19th CIRP Conference on LIFE CYCLE ENGINEERING

Alexandria Cruz, Alexandra Diemer, Kayla Mueller, Tatyana Venegas-Swanson

Utilizing Value Chain Analysis to Inform Community-Based Forestry Management in Eastern Nepal

The Multi-Stakeholder Forestry Programme (MSFP) seeks to improve livelihoods and resilience of Nepal’s poor and disadvantaged people through development of the forestry sector’s contribution to economic growth, poverty reduction and climate change mitigation. The need for two value chain analyses of Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) and the identification of market stakeholders was determined by Rural Reconstruction Nepal and ForestAction Nepal, our NGO partners.

•  Impact & Value Chain Analysis: used to determine value addition activities, explore the potential for enhancement of livelihoods and market opportunities for traditionally disadvantaged groups (DAGs) from Community Forest User Groups (CFUGs), and estimate the environmental, economic, and social implications of enterprise development.

•  Identification of Market Stakeholders: identifying roles and fostering collaboration between rural communities, NTFP processors, and facilitators to the enterprises.

Bael (Aegle marmelos) is a wild tree, producing fruits collected during the agricultural off-season and therefore suitable as a forestry enterprise for DAGs. It is processed into a bottled juice concentrate called “squash” to make an Ayurvedic fruit drink.

Pine resin (from the Pinus roxburghii tree), locally known as khoto, comprises up to 90% of some community forests in Eastern Nepal. DAGs collect resin, which is then processed into rosin and turpentine, two products in high demand on the world market.

Solutions •  Promote local forestry enterprise development to create

private-public partnerships which provide DAG populations with greater livelihood opportunities.

•  Community-based governance structures are being explored for their efficacy and inclusion of DAG members in sustainable management of forest resources.

•  Support and strengthen networks between rural communities, processors and facilitators to enterprises.

•  Use the value-chain approach to select market driven enterprise, placing emphasis on increasing incentives for participation at the value chain inception stages.

Problems •  Despite ample forestry resources available in Nepal, the

forestry sector is currently estimated to contribute a mere 10% to the country’s GDP.

•  Past forestry governance has not efficiently managed environmental sustainability or inclusion of DAGs.

•  Current connections between communities who produce or could produce forest products and current markets upon which they depend are weak or nonexistent.

•  Communities involved at the inception stage of the value chain have little capacity in determining wages, employment opportunities and management techniques.

Key Findings •  We find that CFUG-managed enterprises have high potential to ensure the highest levels of direct and indirect benefits

reaching the poorest members of the rural communities of study; however, such management models are not currently in place within Dhankuta District.

•  Our reports highlight the opportunities and constraints affecting such models of enterprise development and our recommendations point to the importance of incentivizing DAGs to participate at all levels of the VC.

•  Through utilizing extended network collaborations, our project ensured stakeholder inclusion and continued the international trend of incorporating participatory methods in rural poverty reduction.

•  In doing so, our research team found that this method best promoted the creation of an environmentally sustainable, community-managed development plan that improves livelihood options and equity within rural communities.

Dhankuta  Bael  Juice  Concentrate  Vendor   Field  Mee6ng  with  CFUG    Members