In recognition of the important role of indigenous peoples, local communities and smallholders in forest management, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) released two reports on strengthening forest producer organizations.
30 June 2014: In recognition of the important role of indigenous peoples, local communities and smallholders in forest management, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) released two reports on strengthening forest producer organizations.
The two publications, produced through the Forest and Farm Facility (FFF) partnership with the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), call for a better policy environment and targeted capacity building to strengthen local forest producers.
The first publication, ‘Roadmap for Strengthening Forest and Farm Producer Organizations,’ discusses how to improve the well-being of smallholder forest and farm producers while ensuring sustainability. In particular, the roadmap seeks to address challenges such as the high cost of entry into markets, policy bias that favor large producers, and a lack of legal recognition for smallholders.
The publication presents key recommendations that suggest, inter alia: increased involvement of producer organizations in forest policy formulation; the provision of incentives for smallholders; the reform of policies to create an appropriate enabling environment; and improved access to financial services.
The second publication, ‘Making Change Happen – What can governments do to strengthen forest producer organizations,’ recognizes the importance of forest communities and small producers in sustaining local livelihoods and development, noting that such groups own or manage about 30% of the world’s forest.
The publication sets out four key conditions for the successful engagement and participation of forest communities and smallholders, including: secure land and use tenure; fair market access; availability of support services; and the establishment of forest producer organizations (FPOs). [FAO Press Release] [Publication: Roadmap for Strengthening Forest and Farm Producer Organizations] [Publication: Making Change Happen – What Can Governments do to Strengthen Forest Producer Organizations]