Despite the potential for forest resources to act as a less costly shock-coping strategy for rural households, evidence of the nexus between access to forest resources and the nature of coping strategies employed by households remains scanty. Using panel data from Malawi, first, we explore how the type of shock (covariate or idiosyncratic) influences the choice of coping strategy adopted. Second, we determine whether access to forest resources reduces the likelihood and intensity of reliance on costly shock-coping strategies (consumption reduction, and sale of assets). The results show that households are more likely to adopt costly coping strategies when responding to covariate weather shocks. However, the reverse was found to be true in the wake of idiosyncratic shocks. Our findings show that the use of forest products helps poor households in cushioning against the effects of shocks. Forest products collection aids consumption smoothing while protecting asset depletion in the wake of covariate shocks. This makes the availability of forest resources a critical safety net. Within a sound access mechanism, sustainable use of forest resources can reduce the likelihood of vulnerable households falling into poverty traps.

尽管森林资源有可能成为农村家庭成本较低的冲击应对策略，但有关森林资源获取与家庭采用的应对策略性质之间联系的证据仍然很少。首先，我们使用来自马拉维的面板数据探索冲击的类型（协变量或异质）如何影响所采用的应对策略的选择。其次，我们确定获取森林资源是否会降低依赖代价高昂的冲击应对策略（减少消耗和出售资产）的可能性和强度。结果表明，在应对协变量天气冲击时，家庭更有可能采取代价高昂的应对策略。然而，在特殊冲击之后发现情况恰恰相反。我们的研究结果表明，使用林产品有助于贫困家庭缓解冲击的影响。林产品收集有助于平滑消费，同时在协变量冲击后保护资产枯竭。这使得森林资源的可用性成为一个重要的安全网。在健全的获取机制内，森林资源的可持续利用可以降低弱势家庭陷入贫困陷阱的可能性。