Invisible But Viable: Recognising Local Markets for Non-Timber Forest Products

By S. Shackleton, P. Shanley, O. Ndoye. 2007

144 citations recorded by the source corpus.

SUMMARY An emphasis on global markets for non-timber forest products (NTFPs) often overshadows attention to the local trade in many traditionally important products. Inattention to local markets can result in diminished appreciation of their role in supporting livelihoods and potentially lead to further marginalisation of the low-income groups involved. This paper draws on the literature and the research experience of the authors in three different regions of the world to demonstrate the significance of local markets for NTFPs and to build a case for recognising and strengthening support to them. Discussion includes: features of these markets and current trends favouring them; the benefits they bring to producers and traders; their comparative advantages and disadvantages in relation to their role in strengthening livelihoods; and the policy reforms and development support required to improve them. We conclude that a combination of both strong local and export markets permits diversification and choice, assisting poor local people to minimise livelihood risk due to dependence on any single market.

Subfields: Global and Planetary Change, Strategy and Management

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/63e83b4b8fa6afa84e7a0989bc3753109d7c946c

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In Global and Planetary Change

In Strategy and Management

Citations in the corpus

From Subsistence to Safety Nets and Cash Income: Exploring the Diverse Values of Non-timber Forest Products for Livelihoods and Poverty Alleviation (2011, background): “5). Furthermore, many poor urban men and women are artisans, processors, and end traders of high demand NTFPs such as medicinal plants, indigenous foods, charcoal, building materials, furniture, and crafts (Stoian 2005; Shackleton et al. 2007b; Fig. 3.4).”
The management of tree genetic resources and the livelihoods of rural communities in the tropics: non-timber forest products, smallholder agroforestry practices and tree commodity crops (2014, background): “…trade and bartering that occurs in unmonitored local markets, direct household provisioning without products entering markets at all, and the fact that wild-harvested resources are excluded from many large-scale rural household surveys (Angelsen et al., 2011; Shackleton et al., 2007, 2011).”
Opportunities for Enhancing Poor Women's Socioeconomic Empowerment in the Value Chains of Three African Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) (2011, background): “Indeed, in common with other products (e.g. Shackleton et al. 2007), external intervention is often at the production/collection stage and linked to formal markets as illustrated in the honey case.”