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Poor, rural communities are vulnerable to adversity. To secure their livelihoods, people adopt multiple livelihood strategies, including using non-timber forest products (NTFPs). NTFPs have been identified as important to rural livelihoods, as an alternative land-use option as well as in fulfilling an important safety-net function although empirical evidence on the latter's strength is limited. Whilst NTFPs may contribute towards alleviating poverty, this safety-net function needs more critical and quantitative investigation. This includes the establishment of an applicable definition so this function can be communicated to policy makers and taken into account in national poverty alleviation strategies and, in attempts to promote resource-conserving behaviour by highlighting the value of natural resources (including NTFPs) compared to alternative land-use options. Poverty in rural households is complex and households are vulnerable to a range of shocks. During adversity households can turn to a range of possible safety-nets. What determines the use of NTFPs as a safety-net, how this safety-net function manifests and the strength of this function is poorly understood and there is need for further investigation.

The prevalence and ranking of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) as safety-nets has been well discussed, but rarely quantified. We report on group discussions and household interviews in two South African villages to assess the frequency and nature of shocks and stresses over a 2-year period and the coping strategies employed, stratified by household wealth and gender of the de jure household head. Overall, kinship was the most widely adopted coping strategy, and NTFPs were the fifth most prevalent (employed by 70% of households). There were relatively few differences in the nature of shocks or responses between male-and female-headed households. Wealth influenced the experience of shocks or stresses as well as responses. Poorer households have fewer options with the increased use or sale of NTFPs being the second most commonly adopted strategy. Increased use and sale of NTFPs is a common manifestation of the safety-net function. To reconcile long-term economic development and biodiversity conservation, it is important to understand people's use of natural resources and the factors that affect this use, including their responses to shocks and stresses.