list of figures - Terry Sunderland

CHAPTER SEVEN
A SOCIO-ECONOMIC PROFILE OF THE COMMERCIAL RATTAN
7.1 INTRODUCTION
TRADE IN CAMEROON
Rattan and rattan products have long been regarded as one of the major non-timber
forest products of the forest zone of Cameroon (Shiembo, 1986; Pokam-Wadja, 1987;
Sunderland, 1999a; 1999b; Defo, 1999). Although both unprocessed rattan and
finished products are widely traded and form the basis of a thriving cottage industry,
this trade is a component of the “invisible” markets for forest products that are only
now being understood (Clark and Sunderland, 1999; Ruiz-Perez et al., 2000). It is
only in recent years that non-timber forest products (NTFPs) such as rattan have
become the focus of research and development initiatives that are concerned with the
increased valorisation of a wide range of these “minor” forest products. Indeed, this
paradigm shift has been so marked that non-timber forest products are now regarded
as having a significant role to play in contributing to conservation and development
initiatives through product promotion and sustainable development (Wilkie, 1999). It
has been argued, however, that in order for this to happen, the promotion and
development of high value NTFPs must take place in the context of appropriate forest
legislation. This can then provide the framework that allows the equitable distribution
of benefits, community participation in resource management and the realisation of
forest product-generated revenues 1 (Wilkie, 1999; Laird, 1999; Profizi, 1999;
Cunningham, 1999).
7.2 THE MARKETS FOR NON-TIMBER FOREST IN CENTRAL AFRICA
Although the historical importance of the trade in forest products in West and Central
Africa has been well recorded (Oliver and Fage, 1975; Liniger-Gomez, 1986;
Vansina, 1990; Iliffe, 1995; Oliver, 1999), it is only relatively recently that the scale
and importance of contemporary markets for forest products in Central Africa has
1 Indeed, the 1995 National Forestry Action Programme of Cameroon (Project 59) proposes that the
“...inventory, silviculture and further development of the rattans of the rain forests of Cameroon” takes
place to improve income generation for both rural and urban communities that rely on rattan for their
livelihoods.
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