Do high-value environmental products provide a pathway out of poverty? The case of the world's most valuable fungus (Ophiocordyceps sinensis)

Rural households harvest environmental products throughout the world. Yet little is known about the role of such products as pathways out of poverty. Here, we empirically estimate the household-level economic importance of a high-value environmental product and assess its contributions to poverty reduction. Specifically, we investigated the case of the fungus-larvae complex resulting from root-borer larvae infected by Ophiocordyceps sinensis, a product locally known as yartsa gunbu. We conducted a structured household survey (n = 181) in the upper Gorkha District in Nepal to estimate annual household yartsa gunbu income, the number of collection days in 2015–2018, the number of pieces collected per individual (2018), household-level reasons for participation/non-participation, and household expenditure priorities. We calculated household-level absolute and relative yartsa gunbu income, catch and income per unit effort, and plotted expenditure priorities. We found that yartsa gunbu was the main source of cash income. Contrasting widespread claims of unsustainable collection in the literature, the mean number of pieces collected per day increased from 2015 to 2018. Non-participating households were characterised by low labour availability due to small households, old age, or health problems with lower-income households having the lowest yartsa gunbu reliance. Women generated the major share of yartsa gunbu income. Expenditures were characterised by current consumption and religious activities, with limited investment in the accumulation of assets that directly reduce poverty. The primary role of yartsa gunbu in poverty reduction is indirect, building up human and social capital quality rather than direct investment in productive assets such as local enterprises.