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Efficient and sustainable value chains of forest products are important for sustainable forest management, improved rural livelihoods, and poverty alleviation
. However, in most tropical developing countries, these value chains are not well developed and governed effectively to ensure the equitable distribution of income and benefits from the trade in timber; thus, they provide less incentive for sustainable forest management. Inefficiencies and inequitable distribution of benefits in the timber value chains can contribute to forest degradation. Timber value chains that are well developed and sustainable are thus important for the objectives of market-based climate governance mechanisms such as REDD+, and as such, REDD+ initiatives can provide pathways and direct interventions for developing equitable and sustainable timber value chains. This, however, requires a clear understanding of the functioning and distribution of benefits in the value chain. Thus, this study assesses the teak timber value chain in Myanmar with the aim of identifying the bottlenecks that require interventions for REDD+ compatibility
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Naugad is a remote rural municipality in the mountains of far west Nepal with poor accessibility and limited economic opportunities, especially for women and marginalized communities
. Promotion of the natural resource-based value chain for allo (the Himalayan nettle, Girardinia diversifolia) was identified as an innovative livelihood strategy by the local community. Value chain development started in 2014. The project was designed to focus on women and include participation by the private sector. This paper analyzes the impact of the project, especially on women's lives, using primary and secondary data. A community-owned enterprise was established with private-sector support from the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation's Business Association of Home Based Workers (SABAH) Nepal. The enterprise now has 82 members (69 of them women), with 150 households benefiting directly and indirectly. SABAH Nepal provided training in sustainable harvesting and processing techniques and promotes the products in high-end international markets. A buyback guarantee scheme provides security to local artisans. The quality and range of allo products have increased markedly, as has the share in benefits for local people. Skills training and visits to trade fairs have helped women build their capacity and take a leading role in the value chain process. The community-owned enterprise members have earned up to NPR 4000 per month from sewing, more than the local rate for day labor and sufficient to cover general household expenses. More than 25 women entrepreneurs have started microbusinesses related to allo. Allo has become an important economic asset, transforming the lives of mountain women in this village area. The approach has potential for scaling up across the subtropical to temperate areas of the Himalayan region in Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, and Nepal
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This process documentation includes stories of private sector actors with a social orientation and how they can bring about change in a society through common facility establishment, group formation, linking with local opportunities and finding international markets
. This document also sheds light on how communities, government, research organizations, and the private sector can work in harmony and bring transformative change to rural livelihoods. The intended audience for this paper includes policy makers, private sector actors, stakeholders working with allo, development partners and donor organizations
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Recent studies have helped enhance the understanding of adaptation to climate change
. It is increasingly seen as adjustments in ecological, social, and economic systems in response to actual or expected climatic stimuli and their effects or impacts. Resilience is now recognized, much more than adaptation. In resilient systems, people actually ‘do well’ despite changing conditions, including in conditions attributable to climate change. Field studies in Kavre conducted under Resilient Mountain Village (RMV) by CEAPRED in partnership with ICIMOD have identified some climate resilient technologies that help people achieve wellbeing by building their resilience against vulnerabilities
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Indigenous knowledge and practices of indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs) play an important role in the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity
. Himalayan giant nettle (Girardinia diversifolia (Link) Friis), locally known as ‘allo’, has economic and cultural values for IPLCs living in the Kailash Sacred Landscape (KSL-Nepal) (comprising Humla, Darchula, Baitadi, Bajhang Districts) of Far-Western Nepal; and Makalu Barun National Park (comprising Shankhuwasabha and Solukhumbu Districts) of Eastern Nepal. This research discusses indigenous and local knowledge of the traditional use and practice of ‘allo’ linked with the sustainability of resources. The study investigated the cultural linkage among ‘allo’ harvesting and processing techniques, traditional medicinal practice as well as conservation practice adopted on ‘allo’ by IPLCs of Far-Western and Eastern regions of Nepal. Different parts of the ‘allo’ plant species are traditionally being used by local healers (Vaidhya) and local communities such as Bohora, Dhami, Thagunna of Darchula District use ‘allo’ as medicine for treating gastritis, joint pain, headache, tuberculosis and asthma. The Kulung Rai people of Sankhuwasabha district use clothes made of ‘allo’ fibre in their rituals. The study revealed that IPLCs use the fibre of ‘allo’ as primary material to make ropes, fishing nets, coats, pants, bags, shawls, purses and many more items to sustain their livelihoods. The traditional harvesting techniques; use of locally available materials such as wood ash, white soil; and locally made equipment like hand spindle, wooden hammer, wooden handloom help in sustainable use and conservation of ‘allo’. Increasing market demand had led to a higher supply of ‘allo’ products, hence, people started to harvest it extensively. The natural resource ‘allo’ has been declining due to high habitat competition with cash crops like Amomum subulatum. Therefore, this study identifies the existing status of ‘allo’ for management and sustainable utilisation to meet the increasing demand for resources, and attempts to share the management practices followed in two different regions of Nepal
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This paper describes the results of an action research project to identify and analyze a flood resilient value chain option for families of migrant workers in flood affected areas in six Village Development Committees (VDCs) in Udayapur district in Nepal
. The best option was cultivation of green peas, with crop productivity increased using urine-biochar prepared on farm as an organic fertilizer and soil improver. The paper describes the value chain selection process and comparison of the effects of different fertilizers on vegetable crops. The yield of fresh pea pods from plots treated with urine-biochar plus Farm Yard Manure (FYM) was more than twice that with Nitrogen Phosphorus Potash (NPK) only, and close to three times that with FYM only (farmers' control). The yields of a range of vegetables increased markedly in plots treated with urine-biochar. Analysis of the value chain indicated that farmers would benefit most by marketing to large buyers or direct to supermarkets in the capital through a farmers’ association. Suggestions are made for future actions both country-wide (promotion of biochar-based organic fertilizer as a priority) and locally (strengthening the pea value chain)
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Kotru, R.; Chaudhari, S.; Lemke, E.; Mueller, M.; Chettri, R.; Basnet, S.; Amatya, S.; Pandey, A.; Shrestha, A. J.; Pasakhala, B.; Yao, F.; Gurung, J.; Aryal, K.; Gurung, K; Bhatta, L. D.; Pradhan, N.; Bisht, N.; Joshi, S.; Dorji, T.; Rajbhandari, U.; Chitale, V.; Shaoliang, Y.
