AIN 22.630 KeenntoWOUNc/M

Women, forests and markets: researching poverty alleviation through
commercialisation of forest resources in Mexico and Bolivia.

Miss Elaine Marshall’ and Dr Kate Schreckenberg”

'UNEP-World Conservation Monitoring Centre, 219 Huntingdon Road, Cambridge, CB3 ODL, UK.
email elaine.marshall@unep-wcmc.or.

?Overseas Development Institute, III Westminster Bridge Road, London SEI 7JD,
k.schreckenberg@odi.org.uk

Abstract:

It is widely recognised that substantial opportunities exist in Latin America to enhance livelihoods of
marginalised forest dependant communities, through the commercialisation of forest resources. The
research presented in this paper explores the relationship between successful commercialisation of
Non Timber Forest Products (NTFPs), and poverty alleviation and gender equality, in Mexico and
Bolivia. It documents the approach taken in designing and implementing a research project that would
contribute to the increased understanding of different needs of both women and men involved in
NTFP commercialisation. It acknowledges that for poverty reduction to be effective, the many varied
and important roles of women, including their contribution to household income generation through
the use and management of natural resources, need to be recognised. Gender discrimination is globally
the most widespread form of social exclusion, and this inequality is a key obstacle to development.
United Nations estimates indicate that up to 70% of the world’s poor are female, and women in
developing countries constitute the majority of the labour force, playing a key role in managing
community resources and helping to protect the environment. This paper shares some of the
challenges facing researchers wanting to mainstream gender issues in the natural resources sector, and
some of the valuable lessons learnt from the field.

Introduction:

During the past decade, non-timber forest products (NIFPs) have been widely promoted as a potential
solution to high rates of tropical deforestation. The commercial development of NTFPs, such as fruits,
nuts, resins, fibre and medicines derived from plants, could increase the value of forest resources and
thereby reduce the conversion of forest to other land uses. As a result, many development agencies and
conservation organizations have fostered the commercial development of such products, with the aim
of encouraging forest conservation while alleviating rural poverty. However, the result of such
ventures has been highly variable. While some NTFPs have been commercialised successfully, many
others have failed, raising questions about the joint contribution that NIFPs can make to rural
development and conservation strategies. A key question has therefore emerged: which factors
determine whether the commercialisation of an NTFP will be successful?

Non Timber Forest Products are an important tool in addressing poverty issues for marginalised, forest
dependant communities, by contributing to livelihood outcomes, including food security, health and
well being, and income (FAO, 1995; Falconer, 1996). In many parts of the world these resources are
critical, especially for the rural poor and women, and may provide them with the only source of
personal income (Falconer, 1996; Rodda, 1993). It is the socially most marginalised people who are
the main actors in NIFP extraction (Ros-Tonen, 1999). NTFPs represent an important source of
income and employment, particularly to women, encouraging increased production and harvesting for
local trade (Marshall and Newton, 2000; Soehartono and Newton, 2000 a,b; Hellier et al, 1999;

Konstant et a/., 1999). Despite this, the opportunities and constraints to successful commercialisation
of NTFPs in Latin America (especially from indigenous populations), remains largely undervalued
and understudied.

This paper draws predominantly on research currently underway in Mexico and Bolivia which focuses
on the relationship between poverty, gender and successful commercialisation of NTFPs. The research
is interested both in identifying the factors that contribute to successful commercialisation and in
looking at the impact of (different types of) commercialisation on communities. It will provide an
important understanding of factors (socio-economic, gender and cultural) which influence successful
commercialisation through identifying how domestic markets function, and the type of information
necessary to provide the basis for designing market interventions which could result in increasing
benefits to rural poor producers, processors and traders. The research findings will be used to develop
practical tools for evaluating the potential for commercialisation of NIFPs, both for use by local
communities (in the form of a manual) and for use by other decision-makers (in the form of an Expert
System). The selection of Mexico and Bolivia, which differ in social and cultural structures, will
enable comparative analysis of the factors influencing NTFP commercialisation, thereby permitting
implications for other countries in the region to be drawn.

