Non-timber forest products French association, NOE, raises awareness on boosting earnings.

Participants at the confab were drawn from government services, national and international partners.

The forum set to round-up tomorrow, is holding under the theme: “Non-timber forest products and sustainable community development”. 

Speaking at the start of the workshop, the Cameroon Country Coordinator, NOE association, Camille Nkoa Affana, said the event is designed to give actors in the field a platform to enrich their knowhow on how to properly valorize the sector and further boost profitability.

According to the Nkoa Affana, participants will in the course of the gathering, feature in three roundtables anchored on “the conversation of biodiversity in exploitation”; “opportunities and constraints of entrepreneurship around Cameroonian non-timbe forest products” and “marketing and winning strategies” in the sector. 

Nkoa Affana said actors will on the final day of the gathering, take part in a Pitch Competition. This, he said, will offer participants creative minds platforms to present their projects to an audience of experts, investors and opinion leaders.

Non-timber forestry products are substances and useful raw materials obtained from forests without logging. 

Major examples of such products in Cameroon are honey, the moabi butter and the Njansang oil.

Key issues on day one

Yesterday, activities featured a presentation from a representative of the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife and that of the German Development Cooperation in Cameroon, GIZ.

The official from the ministry schooled participants on the various steps to follow to get the needed certification to legally operate in Cameroon. 

The representative of GIZ, Jemisson Medoh, drilled participants on the plausible role the foreign organisaiont is playing to amongst others, finance activities linked to the proper exploration of the field. 

Forum gamechanger for Cameroon’s non-timber forest products 

The ongoing scheme is part of what NOE officials described as a part of a 360° promotional campaign the association initiated set to run for a period of three months. 

It will be under the organic and natural products from Cameroon project known by its French abbreviation as BIONAT. 

According to NOE Cameroon Country Coordinator, the program will help change the narrative for Cameroonian non-timber forestry products and actors involved in its exploitation including local communities.

“The objective is to unite and mobilize all the actors engaged in the development of non-timber forest products in Cameroonian and to boost the visibility of the men, women and communities that are in this sector. That is why we have presentations on how to collect, transform and market these products,” Nkoa Affana stated. 

He added that, after they forum, “we are hoping that Cameroonians who are the first consumers of these produces, have a better knowledge of the advantages in the sector. The second objective is that, these communities in the field will be more mobilised”.

Nkoa Affana also noted that: “We are also confident that by doing this, we will better highlight the organizations working to create sustainable, biodiversity-friendly supply chains around non-timber forest products. The event has a triple format in terms of organization”.

He expressed gratitude to the government, the GIZ and other local and international partners for accompanying the association in the process.

Participants also expressed gratitude to the NOE group and its partners for the initiative. According to participants, the project will help them better reap the fruits of their labour.

About NOE association

NOE is a French non-profit, public-interest nature protection association. It was founded in 2001 and has been operating in Cameroon since 2012.

The association works to create sustainable, biodiversity-friendly value chains around non-timber forest products such as shea butter, cocoa, coconut oil, honey, moabi butter, Njansang oil, Mbalaka oil.

According to the body, it has since 2022 developed the sector with the support of private partners, local organizations and women’s communities within the framework of the BIONAT project. 

The structure works in partnership with several organizations in Cameroon and beyond.