In most African countries, non-wood forest products - or abbreviated "NWFP" - play a significant role in the livelihood of the population by providing key subsistence products and income. Examples of NWFP are foodstuff, fodder plants, medicinal plants, exudates, bushmeat, etc. Despite their importance only limited information is available on the actual socio-economic importance of NWFP as well as on the ecological impact of their exploitation.
To improve the availability of quantitative and qualitative data, country profiles on NWFP statistics have been compiled for all African countries in the framework of the EC-FAO Partnership Programme "Data Collection and Analysis for Sustainable Forest Management in African, Caribbean and Pacific Countries - Linking National and International Efforts" (Project GCP/INT/679/EC), a four year programme funded by the European Commission (Directorate-General Development). This report includes the standardised country profiles (which are also available on the FAO homepage) as well as a regional (Africa) and sub-regional (North, East, Southern, Central, West Africa and Insular East Africa) synthesis of the results.
The information presented has mainly been collected at FAO headquarters in Rome. For selected countries, national studies on NWFP statistics have been carried out to fill data gaps and to provide additional information. The collected data has then been validated during sub-regional workshops, which were held in the context of the EC-FAO Partnership Programme and the FAO Forestry Outlook Study for Africa (FOSA). According to the results, the most important African NWFP are:
· medicinal plants, aromatic plants, forage and cork in
North Africa;
· medicinal plants, exudates, and bee products in East
Africa;
· medicinal plants, edible plants, ornamental plants and living
animals in Insular East Africa;
· medicinal plants, edible plants, forage
and bee products in Southern Africa;
· medicinal plants, edible plants,
rattan and bushmeat in Central Africa; and
· medicinal plants, edible plants, bushmeat and forage in West Africa.
The available data show that some NWFP are of high socio-economic importance in all sub-regions (medicinal and edible plants), whereas others are only of relevance in selected sub-regions (e.g. exudates in East Africa, bushmeat in Central and West Africa). Most of the NWFP are used at local level for subsistence and/or extra income generation. National and international trade in NWFP is limited to selected NWFP.
NWFP are collected in various habitats (natural forests, plantations, woodlands, shrublands, non-forest areas) and can be provided by both wild and cultivated species. Negative effects on species providing NWFP are mainly caused by inappropriate harvesting techniques and habitat degradation. The lack of sound property and ownership arrangements prevent the long-term management of NWFP on a sustainable basis.
The country profiles show that statistical information on NWFP at national level is seriously missing. Due to the scarcity and unreliability of the available data, most of the information presented has to be considered "tentative" and "preliminary", only reflecting the "top of the iceberg" within the large and heterogeneous group of NWFP.
Substantial efforts still have to be undertaken to improve the availability of data on NWFP for a better understanding of their socio-economic significance in national economies. Therefore, nationally and/or internationally agreed-upon terminologies, concepts and statistics on NWFP, combined with improved methodologies for the regular collection and analysis of statistical data on NWFP are needed.