Non-timber forest products in rural Mali: a study of villager use

Complex relationships among gender and forest food harvesting: insights from the Bribri Indigenous Territory, Costa Rica

“…Similarly, in dissertation research investigating the use of indigenous tree products in the savanna region of Benin, Schreckenberg (1996) found that both men and women collect NTFPs, although men undertake special long-distance 'collecting trips' while women collect opportunistically. In six villages near a national forest reserve of rural Mali important differences exist in the way men and women use the forest as a source of NTFPs (Gakou et al 1994). Interviews with 92 household members revealed that women collect firewood, leaves for sauces, shea nuts and seeds, while men collected house and construction materials and animal feed.…”

“…For example, the sheer number of different kinds of NTFPs used by a household may indicate the significance of NTFP production to subsistence. In Mali, West Africa, 55 different NTFPs are used in the household, of which two-thirds are also sold in the market (Gakou et al 1994). In Nepal, 800 NTFPs are not traded, but have many subsistence uses as foods, spices, herbal medicines, tannins, dyestuffs, gums, resins, incenses, oils, fibres and construction materials (Edwards 1996b).…”

“…A similar pattern emerges in other tropical regions. Gakou et al (1994) found that government forest management policies in Mali ignored the vast majority of NTFPs essential to rural livelihoods. O'Hara (1998) concluded that critical monitoring and assessment practices for NTFP extraction has been absent in many of the recent community-based forest projects in Latin America and elsewhere.…”

“…One example of commercial NTFPs that are managed in natural forests is honey and beeswax from bee keeping in Miombo woodlands in Africa (Fischer 1993). Also in Africa, Gakou et al (1994) found in Mali that the greatest number of NTFPs come from natural forests. However, many of these were not harvested for the market, but for household subsistence.…”

Agroforestry practice in villages surrounding Nyamure former refugee camp, Nyanza District: tree species and purpose

“…Public land has always been a vital source of many forest products including firewood (Gakou et al, 1994) in areas where the land is in dire shortage or, strangely, in areas where the land is very abundant. Where local people rely on public forests or woodlands, joint forest management between government forest professionals and local community has been an effective and cheap strategy for forest conservation.…”