Forestry
Strengthening forestry value chains
Under its current strategy, ADA is rolling out a specific programme for small-scale forest owners or tenants for the first time. ADA believes that sustainable forestry is not just beneficial for preserving biodiversity and ecosystems but also for improving the quality of life of vulnerable populations in developing countries.
Small forest owners or tenants face longer production cycles and have longer-term financing requirements than farmers and they therefore require a tailored approach. Under its new forestry programme, ADA strives to strengthen forestry value chain actors through tailored capacity building, financing and market access with the aim of strengthening the food security of smallholder farmers, land and forest owners by opening up additional or greater sources of income and by increasing their resilience to climate change.
ADA has put in place several pilot projects in Guatemala and Rwanda to better understand these needs with a view to developing capacity building programmes for forest owners and micro, small and medium-sized wood-processing enterprises. In addition, ADA is experimenting with solutions for linking different value chain actors and for providing technical training to forest owners.
For example, ADA is running a pilot project with the business incubator Tikonel to strengthen the forestry value chain in the western highlands of Guatemala. The project helped more than 60 forest owners to manage their forests according to sustainable good practices to later supply wood transforming companies at a fair price. In addition, several wood transforming SMEs were provided with entrepreneurial training.
In Rwanda, ADA is supporting the MFI Inkunga in developing tailored short and medium-term loans for farmers who wish to plant trees for timber production as a way of diversifying their sources of income. Specific loans will also be available for wholesalers, retailers and carpenters to finance bulk purchases of timber products such as poles and sawn timber.
Based on the needs and context assessment and lessons learnt from these pilot projects, ADA is now further consolidating its impact through partnerships in Central America and Rwanda.
IN A NUTSHELL
ADA strengthens forestry value chains by connecting different actors and by providing tailored financing and training to different types of forestry professionals such as forest owners and micro to medium-sized wood-processing businesses.