One of the non-timber forest product gum arabic can be one of the sources of income to rural households. In the commercialization of gum arabic, the first step is analyzing the factors affecting the rural households’ involvement in gum collection. This study examines the decision determinants of the rural households’ engagement in A. Senegal gum arabic collection. Data were collected using key informant interviews, focus group discussions, and household surveys. Data for explanatory variables were collected from 441 randomly selected households. Factors affecting the involvement of the households in gum arabic collection were revealed by the logit model. The regression analysis showed household head age (+), household’s family size (-), employed in a government job (-ve), income from wage labor (-), crop farming(+), gum market availability(+), households who participate in Productive Safety Nets Program(PSNP)(+) and had training awareness at least once(+) are factors in the decision determinants of the rural households to the engagement in gum collection. In the study area commercialization of sustainable gum arabic appreciated, focused on the decision determinants like gum market availability, training awareness by enhancing technical support and strengthening the communications and capacity of collectors and stakeholders

Keywords : Acacia Senegal, Gum Arabic, Pastoralists, Engagement, Decision Determinants, Gum Collection.