Non-timber forest products: from restoration to income generation

The degradation of Africa’s drylands cannot be tackled without unleashing the land’s economic potential; rural communities, therefore, need to obtain economic benefits from restoration work. Action Against Desertification in Support of the Great Green Wall (GGW) initiative, stimulates economic growth by developing forest products that are useful for communities, create jobs and generate income. Many of these commodities can be produced without damaging the ecosystems in which they grow, provided such production is based on the sustainable management, protection and restoration of dryland landscapes. Locally established green enterprises can provide many income-earning opportunities, thus incentivizing communities to participate in restoration and sustainable management (Berrahmouni, Regato and Parfondry, 2015).

Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) are useful substances, materials or commodities obtained from forests that do not require the harvesting of trees. In the past, forest departments and other government agencies have tended to pay only limited attention to NTFPs and forest ecosystem services, but this is changing. NTFPs are now more widely viewed as crucial for sustainable forest use, providing benefits for local communities and wider societies and offering an important means for development, especially in drylands.

Forests and woodlands in African drylands and in the GGW area provide a wealth of products essential for the livelihoods and well-being of local people. Many NTFPs have significant economic potential in GGW countries: each year, for example, African countries export 100 000 tonnes of gum arabic, a product in high demand in the food industry. The oil of Balanites aegyptiaca is used for cooking, as well as in cosmetics and soap, and sales of honey provide many communities with valuable revenue. People eat the leaves of the baobab tree (Adansonia spp.), and the fruits and leaves of the gao tree (Faidherbia albida) are used as fodder for animals.

AAD promotes community-based restoration approaches along entire value chains – from the seed to the market – for several economically significant NTFPs such as fodder, honey, gum arabic, balanites oil, and restoration seeds and seedlings by promoting these NTFPs from land restoration using targeted species, to harvesting, processing and marketing.

Learn more on key NTFP value chains for the GGW and how they can be supported for development