Forest producers are often seen as marginal players within the agricultural sector. However, 1.6 billion people around the world depend on forests for their livelihoods and daily needs. This raises a number of interesting questions regarding the importance of forest producers. Among them, if the role of forest producers is not fully understood, how can their needs and rights be fully realized? As the International Year of Family Farming reminds the world to recognize the crucial contributions of family farmers, FAO’s forestry division has organized the International Conference on Forest Producer Organizations - to be held 25-28 November 2013 in Guilin, China - to highlight the role of forest producers as critical elements within production systems.