What we do
Leaves of Maranthaceae for food packing (Photo: O. Ndoye)
The priority of the project is to promote at local, national and subregional levels a policy and institutional framework that govern the access of local people to resources and markets for NWFP.
The project will enhance food security through the development of an enabling policy, legislation and institutional context leading to a more sustainable and socially equitable use of NWFP in Central Africa.
The project will also better integrate NWFP into national level socio-economic planning processes and strategies for poverty alleviation, food security and Right to Food.
At pilot sites, the project will strengthen NWFP-based small and medium scale enterprises to benefit poor, local communities by promoting more added-value processing, marketing and by capacitating producer's support networks.
Regional focus: Central Africa with all 10 COMIFAC Countries
1. Awareness raising, outreach and lobbying
- Enhance networks and collaboration for information sharing within and outside the region,
- Act as a regional NWFP information point,
- Participate at national, regional and global events to demonstrate and lobby NWFP,
- Organize or assist in regional and international expert consultations, workshops or investment fora on NWFP.
2. Policy support to develop a sustainable forest management concept
- Help to clarify the contribution of NWFP to the regional food security situation,
- Provide policy advice to meetings of COMIFAC and CEFDHAC dealing with NWFP, sustainable forest management, food security and right to food,
- Support the functioning of COMIFAC’s NWFP experts working group and advise on NWFP in regard to food security and right to food,
- Facilitate the elucidation of the right to food principles and develop regional template forestry – right to food toolbox.
3. Consolidation of technical knowledge and best practices in the NWFP sector
- Consolidate, adjust and upscale technical brochures and extension material for wide dissemination to relevant schools, universities, key governmental agencies and NGO etc.,
- Elaborate of a reference publication on NWFP and foods from the forests of Central Africa.
4. Capacity building and training
- Organize regional training workshops on relevant topics e.g. market analysis and development framework,
- Provide education or research grants/support to researchers or NGO in the Central African region who deal with or investigate on relevant topics,
- Conduct study tours in the region for key project stakeholders regarding management, use and processing of NWFP.
National focus: Republic of Congo, Gabon and Central African Republic
- Support national policy formulation and review e.g. NWFP strategies, taking the right to food into consideration,
- Legal advice on the elaboration of draft national legislation and their corresponding application text, based on the sub-regional directives for a sustainable use of NWFP of plant origin in Central Africa, adopted by COMIFAC, and the voluntary right to food guidelines, adopted by FAO member countries,
- Support to product, market and small and medium forest based enterprises (SMFE) development e.g. through market studies.
Field level: 2 pilot sites, each, in Republic of Congo, Gabon and Central African Republic
- Create and strengthening capacities of SMFE to improve their organization, production, processing, commercialization and marketing of more value-added NWFP by using i.a. the market analysis and development approach,
- Improve market information on selected NWFP and make access to it easier for local communities and other stakeholders along the value chain,
- Consolidate and disseminate knowledge and appropriate techniques on participatory and sustainable management of NWFP species cultivated or growing in the forest,
- Assessing existing harvesting methods of NWFP and their impact on sustainability and regeneration of species, and propose and disseminate improved techniques,
- Consolidate and disseminate processing techniques for key NWFP in regard to storage, grading, drying or first level processing,
- Analyze the feasibility of and assess the technical, legal and commercial requirements for setting up forest and/or food related certification schemes governing the trade of selected NWFP from pilot sites.