Available evidence indicates that marketing processes and structures are one of the most significant
constraints to successful development of NTFP activities as part of livelihood strategies (Tommich,
1998; Ruiz-Perez and Byron, 1999). In a recent background paper for DFID (2000), the lack of access
to natural resources was identified as one of the two most important linkages between poverty and the
environment. The main limitations to poverty reduction, from an environmental perspective, are
identified as social, institutional and natural constraints to sustainable commercialisation of NTFPs
(ODI et al., 1999). Whilst most Latin American countries are middle income, there exists greater
income inequality than in any other region of the world, with on average the poorest 30% of the
population receiving 7.5% of the total income.

The design of this research recognises the tendency for women, in particular, to suffer from poverty,
due to their low social status, low participation in decision-making processes, and their labour
intensive workload. In order to achieve a gender focus in our work, we decided to study the relations
between women and men, rather than focussing exclusively on one or the other. It was of paramount
importance to implement research that would contribute to the increased understanding of different
needs of both women and men involved in NIFP commercialisation, and the potentially different
impacts that change in commercialisation may have on them, vis a vis their roles, responsibilities,
needs and interests.

Gender inequality is a poverty issue:

Gender discrimination is globally the most widespread form of social exclusion, and this inequality is
a key obstacle to development (DFID, 1999). Gender strongly determines vulnerability to poverty and
women are more vulnerable to fall into, and remain entrapped within poverty, then men (Baden and
Milward, 1995). This is largely due to the employment pattern of women, which results from the
perception of women’s’ primary function as being reproductive and domestic (Fontana et al., 1998).
Rural women have many varied roles and responsibilities, but much of their contribution to local
economy is often undervalued and as such often results in invisibility of women workers in their own
rights. In addition, rural women working in the informal sector, often do so with no social protection
and are often denied access to credit. With these perceptions, it has been significantly harder for
women to access resources, including education and land: “Women face unequal access to productive
resources and services although they are largely dependent on self-employment for which land,
capital, technology and labour are critical” (International Labour Office, 1995).

United Nations estimates indicate that up to 70% of the world’s poor are female, and women in
developing countries constitute the majority of the labour force, playing a key role in managing
community resources and helping to protect the environment. Much of their work is unpaid and
informal, and remains unacknowledged. Women are poorly represented in positions of power and their
opportunities to represent themselves are severely limited. The Global Platform for Action, agreed at
the 1995 World Conference on Women, Bejiing, and other international development targets for the
next century, strongly iterate the need for change in social, economic, and political relations between
the sexes and for an end to gender discrimination. The UK Government’s 1997 White Paper reflects
this international stance, recognising that a commitment to gender equality is essential in addressing
poverty elimination, based on principles of human rights and social justice: “Until men and women
have equal access to the resources and services necessary to achieve their individual potential and
fulfil their obligation to household, community and more broadly to society, poverty cannot be
eliminated” (DFID, 1999).

It is already known that in much of Latin America, harvesting of NIFPs and management of the NTFP
resource base is undertaken primarily by women, who face a specific set of opportunities and
constraints in relation to the commercialisation of NTFPs. Information on women’s role in forestry in
Mexico and Bolivia is very sparse (Arizipe, Paz and Velasquez, 1993), and it is recognised that in
areas with long term habitation, women have a strong working knowledge of forest products and are
the main transmitters of this knowledge to other generations (World Bank, 1995). However, women
suffer from lack of access to health and education services, social norms limit their participation in
public life and restrict opportunities, and their low levels of educational attainment result in
occupational segregation and inequality. In Bolivia, the schooling levels of indigenous people are
approximately three years less, on average, than for non-indigenous individuals. The difference is even
greater for indigenous women, suggesting that they are the most disadvantaged in Bolivian society
(World Bank, 1994). From research with indigenous communities in the buffer zone of Amboré
National Park it was highlighted that on average 44% of women older than 15 years of age were
illiterate, compared to on average only 14% of men within the same age group (CARE, 1997). There
will therefore be a particular focus on gender issues, and the specific vulnerability context of women
in this project.

