314 Rattan exploitation in the Yaoundé Region of CameroonRecommendations
The first recommendation pertains to the management of the resource. Its
conservation deserves sustained attention in the interest of both the main
actors of the chain and the biodiversity of the region. It is necessary to develop
and to implement viable exploitation methods, extraction techniques that
take into account the biotope and means of reducing losses during harvesting
to the strict minimum. All these measures should be viewed within the
sociopolitical perspective, in a set of mechanisms and standards aimed at
contributing to a sustainable management of the resource. It is thus necessary
to review the regulatory and legislative framework related to the NTFP industry,
to elaborate and control the execution of simple management plans and to
make it easily applicable. It would without doubt be more appropriate to
integrate rattan in multiresource management plans. Selective and rotation
cutting taking place in the various forest areas is a desirable conservatory
measure. It would also be necessary to reduce the pressure on natural rattan
stands by domesticating rattans and by introducing them into farmers’
production systems.
The second recommendation concerns the provision of fresh supplies to
processing centres. It is necessary to help cutters-sellers to organise themselves
to realise some savings at the level of conveyance, to conform to the
regulations, to adopt a better attitude towards public sector employees, to
considerably adjust supply to demand and to strive to become less vulnerable
in the face of buyers. It is also necessary to help them to develop conservation
techniques for harvested rattan over a long period.
The third recommendation is related to the transformation and marketing
of articles. It is necessary to considerably improve the infrastructure, technical
and organisational levels of PUs and to eliminate waste during processing. It is
necessary to train craftsmen in processing techniques, managerial techniques
and the area of design. This training would enable them to produce good
quality articles that are capable of facing competition. This training would
also give craftsmen abilities of commercial aggressiveness that are likely to
contribute to the expansion of demand for rattan objects. To palliate the poor
sales and the unattractive nature of prices, it is necessary to seek other outlets,
especially more remunerative markets at the national and international scales.
These solutions require absolutely that cutters and craftsmen organise
themselves for their self-promotion, that intermediate level development
actors (non-governmental organisations, town councils) support them and that
the state intervene positively at some levels. That is perhaps contrary to the
principle of ‘less state involvement’ currently in force, but it is the price to
pay to offer artisans the opportunity of taking care of themselves and of
efficiently participating in poor people’s income improvement in the future.
It is also the price to pay for a sustainable exploitation of the raw material.ENDNOTES- University of Leiden (The Netherlands), WOTRO Ph.D. Fellowships
Programme. P.O. Box 8297, Yaoundé, Cameroon. E-mail: [email protected] - This statement is purely an assumption.
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