0364-A1
Paul Vantomme[1]
Some commercially promising non-wood forest products (NWFPs) are presented and recommended for marketing in niche markets particularly for food products, such as organic and fair trade markets. These markets offer two major advantages of capital importance to NWFPs: 1) the quantities needed for trade are relatively limited (which is the case for NWFPs where available supply is rather limited as compared to agriculture-based products) and, 2) premium prices are offered to producers (which is presently not the case for most gatherers of NWFPs).
At the level of international trade and in view of its increasing globalization, certification and labelling of NWFPs seem to have become more and more the preferred option to protect the commercial viability of NWFP-based businesses against increased competition from the same or similar products obtained through local farming ventures or from abroad. Remarkable examples in this respect are bamboo shoots and bamboo products, "cultivated" wild mushrooms and medicinal plants. Strangely enough it is not the "forest-management" based certification schemes, but those originating from the agriculture and social sector, mainly organic and fair trade based schemes, that seem to offer the best framework so far for an effective and successful commercialization of certified NWFPs, guaranteeing premium prices to gatherers, social equity along the full processing and marketing chain and ensuring that attention is given to the environmental sustainability of the resources providing these NWFPs. However, there are still a number of issues to be clarified for an appropriate and commercially successful certification of NWFPs such as: resource access and availability; dispersion of production over large areas; insufficient collaboration/compatibility among the existing certification schemes and limited potential for mainstreaming the schemes to cover the full production of the NWFP sector.
The purpose of this paper is to discuss opportunities for improving marketing strategies and for increasing international trade of given Non Wood Forest Products (NWFP) by focussing on niche markets particularly those for food products, such as organic and fair trade markets. Those markets offer two major advantages of capital importance to NWFP:
1) quantities needed for trade are relatively limited (and which is generally the case for NWFP where available resource supply is rather limited as compared to agriculture products) and
2) premium prices are offered to producers (and which is actually not the case for most gatherers of NWFP be it in developed or in developing countries).
Although NWFP are primarily of significance for subsistence and at the household level, several NWFP are used in village-level craft activities and some even provide raw materials for international trade and processing of foods and beverages, confectionery, flavourings, perfumes, medicines, paints or polishes.
However, prices paid to gatherers of NWFP remain usually low and do not have a significant and lasting impact to improve their livelihoods; neither are there many benefits of their processing and trade being ploughed back into a better management of the forest resources providing these NWFP. Often, collecting NWFP can result in being both a trap for poverty and the cause of irreversible degradation of those forest resources upon which the livelihood of the gatherers depend.
Food niche markets, such as fair traded and particularly organic labelled foods, are among the fastest expanding market segments in the food distribution sector. In addition, they do not require large volumes for trade, and do offer possibilities for premium prices for the producers. Several NWFP are in fact ideally fit for such markets, particularly those which have at the same time: a high per unit value, a long shelf live, and are easy to process, store and handle (such as essential oils, honey, herbs and nuts).
A short overview of some of the most promising NWFP for food niche markets is given here below, with the purpose of raising the awareness of consumers and decision makers in organic and fair trade markets to include NWFP into their distribution and sales channels.
Wild edible Mushrooms are a product of considerable economic and commercial significance, and can be marketed at all levels from fresh to processed. For example, morels (Morchella spp.) are prized for culinary uses, particularly as a gourmet food. Morels grow naturally in temperate forests of Asia, Europe, USA and Canada. Truffles are also highly favoured by gourmets in various countries. Truffles are exported in fresh as well as preserved form. Wild Shitake is yet another example of a very expensive mushroom with high potential for niche markets. When properly processed and marketed, sliced and dried wild shitake mushrooms presently fetch retail sales prices up to 160 US$ /kg.
Bamboo shoots represent a fast expanding and fashionable export market. Major markets for bamboo shoots are Japan, Korea and China, followed by USA, UK, Germany, Australia, the Netherlands, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Sweden and France. Actual retail prices of canned bamboo shoot average US$0.77/kg.