The contribution of research:

The importance of this research is in part reflected in the UK Government’s strategy to support
research and action that helps to improve rural livelihoods and the sustainable use of natural resources,
by focusing on the different needs of women and men. One of the strategic goals of this approach aims
to increase the benefit to the rural poor from the sustainable utilisation of forest resources, and from
community participation in managing them.

However, whilst it is recognised that NTFPs are an important resource for rural women, and women
play a key role in eliminating poverty, there have also been many gaps identified in the sectoral
coverage of existing research. These include an analysis of non-traditional agricultural exports;
primary processing activities; traded services; and small-scale informal sector manufacturing
(Fontana, 1998). Whilst women have traditionally operated in the subsistence sector, they may not
have equal access to the cash economy, because of traditional domestic responsibilities or gender
inequality (Rodda, 1993). These gender issues have been neglected in the implementation of many
development projects (Southeimer, 1991).

In addition to the role that this research plays in filling information gaps per se, it will also contribute
to a greater understanding of the impacts of change, and specifically identify those factors that are
experienced differently by men and women within the same communities. Economic and
environmental pressures affect access to and utilisation of forest resources, and the dynamics of these
over time affect men and women quite differently (Brown and Lapuyade, 2002). Women are
especially dependent on NTFPs, and as the role of these products has changed markedly over the years
with forest products becoming more commercially harvested and traded in much of the world, it has

become increasingly important to capture impact differentiation of commercialisation along gender
lines. This project will analyse how changes in NIFP commercialisation may impact differently on
women and men and the resulting implications for changing gender relations, livelihoods and welfare,
and access to forest and other natural resources.

Research outputs:

Principle outputs from the research are Decision Making Tools [DMTs] to assist communities in
successfully developing NTFP resources to increase security of income generation opportunities
available to them. Namely, the following will be developed in collaboration with project partners,
following comparative analysis of research data:

e A manual developed and tested with rural communities, to provide tools for successfully
developing NTFP resources. This manual will be developed on the basis of the research
carried out in the project’s study communities and will then be tested in ‘new’ communities in
Nicaragua. Consultation is underway to ensure that this manual complements or feeds into
FAO’s manual on Market Analysis & Development for community-based tree and forest
product enterprises.

e An Expert System for use by decision-makers to evaluate the potential for successful NTFP
commercialisation.

Research in Mexico and Bolivia:

Mexico:

In Mexico, 30% of the population is classified as poor and two-thirds of this poverty is located in rural
areas. There exists documented evidence that the majority of the 18 million people living in forest
communities are poor, and that their needs are not adequately internalised by the country’s economic
system (World Bank, 1995). In addition, whilst indigenous communities within the most marginalised
rural groups are increasingly involved in the commercialisation of forest resources, the non-indigenous
or mestizo population, with stronger historical access to physical, financial, and educational resources,
tends to control these activities (World Bank, 1995).

Bolivia:

Bolivia is one of the poorest countries in Latin America with social indicators similar to Sub-Saharan
Africa, and 70% of the population is classified as poor (World Bank Group, 2000). Poverty is more
severe in rural areas, where it is estimated that 94% of the population is poor, and is particularly
concentrated in Bolivia's indigenous groups which make up over half of Bolivia's population (mostly
Quechua and Aymara cultures), and whose livelihoods are threatened by logging activities (DFID,
Country Strategy Paper). Bolivia is eligible for the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative debt
relief and is also one of the pilot countries for the World Bank’s Comprehensive Development
Framework. It is a good example of a country that has achieved successful stabilisation and
implemented innovative market reforms, yet made only limited progress in the fight against poverty
(World Bank Group, 2000).

Case study communities:

We are undertaking collaborative research with our in country partners, in 17 selected indigenous case
study communities, located in Mexico in 2 of the 3 poorest states in the Republic, and in Bolivia, in
some of the most geographically marginalized areas. In all the case study communities, NIFPs are
commercialised with varying degrees of success, representing one of the most important income
generating options. NIFPs differ in a number of important characteristics including yield,
perishability, value, seasonality of availability, etc, and the local communities harvesting these
resources differ in a social structures (including gender influence), culture and ethnicity, degree of
marginalisation, and access to capital resources (financial, physical, environmental, human and social).
A comparative analysis of different NIFPs, considering such variables, can therefore enable the

identification of key criteria for successful commercialisation (Marshall, et al., 2001 (a), (b), Newton,
et al., 2002).

