Extension and Smallholder timber Reflections Christine Holding Anyonge - FAO

Global Forestry Context: Scale & Impact Global Areas Land Area 13,064 m ha Non-Forest Area 9,007 m ha (69.1%) Forest Area 3,870 m ha (29.6% ) Industrial Plantation 90 m ha (0.6 %) Non-industrial Plantation 97 m ha (0.7%) 0.6% 0.7% 29.6% 69.1% Source: FRA 2002 Presented at the recent International FSC meeting Bonn - Carle (Sept.2004) Here is a pie chart of land use area – the blue area is non forest area, the red area is forest area, the thin slivers are industrial and non-industrial plantations respectively. Forest area is by far the largest area of “forest” - however if one looks at where the majority of forest products comes from it is the plantation sector – The slide shows that, however that from this small sliver 35% of global industrial roundwood was produced in 2000, and this is estimated to rise to 40% by 2020. In brief the argument runs that plantation forestry, if well managed can reduce the pressure on the forest area - hence preserving bio-diversity, maintaining carbon sinks etc. Of the industrial plantations shown above, only 50% are corporate industrial, i.e. less than 0.3percent is large scale monoculture. It is recognized that plantations possibly require alternative and more diversified management strategies than in the past, if concerns on environmental and social sustainability are to be adequately addressed - I will not go into this in detail here – however the publication that FAO recently produced with CIFOR on “Towards equitable partnerships between Corporate and Smallholder Partners ” pulls together experiences on this issue and attempts to addresses these concerns. In this presentation I wish to focus on independent small forest owners - the balance of industrial round wood production – in other words majority of the industrial plantations production actually comes from this group small scale forest owners – Our question is : are this stakeholder group in the forest sector adequately considered in terms of technical, market information and other support or services they may require – are their concerns adequately represented, in forestry fora, national forest dialogues, national forest programmes and policy development? It is to this question of the extension support needs of small forest owners that I would like to focus. Industrial Plantation Production of Global Industrial Roundwood, 35% in 2000; est. 40% by 2020 FAO Carle, 2004

Context : planted forest ownership Public sector ( est 55%) return to people and nation; econ, environment; generally long term Private sector ( corporate est 20%) return to board and shareholders; strong econ focus; tendency shorter term return Private sector ( smallholder est 25%) Return on investment to families Balanced socio economic and environment, potential enhance livelihoods, “ quality of life” Diversifies family portfolio- balance shorter and longer term benefits

Extension support to smallholders Link smallholders to secure markets Enhance market and technical information for all stakeholders Facilitate smallholder associations & collective action fora Train & support smallholder associations Establish enabling frameworks at national, district & FMU levels to facilitate stakeholder negotiations Enhance value added skills including linkages to forest industries & market intelligence systems FAO/ICRAF Side event Smallholder Timber United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF), Geneva. May 2004. INTRO: There was an FAO/ICRAF side vent on smallholder timber at the UNFF Forum of Forest in Geneva, and these points were presented for consideration at that side event. Items in this slide were taken from smallholders surveys of their support requirements - and experiences in running / facilitating small holder extension programmes.

Forest extension challenges: Small forest landowners Address farm foresters lack of power/ lack of organization and representation Address market and technical information flows at the middle level Work towards policy and legal frameworks between institutions that enable multi-channel and diverse communication between stakeholders Consideration of “ theatres of innovation” as an option for sustainable research and development initiatives “Communication strategies for multiple partner involvement in forestry extension”. IUFRO/ CNR/ FAO Sept 2004 Read points first – and then conclude by saying that all these points: require effective communication between the stakeholders involved. These points tie in very well with the Neuchatel donors group pro poor extension focus, and their recent publication. ( have a copy) (The focus is very much one of PRO POOR EXTENSION) Pro poor extension : Key elements: Creating and supporting opportunity by looking for where the poor can benefit from the market, as producers, labourers and consumers Enhancing security and reducing vulnerability by designing strategies and priorities that avoid or reduce risk Provide the enabling environment for the poor to engage with the other stakeholders as a significant stakeholders themselves Institutional reform by redefining the roles of the State, private sector (corporate and smallholder), NGOs, research and educational institutes, funding agencies and other stakeholders