Sociocultural Factors and Enabling Policies for Non-timber Forest Products-based Microenterprise Development

Over 3,000 plant species produce economically significant products known as non-timber forest products (NTFPs). Their use and trade are integral components of local economies and culture. Governments and policy makers have overlooked the importance of NTFPs as an enterprise for a long time due to various reasons. However, recent studies have shown their potential. Policies concerning NTFPs were often formulated without addressing enterprises or rural livelihood; as a result, they usually failed to provide adequate incentives. In addition, they were often conflicting, causing stagnation. Very few states had a definite procedure to govern the exploitation of NTFPs, though most had rules for timber extraction and marketing. As with policy, direct institutional support requires co-ordination among the agencies that deal with non-wood resources and NTFP producers. The Joint Forest Management (JFM) illustrates one mode of government collaboration with communities to manage resources and share benefits. The intangible, non-economic roles of NTFPs can be more important and even provide a foundation for the economic roles that development programmes usually address. The commercialisation of forest produce seems to marginalise certain people, especially the lower classes. Sociocultural issues play an important role in ascertaining the success of Small Scale Enterprises (SSEs) and the sustainability of NTFP resource base. Policy makers should be made aware of the nature of historical and cultural patterns of NTFP use and its implications. By providing communities with technical, financial, managerial, marketing and training support, they will have a new economic incentive to conserve the resource base of their raw material, thus conserving the biological diversity of their area for the benefit of all. It will require vision and creative imagination on the part of the political leaders and administrative managers who are responsible for the effective delivery of programmes and activities to the people.