World trade in natural honey is of the order of 300,000 tonnes, valued at US$ 300 million. Wild or natural honey coming from pollution free regions is particularly appreciated and highly valued and fetches retail prices currently up to US $ 14 /kg.
Pine nuts (seeds of Pinus gerardiana, P. pinea, P. korainsis and P. cambra) and tree nuts in general such as araucaria and brazil nuts are an important NWFP with a growing and high-value market, particularly in countries with health food awareness. Retail sales prices for pine nuts range from 10 to 15 US$/kg.
Out of the long list of medicinal plants and herbs of commercial importance; still some three quarters is estimated to be from wild gathered sources. Herbs are a very fast expanding market with new flavours and blends being added almost daily. A wide range of herb products (from tea till aroma-products for aromatherapy or for perfuming of rooms) is now availably and several of these products are ideally fit for both organic and fair trade marketing channels.
The foremost issue regarding the development of a NWFP for commercial use and trade is related to the availability of the resource, including clarification of resource access and user rights. The commercial exploitation of many NWFP is often undertaken in a non-sustainable manner through a free access system to the forest for harvesting the resource in uncontrolled/unlimited quantities. The majority of species, which actually yield non-wood products, occur with low frequency, especially in tropical forests. Species with low frequency are unlikely to become important suppliers of commercially large quantities, as they are highly susceptible to the impacts of over-harvesting.
Resource supply constraints are usually addressed through domestication and farming. NWFP production through farming is increasing and often successfully competes with outputs of the same product obtained through gathering wild sources by forest dependent peoples. Already in some countries, businesses based on gathering and production of NWFP is commercially less competitive then those based on farmed outputs, and the increased globalization of trade is further worsening the economic viability of NWFP based production against cheaper imports from more efficient farming elsewhere. In such cases, the benefits of the trade go to the farmers rather then to the traditional forest gatherers. Certification and labelling of NWFP may be a way to protect and guarantee production of NWFP from traditional forest gatherers.
However, domestication of the resource through farming is not always, neither everywhere, technically possible, economically feasible or socially and environmentally acceptable. Domestication and farming of NWFP may work well for some species but not for others, like the case of some highly valued mushroom species but which we do not know yet how to cultivate. Also, farmed products may be considered qualitatively inferior when compared with wild gathered species, as such is the case for many medicinal and aromatic plants. Also, the economic feasibility for farming NWFP is limited as long as the species growing in the forest are available at a lower price. The social dimension of domestication is also important as often forest dependent peoples or those socially disadvantageous groups, who actually depend on NWFP for their survival and cash income, might not have access to farm land at all, or not be able to compete with large-scale production of NWFP by well-established farmers. Farming NWFP also has an environmental implication in the sense that it reduces the incentives for conservation of the ecosystems in which the NWFP species grow wild.
Improving processing and marketing is another key issue for developing international trade in NWFP. Major trade impediments in the producing regions often include: the absence of any institutional framework for the management, support and regulation of the NWFP sector/product; and the insufficient transport infrastructure. For oversees trade, further bottlenecks are: the lack of regulations on the importation of these products (especially for food and medicinal products) or when they exist, lack of harmonization of NWFP import regulations between the importing countries; the irregularity of supply and unsuitability of product standards to regulations and consumer preferences, and for food products the lack of regularity of fresh products or cold storage facilities at (air) ports at producing countries; the absence of quality control and product information to consumers; and administrative cumbersome customs procedures.
Certification and labelling became a key issue in several international discussion fora on topics like sustainable agriculture, fair trade, forest management, conservation of biological diversity, and for the protection of the interests of forest dependent indigenous peoples and their knowledge. Although there exist already several and different types of certification schemes that cover a wide range of products from the agriculture, fishery, industry and forestry sectors, NWFP are still marginally covered by any of those schemes. There is a lot of misunderstanding on the objectives for certification of NWFP and the following certification schemes are becoming more relevant for NWFP:
Forest management certification mainly aims at ensuring the sustainable use of forest resources; although with some considerations to social aspects of forest dependent peoples.
