Living in and from the forests of Central Africa is intended first and foremost as a full-scale extension tool concerning NWFPs in Central Africa. It is a work on the groups who have always lived in these forests, forests that contribute to every aspect of their daily lives, both material and spiritual, and enable them to survive even in periods of extreme crisis.

The book is divided into seven parts. The first gives an overview of Central Africa and NWFPs, while the second shows how animal and plant NWFPs contribute to the food and nutritional security of forest people. The third part discusses the causes of the local population’s majorinvolvement in the harvesting and use of NWFPs i.e. the growing crisis in staple foods in the 1990s and the economic and social importance of these products. The fourth describes the consequences of this major involvement, which has led, for example, to increased pressure on NWFPs from the local population, thus making sustainable management of these resources more problematic. The fifth part describes the initiatives carried out by COMIFAC, FAO and other partners to optimize knowledge of NWFPs and increase the value of the sector. The sixth and seventh parts constitute the culminating point of advocacy on behalf of NWFPs in Central Africa, with a vital need, on the one hand, for their sustainable management and, on the other, for development of entrepreneurship with a view to increasing their added value.