Guide for small and medium enterprises in the sustainable non-timber forest product trade in Central Africa Abdon Awono Verina Ingram Jolien Schure Patrice Levang Guide for small and medium enterprises in the sustainable non-timber forest product trade in Central Africa Abdon Awono Verina Ingram Jolien Schure Patrice Levang CIFOR produced this guide as the result of a collaboration with the FAO, SNV, ICRAF, the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife in Cameroon, the Ministry of Environment, Conservation, Nature and Tourism in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the Central African Forest Commission (COMIFAC) as part of a European Union financed project, GCP/RAF/408/EC Forests for Poverty Reduction: Mobilising Small and Medium Size Forest Enterprises in Central Africa, 2006–2010. www.fao.org/forestry/enterprises/45716/en/ © 2013 Center for International Forestry Research. All rights reserved Awono, A., Ingram, V., Schure, J. and Levang, P. 2013 Guide for small and medium enterprises in the sustainable non-timber forest product trade in Central Africa. CIFOR, Bogor, Indonesia. Photos: Ousseynou Ndoye, Verina Ingram, Abdon Awono, Marcus Ewane, Arend van der Goes and Jolien Schure CIFOR Jl. CIFOR, Situ Gede Bogor Barat 16115 Indonesia T +62 (251) 8622-622 F +62 (251) 8622-100 E [email protected] cifor.org Contents Introduction 1 Why are NTFPs important? 2 Risks and challenges in NTFP trade 4 Exploiting NTFPs – today and tomorrow 6 The rules on NTFP trade 7 Tips for doing good business 12 Improving harvesting techniques 15 Post-harvest technologies 15 Adding value 18 Diversifying 19 Knowing your market 19 Innovations in financing 21 Cultivating and domesticating for long-term security of supply 22 For more information 23 List of figures, boxes, and tables Figures 1. Markets and NTFPs in Cameroon 3 2. Key plant NTFPs in Cameroon, by annual trade value 4 Boxes 1. What are Non-timber forest products? 1 2. Harvesting eru sustainably 6 3. ‘Special forest products’ in Cameroon 10 4. From small trader to major wholesaler: Safou ‘queen’, Esther Foungong in Makenene 14 Table 1. The costs of bribery in NTFP chains in Cameroon and the DRC 11 Introduction The commercialisation of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) (see Box 1) in poor, rural, forested environments can provide important cash income for local populations, as well as traders, processors and retailers in urban areas. Many rural community members harvest and process a variety of products cultivated on farms, in fallows and from the forest, as harvest seasons are mostly short and vary per product. The use of different products diversifies livelihoods and makes the most of the opportunities presented by Box 1. What are Non-timber forest products? Non-timber Forest Products (NTFPs) are goods of biological origin (plant, fungi and animal) from natural, modified or managed forested landscapes. They include fruits and nuts; vegetables; fish and game; medicinal plants; resins; essences; fuel wood and barks; and fibres such as bamboo, rattans and other palms and grasses. The term ‘non-wood forest products’ is also used, which excludes all woody raw materials, including fuel wood and small woods used for domestic tools and equipment, covered by the term NTFPs. Also excluded are exotic forest products now farmed and found in the wild in the Congo Basin, such as rubber (Hevea brasiliensis) and quinine (Chinconia spp.). Fuel wood is classified as an NTFP in the legal framework in Gabon, the Central African Republic and Cameroon. NTFPs are often classified by their use, with the most common uses being food; forage; utensils; tools for construction; medicines; aromatic products and colorants; and objects of ornament, art and of cultural value. All parts of both plants and animals are used and can be classified as NTFPS: fruits, seeds, leaves, stems, barks, resins, roots, flowers and wood; meat, hides, hair, horns, hooves and other animal parts. Often different parts of the same plant or animals are used for multiple purposes. These products may be directly consumed, sold, given as gifts or bartered. High-value NTFPs such as bush mango (Irvingia gabonensis), eru or fumbwa (Gnetum spp.), honey and wax, gum arabic, raffia (Raphia farinifera), cola acuminata, safou (Dacryodes edulis) and pygeum (Prunus africana) provide on average 42% of annual income for harvesters’ households. In the main production areas, the price received by harvesters can be determined by the market, the season, the level of organisation of producers (meeting buyers individually or in group), the abundance of production, consumer demand, the costs of taking the product to market and the perishability of the product. Guide for small and medium enterprises in the sustainable non-timber forest product trade nature. In Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), on average, about 39% of harvesters interviewed work together in groups, as