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Contribution of the forest sector to total employment in national economies

Estimating the number of people employed in the forest sector









Lippe, R.S., Schweinle, J., Cui, S., Gurbuzer, Y., Katajamäki, W., Villarreal-Fuentes, M. & Walter, S. 2022. Contribution of the forest sector to total employment in national economies - Estimating the number of people employed in the forest sector. Rome and Geneva, FAO and ILO.




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    Forest sector contribution to national economies 2015
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    The forest sector is a key sector for the development of a circular bioeconomy and achievement of the SDGs. Clarity on the dimension of the benefits generated by wood production, including through other sectors of the economy can help build the case to support a sustainable growth of the forest sector, with increased sustainable management of natural and planted forests, and efficient and inclusive value chains. Analysis of national input-output matrix and calculation of economic multipliers can provide insights on the real magnitude of forest contributions to the national economies and highlight where policies towards sustainability can have a greater impact. This report presents the total economic contributions of the forest sector to national economies around the globe, based on estimations of the forest sector direct, indirect and induced effects on the economy derived from the national accounts input-output matrixes with the most recent data available (2015). The results can help stakeholders to understand the importance and multiplier effects of the forest sector to the national economy in a quantifiable way.
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    Global trend in forest sector’s contribution to job creation and income
    XV World Forestry Congress, 2-6 May 2022
    2022
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    The forest sector plays a vital role in achieving several targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The sector is considered to be a significant source of growth and employment as well as essential for sustenance. Well quantified information of forest-based employment and sectoral contribution to national economies are thus crucial in supporting relevant stakeholder’s decision processes towards sustainable development. This study combines the most recent available statistics from the Global Forest Resources Assessments (FRA), United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), World Bank and FAOSTAT associated with employment, income as well as demographical indicators to quantify the total number of global formal and informal employment in the forest sector. In this study, the forest sector encompasses forestry and logging, manufacture of wood and products of wood, manufacture of paper and paper products and manufacture of furniture. The results show detailed trends about formal (visible) employment figures on the different subsectors such as forestry or wood industry among others on a global scale. Other key indicators such as labour productivity and sub-sectoral contribution to GDP are presented disaggregated by major geographical regions. It becomes evident that persons, to whom forests are the primary source of livelihood, are not captured well by the published statistics. Our analysis reveals that two-third of entire forestry and logging-based employment is informal and highly concentrated in developing nations. It is important to mention that informal employment in this context is an ambiguous term. It does not correctly describe, for example, forest work for subsistence. Hence, with a comprehensive literature review, this study sheds further light on the aspects of informal employment in the global forest sector. Based on the results, conclusions are drawn on how to enhance employment statistics related to the forest sector. Keywords: forest-related employment, informal employment, labour productivities ID: 3485590
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    Book (stand-alone)
    Sustainable management of Miombo woodlands
    Food security, nutrition and wood energy
    2018
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    The Miombo woodland is a vast African dryland forest ecosystem covering close to 2.7 million km2 across southern Africa (Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe). The woodlands are characterized by the dominance of Brachystegia species, either alone or in association with Julbernardia and Isoberlinia species. It is estimated that the woodlands – through their numerous goods and services which include various non-wood forest products (NWFPs) (e.g. insects, mushrooms, fruits, tubers, medicine, fodder, honey, seeds) and woodfuels, which, for simplicity, will be referred to as non-timber forest products, or NTFPs, throughout the publication – sustain the livelihoods of more than 100 million rural poor and 50 million urban people. The charcoal sector alone employs vast numbers of rural people and offers additional income to many poor rural families. Communities moreover rely directly on the woodlands for food and nutrition. NWFPs add vital micro- and macronutrients to local diets and contribute to diversified food systems, while woodfuel is essential for cooking and sterilizing, thus ensuring proper nutrient absorption and providing clean water for drinking. Forests and trees, if managed sustainably, are an important source of resilience for rural people in the Miombo woodlands, supporting households to absorb and recover from climatic or economic calamities and contributing to resolving the underlying causes of food insecurity, undernutrition and poverty by providing nutritious edible products and woodfuel for cooking in addition to conserving biodiversity and water resources, buffering extreme weather conditions and preventing land degradation and desertification. Generally speaking, it is now accepted that forests managed for both timber and NTFPs retain more biodiversity and resilience than forests managed solely for one aspect, e.g. timber and exotic timber plantations. However, a growing population in high need of agricultural land and unsustainable use and overharvesting of natural resources in parts of the Miombo woodlands, combined with climate change impacts (e.g. drought, fires), leave insufficient time for many trees and associated species to regenerate naturally, posing a serious threat to the products and services of the woodlands, and to the livelihoods depending on them. Compounding the problem and hindering development of the Miombo ecosystem, are: i) lack of an enabling policy environment; ii) unsustainable management; iii) limited willingness and ability to pay for and access to energy-efficiency technologies; iv) inadequate awareness and information, including technical capacity; v) high poverty levels; and vi) limited access to microcredit facilities. With the Committee on World Food Security’s endorsement of the recommendations presented in the High Level Panel of Experts Report on Sustainable Forestry for Food Security and Nutrition in late 2017 – which include promoting multifunctional landscapes, integrated food-forestry systems, and research on associated linkages, among other things – forests and trees are expected to play a greater role in future land-use decisions and related policies. This paper provides an overview of these linkages in the context of the Miombo woodlands, in the hope that future land use, policy decisions and financial investments are shaped to support the contributions of forests and trees to the health and livelihoods of communities in the ecoregion. The following key messages were formulated: • Forests and trees, if managed sustainably, are an important source of resilience for rural people in the Miombo woodlands, supporting households to absorb and recover from climatic or economic calamities and contributing to resolving the underlying causes of food insecurity, undernutrition and poverty by providing nutritious edible products and woodfuel for cooking in addition to conserving biodiversity and water resources, buffering extreme weather conditions and preventing land degradation and desertification. • Current data bases referring to the value of the Miombo must be analysed and used as evidence to improve policy-making. • Miombo woodlands may be dominant (spatially), but they have not been addressed as a single unit but as part of the region’s forests. They form part of the overall forestry strategies and no specific mention in the conventions does not suggest that their importance is underplayed. • The management of Miombo will require some changes in management structures, especially in providing benefits emerging from trade in forest products to local managers. • Local forest managers should play a greater role in allocating resources for feedstock for charcoal production.

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