Social certification, such as fair and ethical trade, assures mainly that labour conditions are acceptable and benefits are equally shared among those involved in production and trade.
Organic certification focuses on agricultural sustainability criteria such as the renunciation of synthetic fertilisers and pesticides.
Product quality certification aims at ensuring that defined production standards have been taken into consideration. These standards can focus on the product itself as well as on the way it is processed and manufactured.
The "Certificate of Origin" is a widely used certification scheme for quality control of food products. The certificate only certifies that a given product is coming from a given region, or even a specific area.
NWFP marketed for the food and pharmaceutical industry are first of all, subject to standard product quality tests to evaluate physical identity and chemical purity of raw materials, extracts and other transformed substances. These tests are customarily applied according to national legislation and food quality and health standards. At the international level, quality standards relevant to the food industry are formulated and harmonised through the Codex Alimentarius, which is a joint World Health Organisation (WHO) and FAO activity to develop international food standards to protect consumer health and to facilitate fair trading practices in foods. However, it must be noted that there are still some major NWFP (such as sheanut butter) that are not (yet) covered by the Codex, and which is hindering their trade.
As NWFP includes the term 'forest', forest management based certification schemes may at a first look seem to be the most appropriates ones. Forest management certification and the associated issue of labelling its products is one of a number of market-based instruments to improve forest management. It is promoted for forest management and/or marketing reasons, with the goal to link trade to the sustainable management of the forest resource. The hope is that buyers will prefer certified products, which will encourage/force improved forest management and the protection of forest biodiversity. The "forest management based" certification schemes focus mainly on timber or pulpwood to certify that they have been produced from sustainable managed forests. Forest based certification schemes are now also exploring how to extend their standards and methodologies to include NWFP. However, certification of NWFP is a much more complex issue then timber certification.
Work is progressing as some programmes and organisations such as the Forest Stewardship Council - FSC, the SmartWood Programme of the Rainforest Alliance and the Soil Association developed specific guidelines dealing with the management of NWFP. At the moment, four food NWFP are certified by FSC: Maple syrup (Acer saccharum), Chicle (Manilkara zapota), Brazil nuts (Bertholletia excelsa), Açai palm hearts and fruits (Euterpe oleracea).
Social certification initiatives mainly include fair and ethical trade. Ethical trade initiatives aim at ensuring that core labour and human rights standards with relevance to workers are implemented. The International Federation for Alternative Trade defines fair trade as "a trading partnership which aims at sustainable development for excluded and disadvantaged producers ... by providing better trading conditions, by awareness raising and by campaigning".
Since the 70ties, Fair trade associations have developed a strong market presence through a network of sales outlets in many countries (such as Max Havelaar or Oxfarm shops). Fair trade associations can play a catalytic role towards a successful commercialisation of NWFP. The aim is to promote the development of autonomy and emancipation of small-scale rural producers through the establishment of commercial relations based on fair trade. These organisations either buy products directly from the producers for resale at more rewarding (inter) national markets or provide technical and marketing support to the rural producers associations locally. The profits are transferred back to the producers to be invested in the further development of their activities. This concept constitutes an important market support for developing countries to promote new products, and a growing number of cooperatives word-wide market their NWFP by means of this channel.
Consumer interest in organic foods has dramatically increased recently. In principle, almost all NWFP could apply for organic certification when they are gathered in forests free of chemical treatments. Organic certification systems mainly deal with the management of cultivated products, but include also wild crafted species. The Basic standards for organic production and processing of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements IFOAM, includes principles on the Collection of non cultivated material of plant origin and honey.
The IFOAM organic certification standards incorporate also social (chapter 8 : Social Justice) and environmental aspects (chapter 2 : Organic ecosystems), i.e. assurances that the forest gatherers get a fair labour treatment and price for their products and that harvesting the resource should not cause its depletion or degradation of its habitat.
