Ramadhani Achdiawan

Markets drive the specialization strategies of forest peoples

Engagement in the market changes the opportunities and strategies of forest-related peoples. Efforts to support rural development need to better understand the potential importance of markets and the way people respond to them. To this end, we compared 61 case studies of the commercial production and trade of nontimber forest products from Asia, Africa, and Latin America. The results show that product use is shaped by local markets and institutions, resource abundance, and the relative level of development. Larger regional patterns are also important. High-value products tend to be managed intensively by specialized producers and yield substantially higher incomes than those generated by the less specialized producers of less managed, low-value products. We conclude that commercial trade drives a process of intensified production and household specialization among forest peoples.

Rattan, rubber, or oil palm: cultural and financial considerations for farmers in kalimantan

Forest-based farmers are faced with rapidly changing economic opportunities due to many factors. In response, farmers are changing their main economic activities and land uses. This study compares the financial costs and benefits of the principal land use options in two sub-districts of East Kalimantan Province, Indonesia. Financial benefits of oil palm plantation, traditional rattan gardens, intensive rubber plantation, and traditional rubber plantation are compared on a land unit basis. Oil palm is by far the most profitable, followed by rattan gardens. Rubber production, at current prices, is not profitable. Benefit-cost ratios and returns to labor, which better reflect the farmer perspective, reveal that rattan is more attractive, with oil palm in a strong second place. Non-financial considerations also help to explain the resilience of the rattan garden system. The conclusions summarize the findings and offer options to counter the strong negative impact of recent events on the rattan farmers.

Value-chain dynamics: strengthening the institution of small-scale furniture producers to improve their value addition

Free trade in Asia could aggravate the situation of small-scale furniture producers, if they are not strengthened. The furniture value chain describes the role of different actors in the furniture business from forest to market. Each actor contributes to, and obtains benefits from, the chain. Research was conducted in Jepara, Central Java, the centre of furniture production in Indonesia. The value of Jeparas exports is more than US

Gender and natural resource governance indicators: a need to assess and address ‘sensitive and taboo’ topics

110 million annually. This research aimed to improve the position of small- and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) in the value chain. The study was conducted in 2008–2012, mainly using participatory action research (PAR). The results show that PAR is able to influence the value chain and improve the livelihoods of small-scale furniture producers. By creating a representative association, SMEs were able to strengthen their bargaining position, connect to wider markets and improve trust and support from government. The association was recently issued with the first collective timber legality assurance system (SVLK) license in Indonesia.

Preparing the ground for better landscape governance: gendered realities in southern Sulawesi

Gender and governance or management are topics that have been inadequately addressed by researchers, with resulting very slow progress towards gender equity globally. A collaborative landscape management project in South and Southeast Sulawesi (Indonesia) has been trying to strengthen womens voices in local management and governance and to encourage more equitable benefit distribution throughout the landscape. The need for a simple assessment of the projects success presented an opportunity for us to develop a set of indicators that we believe can be adapted and used more widely. Our indicators, presented below, differ from other indicator sets available, most fundamentally in their foci on (1) gender and governance/forest management, (2) a combination of production and other more sensitive issues central to womens lives, and (3) intra-household decision-making.

Global patterns and trends in the use and management of commercial NTFPs: Implications for livelihoods and conservation

In recognition of the importance of effective and equitable governance at the landscape scale in enhancing human and environmental well-being, we use a recently developed framework for assessing mens and womens involvement in local governance. These results set the stage for an ongoing examination of the success of the AgFor project in southern Sulawesi in achieving this goal. Our findings establish a baseline on gender and governance in five communities with landscapes that include forestry, agroforestry, and agriculture: Bonto Tappalang and Tana Toa in South Sulawesi, and Tawanga, Ladongi, and Wonua Hua in Southeast Sulawesi. These indicators, which we complement with ethnographic insights, fall into two categories: (1) level of public involvement and (2) skills relevant for political action, each of which is assessed for both women and men. Our findings reflect what we believe to be a comparatively equitable gender situation in Sulawesi, with hopeful prospects for enhancing womens (and mens) public involvement in governance. We conclude with some practical and ethnographically informed suggestions for enhancing collaboration with women and men in these (and similar) communities.