small and medium enterprises based on NTFPs. The livelihoods of those involved in NTFP enterprises can be considered sustainable when they can cope with and recover from stresses and shocks, and when living standards and assets can be maintained or even enhanced, both now and in the future, while not undermining the natural resource base that communities depend upon.1 Why are NTFPs important? A business based on sustainable exploitation of NTFPs can have a number of benefits: NTFPs create high economic value and large-scale employment. Lively local, regional and international markets exist despite the fact that these products remain largely unrecorded in national statistics or export figures. In Cameroon, at least 25 major markets trade significant volumes of different NTFPs (see Figure 1). NTFPs can also be found in nearly every market in small quantities for everyday use. At least 570 plants and 110 animal species in Cameroon are used as NTFPs. The estimated market value of the 45 main NTFPs traded in Cameroon, including bushmeat, fish, fuel wood and plant-based products, is worth around US$1.028 billion annually. At least 283,000 people in Cameroon and 70,000 people in the DRC are involved in businesses based on 15 of the major NTFPs, thus the total number for the whole sector is much larger. This represents more than twice of formally recorded employment in the forest sector both in Cameroon and in the DRC. Providing food security. Thirty percent of the NTFPs harvested in Cameroon and the DRC are used for food. This includes bushmeat that provides essential protein, vegetables such as baobab leaves, fruits such as safou, oil-providing seeds such as moabi (Baillonella toxisperma), spices such 1 Scoones, I. 1998. Sustainable rural livelihoods: a framework for analysis. Institute of Development Studies, Brighton, UK. 2 Abdon Awono, Verina Ingram, Jolien Schure and Patrice Levang Products NIGERIA Ezezang Palm nut Andok Olum Ikom Kola nut Safou Mamfe Bitter Kola Gnetum Zoameyong CAMEROON Essock Olum fruit Onié bark Eba e Mvonglo Ndong Nding Andok vert Symmetry Calabar Tetrapleura Termites Makenene Fiango Komen Foasse Ikang Ekondo Titi Sa'a Muea Edenau Tiko New-Bell Limbe Mfoundi Abong Mbang Mutengene EQUATORIAL Mbalmayo GUINEA Biwong-Bané Mesok Ebolowa Abang Minko'o Kye-Ossi National Road Region 0 50 100 150 EQUATORIAL GABON ± Km GUINEA CONGO Figure 1. Markets and NTFPs in Cameroon as bush pepper and njansang (Ricinodendron heudelotii) and stimulants such as Cola acuminate and bitter cola (Garcinia kola). For example, in Equator Province in the DRC, fumbwa (Gnetum spp.) comprises 6% of NTFPs eaten in harvesters’ households and in Kinshasa consumers eat it about once a week. The cost of a dish offumbwa in small restaurants (accessible to different classes) in Kinshasa is on average US$0.76. In Cameroon, a dish of eru, in the same type of restaurants, is around US$1, making it an affordable food source. Essential to health. Over 500 plants in Cameroon and the DRC are used locally for medicinal reasons. For rural households, these plants provide an important and low cost source of healthcare. Some of the highest value-per- volume NTFPs are also exported for use by the pharmaceutical industry, such as pygeum (Prunus africana), yohimbe (Pausinystaliayohimbe), moabi (Baillonella toxisperma) and Voacanga (Voacanga africana). This sector is an interesting niche as a substantial local processing is required, which should lead to additional employment and sustainable growth of SMFEs. 3 Guide for small and medium enterprises in the sustainable non-timber forest product trade 0 1,000,000,000 1 0 2 100,000,000 t n 10,000,000 e l i 1,000,000 v i u 100,000 q e 10,000 $ S 1,000 U 100 e u l 10 a V 1 Figure 2. Key plant NTFPs in Cameroon, by annual trade value Source: CIFOR data 2007–2010 Providing tax revenues. NTFPs that are classified as ‘special forest products’2 in Cameroon, and those requiring ‘special’ or ‘ordinary’ permits in the DRC generate tax revenues. However, as most trade of NTFPs is outside of the permit system, tax revenues are still modest. This system could be improved by reforms to NTFP regulation policy, for instance by opening the market officially to small traders under some rules. This would certainly reduce corruption along the chain, and maximise tax revenues and benefit for traders. The easiest way to realise this is to get producers organised through associations or small and medium enterprises. Risks and challenges in NTFP trade Although the trade for many NTFPs, such as cola and raffia is centuries old, small and medium forest enterprises often find it difficult to optimise profits and manage NTFPs sustainably at the same time. They face risks and challenges, which can lead to only short-term returns, rather than sustainable, viable businesses. These risks include: 2 Decision No. 0336/D/MINFoF 6 July 2006, defining the list of special forest products of particular interest to Cameroon.