All of the case study communities are geographically isolated, often located in remote mountainous
regions, with poor infrastructure. They all lack various basic services, according to welfare indicators
and socio-economic marginality indices, and are characterised by high illiteracy rates, inadequate
medical attention, poor domestic conditions, and high mortality. Table 1 summarises some of the key
characteristics of our research communities, gender roles and obstacles to NIFP commercialisation.

Research methodology:

One of the greatest challenges facing us as researchers was to design a research methodology which
could be successfully applied across different communities, commercialising different products, in
different geographical areas, to provide us with information to answer our research questions. In
addition, the research is multidisciplinary and is being implemented across 7 different institutions, and
in 4 countries, and in 2 languages.

The process of jointly developing research hypotheses proved extremely valuable in providing an
integrating framework for the project. In addition, the hypotheses were a useful way of introducing
national partners to some of the international theory on NITFP commercialisation, thus providing them
with a more holistic research context. The research questions were developed iteratively to provide us
with a cross checking mechanism against the research tools to ensure that we were going to generate
enough of the nght information.

Research Hypothesis & Questions:

The first four research hypotheses are predominantly concerned with the impact of NTFP
commercialisation on different groups of participants in the commercialisation process (both within
communities and along the market chain) as well as on the environment. The latter two are focused on
understanding the different types of market structure that exist for NTFPs and, in conjunction with the
earlier hypotheses, their relative impact on participants. The hypotheses were developed at a one-day
workshop of the core research team on the basis of extensive knowledge of the literature and own
experience. For the purpose of this paper, the research questions for Ho 2 have been detailed, although
we recognise that gender relations is a cross cutting issue for all the research hypotheses.

1. Changes in commercialisation in NIFPs have a greater impact on the poorest producers,
processors and traders.

2. Changes in commercialisation of NTFPs have a greater impact on women’s livelihoods.

3. Increase in the volume of NIFP commercialisation leads to forest overexploitation and/or
domestication.

4. Changes in the volume of NIFP commercialisation lead to reduced rights/access to the
resource for the poorest producers.

5. The successful commercialisation of an NIFP depends critically on: the existence of an
accessible market; potential demand; the absence of substitutes; access by producers,

processors and traders to market information; technical management capacity; organisation;
high value / unit wt; trader characteristics (age, experience, education, etc.)

6. The success of poor producers, collectors, processors and traders in NIFP commercialisation
depends critically on: the number of suppliers and demanders (market structure); capacity to
exert market power; barriers to entry; degree of vertical and horizontal integration; presence of
substitutes

The research questions which we developed to help us answer whether changes in commercialisation
of NTFPs have a greater impact on women’s livelihoods are as follows:

e To what extent are women involved in harvesting, processing and marketing the NIFP?
To what extent are women involved in transporting the NTFP from the forest to the market?
To what extent do women have control of the income derived from NTFPs, and therefore, to
what extent do they benefit from their sale?

e Are women displaced by men when new technologies for NTFP processing are introduced?
Is women’s social, political and economic status being helped or harmed by NTFP
commercialisation?

These questions were designed to capture information pertaining to the current position of women in
relation to NIFP commercialisation and the impact of change specifically on women.

Research Tools:

All the research at field level (community, household and along the market chain), has been
implemented directly by our in country partners (allowing us to build on established trust with the
research communities), with frequent support visits from the project leader, providing a point of
integration between all case studies. The research tools were designed to be implemented using a
multitude of participatory techniques, including community group work (with different gender, age,
wealth groups etc), key informant interviews, household interviews, etc, and partners were encouraged
to draw from their previous work with communities (grey and published literature).

