No abstract

Place-based research faces multiple threats, including both natural and global health hazards and political conflicts, which may disrupt fieldwork. The current COVID-19 pandemic shows how these threats can drastically affect social-ecological research activities given its engagement with different local stakeholders, disciplines, and knowledge systems. The crisis reveals the need for adaptive research designs while also providing an opportunity for a structural shift towards a more sustainable and inclusive research landscape.

Background: Medicinal plants play a pivotal role in the traditional medicine system in Ethiopia. Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, domestic demand for medicinal plants has increased, particularly for Artemisia annua species. However, coupled with the secrecy nature in medicinal plant utilization, knowledge regarding marketing and value addition of medicinal plants is lacking in the literature. The objective of the present market study was to investigate the marketing and value addition of Artemisia annua and other major medicinal plants in selected towns of Southern Ethiopia. Methodology: Primary data were collected using questionnaire, focus group discussions, and personal observations with producers and traders. Marketing benefits of the potential medicinal plants were captured by total return and marketing margins. Result: The major medicinal plants in Chencha area were Artemisia annua, Stevia rebaudiana, and Silybum marianum, Echinops kebericho and Silene macrosolen Steud are widely used in Tula and Hawassa; Ocimum tenuiflorum and Ruta graveolens were found in Basha area, while Zehneria scabra was found in Chencha and Basha. The above-mentioned medicinal plants are used to treat various illnesses, while generating income to the local communities. The marketing or profit margins of the value-added products indicated a share of 28.6%, 14.36%, 14.31%, and 42.73% for producers, local collectors, and traders in Arbaminch and Addis Ababa, respectively. Conclusion: Up scaling the cultivation and commercialization of these medicinal plants has the potential to maintain the public health while providing alternative income sources for local communities in Ethiopia. In an effort to capture local value addition of medicinal plants, processing materials, market outlets, and road infrastructures should be improved.

Forest farmers’ organizations (FFOs) have recently gained scholarly attention as a collective action instrument to upgrade value chains. However, insights into possible business models and organizational forms of FFOs remain fragmented. This study thus aimed to co‐create FFO business models in order to assess the business models in the context of the regulatory framework and the value chain upgrading theory. The Input–Output scheme and the Business Model Canvas (BMC) were merged to create an analytical lens. Participatory workshops with two farmers’ organizations, each in Ethiopia and Tanzania, were conducted and triangulated with ten focus group discussions and 25 key informant interviews. The co‐created business models reflected the grassroots entrepreneurial potential of smallholders to envision FFOs. The gaps requiring external support, namely the know‐how in accessing microfinance, silvicultural practices, and entrepreneurship, were revealed. We argue that the transformation from a farmers’ organization to an FFO enables wood value chain upgrading. Diversifying wood with non‐wood products is key for FFOs. Regardless of how the regulatory framework shapes external support, the local government plays a pivotal role in facilitating the connection between FFOs and (non‐)governmental support actors. Through this research, we develop suggestions for further empirical studies and offer several recommendations for decision‐makers.

Based on Socio-economic Field Laboratory concept, we put forward the need to amplify locally-embedded innovation to address nationwide challenges. The WoodCluster project (2017-2021) aimed to seek solutions to close the national wood supply gap based on farm-wood production in East African countries. Towards achieving the objective, one of the project activities is the implementation of Field School. A field school is understood as a practical element of a thematic study course module, supplementing theoretical teaching. It shall provide the opportunity for students to learn and test research methods in a practical manner and get in contact with the local community to exchange knowledge. It serves as a framework that requires adaptation to the local research demand and context, with its cultural, socio-economic, and environmental features. Two field schools within the framework of the project were conducted in Tanzania in 2018 and in Ethiopia in 2019. The focus of the field school was on local-level wood production from smallholder farmers and market dynamics, but the guideline can be adapted to other thematic areas. Based on the experiences within the WoodCluster project in East Africa, this guideline elaborates the theoretical fundaments, steps, methods, and examples in conducting socio-economic field schools with local communities and graduate students.