The report presents comprehensive updates on the progress made under Kailash Sacred Landscape Conservation and Development Initiative (KSLCDI) in 2016
. The report builds on the reports submitted by partner organisations of KSLCDI and achievements of the year 2016.
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The Himalayan nettle (Note 1) is a fiber yielding non-timber forest product that has cultural, economic and medicinal values to many ethnic communities residing in the hill and mountain areas of Nepal and India
. If the nettle value chain can be strengthened at each node of the chain, then it has high potentiality to uplifting the livelihoods of many poor households in those areas. With this objective, the Himalayan nettle value chain development interventions in the form of promotion of local institutions, enterprise development, product value addition and development, capacity building at the community level and promotion of linkages through private sector engagement were initiated in Darchula, one of the remote districts in far-western Nepal. This paper essentially analyzes the impact of Himalayan nettle value chain development interventions on households’ income from the sale of nettle products. Using propensity score matching (PSM) technique in a cross-sectional data, this study finds that participation in the Himalayan nettle value chain development intervention has positive and significant impact on the households’ annual income from the sale of nettle products. The participating households’ annual income from the Himalayan nettle increases by NPR (Note 2) 2265-2410 than that of non-participating households with similar socio-economic characteristics. The study therefore argues that capacity building and facilitation activities on product development and market linkages are important to help increase productivity and decrease per unit production cost of non-timber forest products like the Himalayan nettle. Value chain development and concentrated market linkages are hence essential to diversify livelihood options for natural resource dependent rural communities
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This report is intended to explain timber value chain focusing on material flow, governance mechanism, the flow of revenues and value chain issues to be considered for REDD+ implementation in Nepal
. The results of the value chain analysis captured the value chain dynamics of Sal (Shorea robusta) timber taking two major supply channels into consideration; subsidized local market and open market channel, which are found to be functioning in timber market
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An overwhelming majority of poor people in the Hindu Kush Himalayas (HKH) live in rural areas and depend heavily on agriculture and nature-based goods and services, including forests and non-timber forest products (NTFPs)
. In India alone, 270 million people depend directly or indirectly on NTFPs, including medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs). However, because of their remoteness and isolation, mountain communities face formidable challenges in tapping opportunities brought by markets and globalization. For example, in India, despite the significant role of NTFPs in supporting rural livelihoods, the people who collect and process NTFPs receive very little income, even sometimes less than they would earn from wage labour. Mountain communities across all countries of the HKH often depend on middlemen to sell their produce (mostly in a raw or unprocessed form). Smallholder farmers and NTFP collectors in particular tend to be in a weaker position for negotiating a fair return. They get lower returns as a result of inadequate access to financial resources, farm inputs, technology, training, research, and advisory services, and this is compounded by poor governance systems and poor linkages between the actors in the value chain, as well as poor basic infrastructure such as roads, transport, markets, and communication. Thus, understanding how markets function and how to engage in the marketplace is very important to bring mountain communities out of poverty. It is necessary to identify, quantify, and meet the requirements of customers, and to design interventions that help the mountain poor by including new innovations that can increas profit margins (i.e., by adding value to products and services, bringing processing activities closer to rural sources of produce, introducing new technologies, and improving business linkages). The value chain development approach enables farmers and development workers to understand the entire market system and identify leverage points along the chain that offer opportunities for farmers to improve market linkages and increase their share of benefits and income. This paper presents operational guidelines for pro-poor and climate smart value chain development that provide practical tools for development practitioners to overcome value chain constraints and seize opportunities in a sustainable manner and to provide long-term benefits to mountain communities. In addition to improved competitiveness and income distribution, which are core features of value chain development, ICIMOD’s approach emphasizes inclusiveness, mountain specificities, and climate change perspectives to achieve a balance between the pro-poor and pro-growth aspects of the value chain. The publication is organized into three sections. The first highlights the relevance of the value chain development approach in the Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region and sheds light on the aim of the publication. The second describes the key principles, strategies, and approaches for value chain development of mountain products and services. The four key principles suggested in the guideline are 1) ensuring sustainable management of farm and off-farm based resources, 2) equitable benefits, 3) do-no-harm, and 4) valuing traditional knowledge. The major strategies are customizing the value chain approach to the mountain context, looking at value chains from the perspective of climate change, mainstreaming gender in the value chain, using value chains as an entry point to address systemic constraints, and engaging the private sector in value chain development. The final section describes the process and steps, and presents specific tools for value chain development. It presents a systematic process for applying mountain specific development tools and methodologies with five stages and ten steps, from the selection of products and services for value chain development to analysis of the chain, identification of leverage points, drawing up of a strategy and facilitating implementation, and monitoring and evaluating the interventions. A number of examples are provided that illustrate identifying, assessing, and strengthening business relationships to achieve increased competitiveness in the chain and fair distribution of income among the many actor involved
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