In order to be recognised as organic products by standard owners such as IFOAM, wild harvested products and NWFP generally have to meet the following criteria:
An up-to-date harvesting plan;
Clear record that no prohibited substance has been applied for at least three years immediately preceding harvest;
the crop must be harvested in a manner that will sustain its growth and production and will not be destructive to the environment, including measures to avoid: depletion of population over time, soil erosion and adverse impacts on biodiversity;
harvesting areas must be clearly defined with identifiable boundaries; and
buffer zones must be delineated around the harvested area to avoid contamination from external sources.
Organic certified NWFP include berries (Finland), palm hearts (Brazil), chicle (Mexico), maple syrup (USA), Orbignya cohune (Guatemala) as well as mushrooms, medicinal plants and cosmetics (Mallet, 2000; Viana et al., 1996; ten Kate and Laird, 1999).
The information currently available shows that experiences and data on NWFP certification are still embryonic. For many certification programmes, NWFP certification is challenging since the specifics of NWFP certification in comparison to timber and farmed products are not yet well understood or analysed, neither are some preliminary findings globally applicable.
Key challenges towards a successful commercialization of wild gathered foods and other NWFP by fair trade/organic and-or forest management certification include:
Dispersion of production over a large number of collectors: A specific problem related to the monitoring and production of NWFP is the dispersion of many NWFP collectors over large areas, who are often located in rural and isolated areas. It is therefore difficult to ensure that products are derived on a competitive basis, according to given standards, from certified areas and not from uncertified areas.
Definition of sustainable harvesting levels: The ecological knowledge of sustainable harvesting levels is very limited for most NWFP. Appropriate methodologies to define these sustainable harvesting yields are still rudimentary.
Creation of user conflicts: The limitation of access to harvesting sites for NWFP might create conflicts between different forest user groups.
Unclear market potential: The actual demand for certified NWFP in the market is the driving force for many certification initiatives and a key to ensure economical viability. For many NWFP, it is not yet proven that customers are willing to pay a higher premium prices for products labelled as fair-traded or organic.
Insufficient product definition and classification: Most NWFP are not yet included in international classification or standardisation systems such as the Harmonised System, Standard International Trade Classification, or the Codex Alimentarius, etc. This insufficient coverage hinders international trade in these products as well as their documentation and regulation.
Presently, it are not the "forestry" based certification schemes, but those originating from the agriculture and social sector, mainly organic and fair trade based schemes, that seems to offer the best framework and market outlets so far for a successful commercialization of certified NWFP guarantying both premium prices to gatherers, social equity along the full processing and marketing chain and also that more attention is given to the environmental sustainability of the resources providing these NWFP.
The potential for increased commercialisation of edible NWFP for marketing at food niche markets would appear to be large if judged simply by the wide range of interesting products available. Several of these NWFP have a high per unit value and a high market appeal to the fast growing number of consumers for organic and/or fair trade certified products. In general, NWFP can ideally combine both social, environmental and product quality related aspects. Fair trade schemes have already well developed retail networks with strong trade links and support for producers. Organic sales outlets are very promising also in view of their fast growing share within the food distribution sector. Forest based certification schemes are still embryonic for NWFP and have a limited presence in major sales and distribution networks.
There is still a range of key technical issues/standards to be clarified for appropriate certification of NWFP and on the review of the social and economic implications involved in doing so; such as: Suitability of and collaboration among different certification programmes; financing of costs involved; and on the impact of certified production versus the non-certified output of the NWFP sector.
Mallet, P. 2000. NTFP certification: challenges and opportunities. FTP Newsletter No. 43
Ten Kate, K; S.A. Laird. 1999. The commercial use of biodiversity: Access to genetic resources and benefit-sharing. Kent
Viana, V.M., A.R. Pierce, R.Z. Donovon. 1996. Certification of nontimber forest products. In: Viana, V.M., J. Ervin, R.Z. Donovan, C. Elliott, H. Gholz (Eds). Certification of forest products - Issues and perspectives. Washington
Email: [email protected]; Website: http://www.fao.org/forestry/FOP/FOPW/NWFP/nwfp-e.stm
|
[1] Forest Products Division,
Forestry Department-FAO, Italy. Fax: (++39) 06 570 55618; |