Three key data collection tools are being employed in the project:

Community report:

One will be written for each community and their aim is to collate all the information relating to NTFP
commercialisation in a particular community: providing an introduction and context to the community;
land use; organisation of resources; income and expenditure; labour; information specific to the NIFP
collected; commercialisation from the community perspective; and the social, gender, environmental
and political changes impact of changes in commercialisation.

Although predominantly qualitative, some of the data included in the report is of a quantitative nature
and can be codified for entry into a database. A secondary aim of the community reports is to provide
sufficient contextual background to allow for the development of a precise and locally acceptable
survey tool. In addition to the outline structure, NGO partners were provided with suggestions and
detailed activity guidelines on how to obtain the necessary information (Schreckenberg and Marshall
2001). A final aim of the reports is to show how representative these communities are in relation to
other communities in our target population and each one written to a standard format to enable
comparative analysis.

Market report:

One will be written for each product and their focus is on the overall marketing chain for the product,
concentrating in particular on elements outside the study communities. The market report, in effect,
starts at the point where the community report stops. As with the community report, it will be mostly
qualitative but also include some quantitative data that could be extracted into the database. Initial
contact with our partners identified their self perceived weaknesses in handling marketing data, so our
NGO partners received training in key marketing concepts.

Questionnaires:

4 questionnaires have been developed with our NGO partners, all with the same basic structure. One is
directed at community members involved in any aspect of NIFP production to sale, with a second
directed at a control group of community members not involved with NTFPs. A separate form of the
questionnaire targets people outside the community who are involved with the case study NTFP (eg.
processors, traders), and a final version targets a control group of non-community members. Together,
the 4 forms of the questionnaire aim to interview households in and outside various communities
involved in various NTFPs at different stages (Production, Collection, Processing, Storage, Transport,
Sale). Questions relate to individual characteristics (education, access to assets, gender, past
experience, etc.), quantitative information about costs and benefits of typical transactions by
households at each stage of the marketing chain, quantitative and qualitative information about
importance and success of NIFP commercialisation to households, access to information and
qualitative barriers to entry to NTFP or other trade, etc.

Data analysis methods:

We have attempted to achieve methodological integration with survey tools solidly based on results of
community, household, and market-level research, and provide data for a multidisciplinary research
team. Initial stages of data analysis centred around the production of a matrix, matching the research
tool (which would provide the information source) to the research question to be answered.

We are currently still in the data collection stage of the project but have a clear idea of the analytical
approach we will need to apply, and the kind of questions we will be asking the data; for example:
what type of actors are involved? The poor? Women?

Simple tabulations (e.g. Table 2) can be used to assess the characteristics of those involved in NTFP
trade. Characteristics can include: percentage female, average income, access to finance/land, etc., for
NTFP actors.

Table 2 . Who are NTFP traders?

NTFP actors Control

Percentage female (data from community | (data from community
reports) reports)

Average income (data from questionnaires)

Simple charts and tabulations can also help to obtain associations between average income, access to
finance/land, gender, on the one hand and the share of NTFP activities in total income on the other
hand. This is important since we would like to know what type of workers (e.g. poor, female, etc)
derive a large share of income from NTFP activities. Table 3 does this. The data for the table will
come directly from the surveys in which households have been asked what proportion of their income
is derived from the case study NTFP. The data can be presented for different groups of people both
within and outside the community, grouped by product or overall.

Table 3. Importance of NTFP activities by household characteristics

Household characteristics

Access to | Average | etc.
finance income

Share (%) of | 0-25 ‘ec 4
income from — =
NTFPs 26-50

51-75

76-100

The findings in tables 2 and 3 can then be combined to test certain hypotheses, eg:
= if it is found that NTFP actors are generally poor, female, lacking finance/land (table 5)
= and these traders derive a relatively high share of income from NTFP activities,

= then this would help to confirm hypotheses 1 and 2 above: “Changes in trade in NTFPs have a
greater impact on the poorest producers, processors and traders and on women’s livelihoods.

In addition, the project cycle has been planned to facilitate some triangulation of our results, including
research with small working groups at community level, for example to facilitate better understanding
of how women perceive successful commercialisation, and help us to explore women’s control of
expenditure of their own income and measure less tangible & or coincidental or non-linear benefits
(children getting higher education levels, better nutrition, lower incidence of illness).

