Bckground
Non Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) are materials other than timber which are collected from the forest. Examples include edible fruits and animals, bamboo, rattans and resins. NTFPs are an important but largely hidden sector of the Lao economy, and have great potential for poverty alleviation, food security, biodiversity conservation and private sector development - if they are harvested and managed sustainably.
Two SNV advisers are based at the government’s Forestry Research Centre (FRC), advising on the creation of a national NTFP network, capacity building in the area of NTFP research and training, and on supporting forest user groups and micro-enterprises.
Objectives
• Support sector networking /information exchange, policy support and private sector development
· Institutional and organisational development (ID/OS) of partner organisations at national, provincial and district level
• Capacity building of partner organisations to become providers of NTFP support services
Results
• A national NTFP Network has been formed, and is now actively sharing marketing and domestication information
• A NTFP handbook listing 100 commercial and local NTFPs has been drafted, in cooperation with FRC and NTFP network partners
Client update: FRC
An SNV adviser is based at the government’s Forestry Research Centre (FRC), advising on the creation of a national NTFP network, capacity building in the area of NTFP research and training, and on supporting forest user groups and micro-enterprises.
To date the Forestry Research Centre has been advised on topics including stakeholder assessment, scoping surveys, development of a portfolio approach for FRC partnerships (eg with local NGOs, donor projects and other institutions working on NTFPs) and on various initiatives aimed at coordinating work in the sector.
Future advisory work:
During 2005, a national NTFP training adviser will start to address the growing demand for training services. Two additional SNV advisers are foreseen at the provincial level, where they will work with local partner institutions on capacity building, research, marketing and networking activities.
Factsheet on NTFP (PDF file)
NTFP networking
NTFP documents
