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Productive cooperation amongst entrepreneurs can
be instrumental in improving access to training, techni-
cal and financial assistance resources and peer-to-peer
knowledge exchange opportunities, which are necessary
elements for enhancing business and financial manage-
ment skills. Such partnerships, particularly when they
emphasize inclusion of traditionally marginalized
groups, can also play an important role in strengthening
the collective voice of local people to be able to speak
for themselves and the needs of their communities in
business and policy dialogues.
Looking to the future
As those working in developing countries around the
globe strive, in cooperation with the international
community, to build a more sustainable and equitable
present and future, a variety of challenges are sure to
arise, whether from climate change, population growth,
natural resource shortages or other obstacles. The key
for rural communities is not to insist that all future
catastrophes be precisely predicted, but to ensure that
mechanisms are put in place and capacities developed
to enable them to deal with whatever the future brings.
Small forest enterprises are a sound option because
they respond directly to that need. They contribute to
building local capacity and confidence, they support the
establishment of financial buffers against crisis, they
foster social cohesion and cooperation within commu-
nities and they stimulate a locally rooted sense of
responsibility for environmental health and well-being.
Through support for the development and strengthen-
ing of small forest enterprises, it is possible to go a
step further and ensure that natural resource needs are
met, now and into the future, while also upholding the
dignity of rural people.
supportive policy and regulatory frameworks, capable local leaders
and technical and financial service institutions in place. In such an
environment, entrepreneurs in forest-dependent communities are
more likely to realize financial benefits from forest-based enterprises.
In addition, once they are generating income, they are more likely
to safeguard forests and forest resources so as to ensure they have a
continued source of raw materials for their businesses into the future.
SFEs can also be effective in addressing and reducing systemic
poverty. When successful, they allow entrepreneurs to earn and
accrue monetary savings. This is critical if rural people are to be
able to make long-term investments, such as in education for their
children. Moreover, with money saved, rural people are less likely to
be as severely and negatively impacted if a crisis strikes because they
will have a financial buffer in place to cover the costs of necessary
items such as food and shelter.
Rural entrepreneurs contribute their unique local strengths and
knowledge to the process of building and operating their forest
enterprises. This point is particularly significant in view of poverty
being about more than simply lacking financial resources, but about
being powerless, vulnerable and dependent.
4
Combating poverty
will mean supporting income-generation opportunities, but should
also work towards solutions that empower and foster a sense of
self-reliance.
Empowering rural entrepreneurs through partnerships
Through the development and operation of SFEs, people often find
that their businesses are more successful when they work together
in cooperatives or producer organizations. Such connections can
help entrepreneurs by allowing them to achieve economies of
scale. In this way, they can overcome challenges faced by many
small-scale businesses, such as not being able to compete or access
finance. Cooperatives can also help to reduce challenges related to
being isolated and remotely located by facilitating the coordina-
tion of product shipments to markets at which goods can be sold
for better prices.
A trade negotiation for Gnetum leaves in Cameroon
Sign for the Coprokazan Shea Cooperative in Mali
Image: Blanca Amado, 2009
Image: Sophie Grouwels, 2011