Discussion:

With regards to executing a multi disciplinary, multi partnered research project, the practical lessons
learnt have been numerous and valuable. We have seen the value of jointly developed hypotheses as
integrating factors for the wider project research team, and the value of early and frequent joint
analysis. We have also benefited from the opportunity to facilitate reciprocal training of researchers
and provide interim data analysis workshops Table 4 illustrates the outcome of undertaking
intermediate data analysis, which helped focus all project partners on key thematic questions and
illustrate the value of a research framework. It was drawn up by project participants and indicates
across research hypotheses 1 — 4, which aspects from their own case studies apply and which ones do
not. It therefore gave us a preliminary opportunity to accept or reject the hypotheses. In addition, the
trial data analysis around central 6 research hypotheses allowed the research team to evaluate how
well our existing research methods answered the questions, and how well the different research
methods can be integrated. Arriving at this point has also provided a useful deadline to focus the
minds of all the researchers involved (economists, Bayesian networkers and community-level socio-
economic and gender researchers) and helped us to bring the different research strands into step with
one another to achieve methodological integration with survey tools solidly based on results of
community, household, and market-level research.

We do acknowledge the need for intensive management to achieve “consistency” between research
partners in terms of research implementation and interpretation of data, and the potential for this to be
time consuming. However, the benefits of a full time project leader providing a constant point of
contact, and vital intra project link (having visited all fieldwork sites), is clearly seen in the quality and
quantity of social capital that has been developed over the last 18 months of the project cycle.

It is worth mentioning the importance of transparency vis a vis what we will deliver as a research
project, acknowledging the sometimes less tangible outputs during the life of the research, as opposed
to a development project. A research project is much more about delivering longer-term benefits, both
directly as outputs and indirectly via the design and implementation of future projects and policy
changes. The success of this project will depend largely on our ability as a research team to capture
and measure the impact of change.

There is also dn issue of recommendation domain when we consider how wide reaching our outputs
(as research methodology and decision making tools) can be. For us to fully understand the dynamics
between NTFP commercialisation and poverty alleviation, gender impact, and resource use and tenure,
we have worked closely with a limited number of case study communities. In addition, NITFPs are
incredibly diverse products, and some of this diversity will be directly relevant to certain products
being successfully commercialised. We hope that through the careful selection of our case study
communities and products (exhibiting a variety of characteristics), and the sensitivity of our research
tools, that we will be confident in the ability of our decision aids to work adaptively, in many forest
dependent rural poor communities throughout Latin America.

Another challenge which may result from undertaking gender sensitive research, is that we may
encounter situations where there is a conflict of interest and trade-offs occur. It may be for example,
that by promoting a strategy that increases overall household or community income (e.g. a new
processing technology), actually contributes to decreased female employment, or transfers decision-
making power, and control of income from women to men. At this point our methodology must make
it clear how to firstly respond to these potential case scenarios, and also that communities themselves
will need to identify their objectives for NIFP commercialisation, before a decision is taken.

Much of our research findings to date emphasize the importance of social aspects of sustainability,
which requires that natural resource use does not disrupt social harmony beyond the capacity of social
structures to tolerate such change (Wollenberg 1995). It is worth noting that whilst the increased
empowerment of women might seem a logical and desirable outcome of developing the NTFP
resource, there may be social costs in terms of disunity within the community. Analysis of the
prospects for community forest management in Chiapas, southern Mexico, indicated that communities
there are acutely aware of the dangers of internal division and seem very cautious of risking their
social equilibrium. As a result a cautious approach to resource management which offers social
security is valued more highly, than increased economic returns (Konstant et a/. 1999).

Any external assistance to communities recommended via the research outputs, and our policy briefing
paper we are contractually obliged to deliver, will need to be very carefully planned and executed.
However, such support could enable the rural poor, and especially women, to benefit more fully from
forest resources, which will likely prove one of the most rewarding and environmentally benign ways
of fighting rural poverty.

