FAO.org

This week FAO prepared a background paper on Promoting decent employment in forestry for improved nutrition and food security for the International Conference on Forests for Food Security and Nutrition (Rome, 13–15 May 2013).

Decent employment in forestry is key to improving food security and nutrition for millions of people who rely on forests for their livelihoods. More and better jobs in forestry will ensure increased employment opportunities, higher incomes and productivity, as well as safer and more stable working conditions. This, in turn, contributes to improving availability and stable access to adequate and nutritious food.

FAO, governments, the private sector and development partners should invest strategically in the promotion of decent employment in forestry. The paper suggests the following priority areas to leverage the potential of decent employment in forestry for food security and nutrition:

• Better integrating labour and decent employment concerns in forest policies and programmes, and improving data and evidence to support more effective policy-making;
• Increasing opportunities for entrepreneurship and employment in forestry while avoiding deforestation and forest degradation;
• Improving working conditions for forest workers, especially the most vulnerable, such as contractors, migrants, women and youth;
• Increasing social dialogue and representation through effective and strong cooperatives, producers’ organizations and forestry workers’ unions;
• Extending the outreach of forest certification schemes and codes of conduct that include social and labour aspects relevant to small-scale forestry to promote sustainable forest use.

For more information, download the full publication:

www.fao.org/forestry/37072-0fead0729740853a8e0e2410ffde85d8e.pdf