Book Description

A wide body of experience within and beyond the forestry sector recognizes the power of associations in bringing together small-scale actors, especially micro, small and medium-scale enterprises (MSMEs). Associations offer increased economies of scale in purchasing, producing, and providing greater bargaining power. For this reason, support to forest sector associations has been at the heart of the FAO-EU FLEGT Programme’s engagement with the private sector, recognizing that achieving legality in the forest sector of tropical timber-producing countries is not possible without effective and meaningful collaboration with the private sector. Associations of companies provide critical entry points to gaining access to larger groups of enterprises. The arguments put forward in this paper draw upon the experience accrued in supporting associations of timber producers through the FAO-EU FLEGT Programme. As part of a Programme-experience capitalisation process, staff members conducted interviews with both service providers and, where possible, end beneficiaries of the projects. The Programme analyzed the impacts of these projects to determine best practices for supporting associations and the benefits they bring to MSMEs.