Conclusion:

This paper has sought to capture and explain the importance of mainstreaming gender in natural
resource research. It illustrates the value of rigorous planning and iterative development of research
questions and data analysis approaches, between project stakeholders to ensure thematic coverage. It
also highlights some of the challenges of sensitively exploring gender relations in research.

It describes how our research methodology, compiled of flexible participatory techniques and more
structured research tools, has generated both qualitative and quantitative information that will provide
valuable insight into the impact of change in NTFP commercialisation. It documents how, in achieving
sensitivity to the differences in inter gender perceptions, we will be better placed to understand the
differentiation in impact of change upon male and female actors in NTFP commercialisation.

Acknowledgements:

We would like to thank first and foremost all the case study communities in both Bolivia and Mexico
for their time and patience to engage in this study. We are also especially grateful to our in country
partners CARE in Bolivia and Methodus Consultora, Grupo de Estudios Ambientales, and Grupo
Mesofilo in Mexico, who have participated in the design and implementation of this research. It is
also essential that we acknowledge that this project is a collaborative effort between institutions, and

we continue to have valuable inputs from Dr Adrian Newton, UNEP-WCMC, Dr Dirk Willem te Velde,
ODI, and Dr Alan Bojanic. This publication is an output from a research project funded by the United
Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID) for the benefit of developing countries.
The views expressed are not necessarily those of DFID. Project R7925 Forestry Research

Programme.

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Table 1. Selected case study products and communities in Bolivia and Mexico, and some of their

key characteristics.

BOLIVIA
NTFP name & | Trade Participation in | Income Social role Commercialisation
type perimeter NTFP activities | generating (gender) opportunities and obstacle:
(market) activities in
order of
importance
Jipi Japa Local, Almost all the Agriculture; Men harvest; Productivity limited to small
(Carludovica national & community (Rice) women process and | markets & potential
palmata) international | participate. NTFP; trade. The unrealised outside of these;
use. Found Some weavers Livestock; organisation is identified lack of capacity to
Palm — leaf throughout sell directly to production. exclusively for diversify product range;

used for country and

final consumer

women.

competition from non-
traditional producers in othe:
regions.

Peruvians.

weaving indeed other | and others are
various artesan | Latin part of a
items form American cooperative
mats to hats. countries. (externally

Two distinct managed)

marketing trading

routes from organisation

community. (CIDAC) set up

during last 15-
20 years.

Copal and Local and Majority of Agriculture; Men harvest and
incense (Clusia | national use, community (maize, rice, also predominantly
and Hymenaea | and unofficial | participates. yucca, banana) | trade. There is no
sp.) export to N. NTFP; processing at
Resin tapped Argentina and Livestock. present taking
for incense Chile. place.
used mostly in
religious
ceremonies.
Cacao silvestre All of the Agriculture; Men collect and
/ del monte / community Hired labour; women process
chocolate participates. Livestock; (either as beans or
criollo Hunting; ground into a
(Theobroma Cocoa (also paste).
cacao) considered a
Seed pod used traditional
for cocoa activity).
Goma (Hevea Mostly local | The majority of | NTFP; Men collect,
brasilensis) mining but one case study Agriculture; women process,
Tapped natural | diminishing community (rice) and both
rubber. greatly; participate, and | Coffee; commercialise.

Tomachi trade | only 11% of the | Livestock. This was

controlled by | other. established over 50

ears.

Limited market buyers; i
some entrepreneurs pay
collectors a deposit to collec)
(& sometimes transport) and
share profit; not much
bargaining power over
market price.

Low productivity;
decreasing amount of
buyers; poor access to and |
form communities; only sel
small volumes.

Extensive intra-household
competition; In Tomachi the
resource is concession
controlled production whick
favours sales of large
quantities.

