RECOFTC – The Center for People and Forests
Training course
Course objectives
The overall aim of this course is to increase the capacities of participants on enhancing livelihoods through community forestry. At the end of this course, participants are expected to be able to:
• Explain and illustrate how community forestry has the potential to contribute to development of
livelihood goals;
• Apply the sustainable livelihoods approach framework to identify community assets and conditions
that help develop these assets;
• Understand why it is important to screen forest products and services before considering to develop
them into potential community enterprises;
• Understand the need to follow a participatory approach in identifying potential enterprise options; • Use the value chain tool to identify potential forest products and services for livelihood
development; and
• Identify interventions along the value chain to strengthen community livelihoods.
ENHANCING LIVELIHOODS
THROUGH COMMUNITY FORESTRY
How can community forestry enhance people’s livelihoods?
Community forestry in Asia and the Pacific is helping local people
secure livelihoods, but more needs to be done. A key challenge that community forestry seeks to address is ensuring communities
receive a fair share of the benefits from forest products and services.
However, there are many reasons why incomes remain limited, with predominant issues being local communities having access to poor quality forests; unfavorable legal and regulatory frameworks; limited access to finance; lack of business and technical skills; lack of
appropriate technology that can add value to forest products; and
limited collaboration between local communities and the private
sector. Added to these challenges is the significant impact of climate change on the lives of local people in the region.
This six-day course seeks to improve capacities to promote greater and better market access for potential and newly emerging
community-based enterprises engaging in forest products and
services. The course will introduce the sustainable livelihood approach framework, the process of product screening for potential
enterprise development, the value chain approach and the possibility of value chain interventions.
Registration information
Course location: Bangkok, Thailand with a three-day field visit in Chang Rai, Thailand
Dates: Please email [email protected] for the schedule
Course fee: US$2100 per person*
*includes field site visit expenses but
not RECOFTC dormitory cost and daily
For more information, please contact: Leela Wuttikraibundit
Program Administrative Officer, Capacity Building and
Technical Services
RECOFTC – The Center for People and Forests
PO Box 1111, Kasetsart Post Office, Bangkok 10903, Thailand Tel: +66 (0)2 940 5700 Ext.1234
Fax: +66 (0)2 561 4880
E-mail: [email protected]
Who should join?
• Policymakers and government officials
responsible for community forestry, natural resources and environmental management
and regulation, with a minimum of seven years work experience in the region; • Field-level officers who are interested in
developing or supporting community-based
market enterprises in the region; and
• Project managers of civil society organizations
and corporate units actively involved in implementing or supporting the development and implementation of community-based
market enterprises.
What you’ll learn
The course will draw on the shared experience of
the trainers and participants in enhancing forest communities’ livelihoods and enterprise development
through community forestry, covering the following
topics:
• Linkages between community assets and
livelihoods;
• The importance of the participatory process in
community enterprise development;
• Enabling conditions for community enterprise
development;
• Value chain analysis of forest products and
services;
• Developing a value chain intervention plan;
and
• Forest-based enterprise identification.
How the course works
Experienced RECOFTC trainers will deliver and facilitate
the course.
RECOFTC training courses use unique approaches that apply experiential learning based on adult learning principles. Through participatory training activities,
participants explore information and knowledge based on their own experiences. Analysis and reflection result
in a deeper understanding of community forestry and opportunities for improved practices are identified. At the end of the training, action-planning enables
participants to take their learning forward in their work. RECOFTC training courses are action-oriented
and monitoring and evaluation of the learning and application is an integral part of the training services offered by RECOFTC.
A three-day field visit will give participants the
opportunity to integrate the concepts and methods
learned with examples of value chains communities
engage in.
RECOFTC holds a unique and important place in the world of forestry. It is the only international not-for-profit organization that specializes in capacity development for community forestry. With over 25 years of international
experience and a dynamic approach to capacity development, RECOFTC delivers innovative solutions for people and forests.
