The challenge of HIV/AIDS: Where does agroforestry fit in? - World ...

Chapter 4Trees and Markets:Working Group ReportIntroductionICRAF’s Trees and Markets theme created workinggroups to discuss the enhancement and future of thefour focal areas that comprised the theme in 2003(a fifth was added in 2004). These were: TM1 – marketanalysis and support for tree product enterprises; TM2– developing sustainable seed and seedling systemsand sound management of agroforestry genetic resources;TM3 – tree domestication with intensificationand diversification of tree cultivation systems; andTM4 – farmer-led development, testing and scaling upof tree-based options.Each group was given five questions:• What is your 2015 vision for the focal area?• What are main problems, opportunities and assumptionsin the focal area?• What new partners and partnerships do you suggest?• Can you suggest promising new project ideas?• What types of deliverables or outputs are needed toaccomplish the results we seek?These are the conclusions that the groups reached.TM1 – market analysis and support for treeproduct enterprisesAlthough ICRAF has organized many discrete marketorientedprojects in the past that have focused onthis subject, TM1 is still a relatively new direction. In2003, there were only a few staff working in this focalarea and outputs were limited. Despite this, it becameclear that people had quite different visions for thisfield, and the first question yielded a wide range ofanswers. One member of the group stated: “ICRAFand partners should, by 2015, have identified a ‘resilientset’ of diversified tree crops (by region) withmarkets with characteristics that are capable of bufferingeach other in the face of market fluctuations.”Another mentioned that it would be important to seestrong federated farmer groups in diverse tree cropsectors. Others put the emphasis on buffering risks (bykeeping prices stable, dealing with diseases and pests,and retaining or creating diversity), building cottageindustries, the importance of tree domestication, andon finding new products to diversify traditional treeplantations.In terms of the main problems and opportunities thatneed to be tackled in the focal area there was moreconsensus. The working group identified:• A lack of credit, capital and private sector involvement• A lack of clarity about which market level should betargeted• The existence of regulatory and trade barriers• Unequal access to opportunities• A lack of ‘cottage industry’ know-how• A need for more institutional capacity, and• A lack of focus on which products to develop.The working group identified new partnership opportunitiesthat would help to advance the focal area,including with the Global Forum on Agricultural Research(GFAR), the Underutilized Crops Unit of theInternational Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI),developed-country consumer groups, national andinternational private enterprise, fair trade groups, theWorld Business Council for Sustainable Development(WBCSD), and appropriate technology institutes.