Continued ... MEXICO

NTFP name & | Trade Participation Income Social role Commercialisation
type perimeter | in NTFP generating (gender) opportunities and
(market) | activities activities in obstacles
order of
importance
Palma soyate Direct local | All the $ from migrated | Everyone > 8 years | No product value; no
(Brahea dulcis) | trade and community individuals; old, but mostly bargaining power.
Palm leafused | via inter participate. Hired labour; women, the elderly
for plaiting and | mediaries to Livestock; and children.
weaving. regional & Palm weaving;
national Agriculture;
markets. Subsidies.
Maguey (Agave } Local, The vast Agriculture; Men harvest, Assembly decide who

cupreata) regional, majority of Livestock; process and sell (to | can harvest from

Pulp / juice national — households NTFP; intermediaries who | community land, and

fermented into | inter- participate. $ from migrated | are infamous for who to sell to, and the

traditional National. individuals; watering down). money benefits whole

beverage. Never been an community; policies are
activity which more generalised and

involved women. don’t consider

Palma camedor
(Chamaedorea
elegans, C.
concolor. C.
oblongata)
Leaf with
floristic use.
Tepejilote
(Chamaedorea
tepejilote)
Inflorescence
eaten as a local
delicacy
(similar to palm
heart
Pita (Aechmea
magdalenae)
Bromeliad leaf
from which
fibre is
extracted and
made into
thread for
stiching.

National
and export
to USA.

Men and women
harvest and sell —
cannot bulk up in
community as
requires
refrigeration.

Only about
20%
participation.

Agriculture;
Livestock;
NTFPs;
Hunting.

Pay low prices so tend to
over harvest leading to
increased cultivation and
harvesting with permits.
The palm is also being
extensively domesticated
in other areas of Mexico.
No credit available to add
value locally to market
outside region; very
seasonal supply; poor
access to information;
can’t always meet
demand.

<10% in one
case study
community and
>60% in the
other.

Local,
regional
and
‘nostalgic’
markets in
Los
Angeles.

Remittances;
Coffee;
Agriculture;
Hired labour;
NTFP;
Hunting.

Mostly women and
children.

Over half in
one case study
community,
and in the other
only about
30%.

National —
principality
to Jalisco
(leather
workers).

Pita historically | Women and men Lack of producer
important to the | harvest and process | organisations results in
economy; leaf, women more intermediaries; the
interest in its predominantly market is also saturated
production process the fibre, with low quality fibre
declined as and men from Chiapas and
coffee increased. | commercialise. Guatemala.
Coffee is now in
huge decline.

Tricholoma Regional & | Only about Agriculture Women and Highly perishable so
magnivelare, National 20% Migration children, no have to sell on quickly;
Boletus edulis | markets and | participation. NTFP processing. resource availability
and Amonita matzutake highly variable.
coesarea: exported to

3 varieties of Japan.

Wild Edible

Fungi

Table 4. Intermediate data analysis, illustrating how information partners had collected at mid

project cycle could be used to answer the different research hypotheses.

PRODUCT | Hi | COMMENTS COMMENTS COMMENTS aa COMMENTS

Palma V Complementar There is no direct : 1. In one

Camedora y and sustained gender impact on community

activity. the -overexploited &
commercialisation -domesticated
of the product. 2. In another

-domesticated

Temporal There is no direct 1.Doesn’t apply.

activity with gender impact on

low income but the

collection commercialisation 2.Domestication

undertaken of the product. has begun.

from large

resource base.

Extensive areas
of collection.
Not relevant (6
Ha.)

Product equally Woman have

accessible to all increasingly less

groups. involvement in
commercialisation
, due to the loss of
an intermediary
and the
replacement
intermediaries are
located out with
the community.

Tepejilote Quantity:
collected the
same, just person

involved.

Mezcal de Those who x Traditional male 1. Over-
Maguey produce are custom which explotation
among the least passes down 2. Cultivated
poor. through the

generations.

No internal rules
— equally
accessible to all.

Reflected in vo

Goma (Santa

Does not directly

Not applicable.

Not relevant.

Rosa) high benefit women,
immigration but never the less,
from the area: single women lose
community out.
size has
decreased by
22 families.
Goma Those involved | X Women have only Not applicable.
(Tomachi) are all poor. limited direct

involvement.

Source: Marshall, E. (ed.) 2002.
\ = accept hypotheses

X = decline hypotheses

As the
concessions are
private, and this
limits the access
of potential
workers in the