CIFOR–ICRAF publishes over 750 publications every year on agroforestry, forests and climate change, landscape restoration, rights, forest policy and much more – in multiple languages.

CIFOR–ICRAF addresses local challenges and opportunities while providing solutions to global problems for forests, landscapes, people and the planet.

We deliver actionable evidence and solutions to transform how land is used and how food is produced: conserving and restoring ecosystems, responding to the global climate, malnutrition, biodiversity and desertification crises. In short, improving people’s lives.

Making dry forests work for the poor in Africa - building on success

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Eradicating poverty is arguably the greatest global challenge facing the world today and is a necessary precondition for sustainable development. To reach the poverty-reduction goals, bold action is required. In this Livelihood Brief we highlight some success stories, showing how sustainable management of forest resources has led to positive livelihood impacts. Four main lessons can be learned from these. Forest products can enhance peoples' livelihoods, but creating value requires changing the form or location of the products or the timing of their delivery to markets. Entrepreneurship is important. The people who succeeded had the confidence to seize the initiative when opportunities arose. Organisation matters; where people can organise themselves they benefit from opportunities to exchange information, learn from each other's experiences, share resources, and undertake joint activities. They have more voice. External assistance can make a difference, by helping people improve the quality of their products, gain access to technology and markets, or overcome other barriers to entry.
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DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17528/cifor/001636
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    Publication year

    2004

    Authors

    CIFOR

    Language

    English

    Keywords

    dry forests, nontimber forest products, poverty

    Geographic

    Zimbabwe, Burkina Faso

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