Le rotin, la forêt et les hommes

The thesis is based on a decade of research in Cameroon, with several rounds of interviews at all stages of the rattan production chain, from the forest to the consumer. One of the findings was that this chain is relatively short: few middlemen on the product flow producer-workshop-customer. Rattan is not produced on plantations but cut in relatively intact forests close to villages and then transported to town. It is transformed into furniture, utilities or artwork in very small workshops, with very simple tools. There is little innovation in design, hardly any marketing effort and virtually no export. Income from rattan and number of jobs created is modest, though the impact on some individuals is distinctly positive. This contrasts with the situation in The Philippines, where the rattan sector is well d eveloped and creates much employment and foreign exchange. In the Philippines, however, exploitation has been unsustainable, and the sector has to face serious shortages and problems related to import of unprocessed rattan. The ecological impact of rattan cutting in Cameroon is currently not alarming, due to the weaknesses of the sector, but care should be taken to prevent resource scarcity. Little evidence was found of the hypothesized contribution of this non-timber forest product to halt deforestation, both in Cameroon and in The Philippines. The thesis ends with recommendations on the sustainable development of the rattan sector.