are implemented or who benefits. Using qualitative methods, this study examines stakeholders' perceptions of the types, socioeconomic impacts, and equity dynamics of livelihood interventions in three CREMAs in northern Ghana. Our findings reveal that interventions that enhance existing livelihoods, such as modern beekeeping, remain the most frequently implemented. Although the socioeconomic impacts of these interventions vary across and within CREMAs, they provide individuals with modest, seasonal income and support community development projects. The gender dimensions of the interventions show that gender-targeted, pro-poor distribution norms have increased women's inclusion and access to cash income but also raise concerns about exclusion and intersectional inequities. By situating our findings within debates on distributional and contextual equity, we offer insights into how pro-poor norms interact with gender and other contextual factors to shape economic and equity outcomes in incentive-based conservation. This article is relevant beyond the case study, as it can inform the design of equitable, context-sensitive, and sustainable livelihood interventions in current and future incentive-based conservation efforts across the tropics and beyond. • Livelihood interventions in CREMAs mainly strengthen existing livelihoods like beekeeping. • These interventions provide modest seasonal income and support community development. • Benefits are unequally shared across CREMAs and between men and women. • Gender-targeted, pro-poor distribution norms improve women's inclusion and access to cash income. • Distributional norms and context may contribute to exclusion and intersectional inequities.