Enhancing livelihoods and markets training paves the way for better cooperation between government and community stakeholders

On 7-11 July, 2014, RECOFTC – The Center for People and Forests’ Myanmar Country Program and Myanmar Environment Rehabilitation-conservation Network (MERN) co-organized a participatory training for enhancing livelihoods and markets. The training, funded by the Pyoe Pin Programme, was conducted at the Central Forestry Development Training Center in Hmawbi, Yangon Region, Myanmar with the help of Forest Department under the Ministry of Environmental Conservation and Forestry.

A total of 20 participants from Forest Department, Dry Zone Greening Department, Settlements and Land Record Department, General Administrative Department, Rural Development Department, and other stakeholders from NGOs and CSOs including community forest user groups attended the five-day course.

Mr. Martin Greijmans and Ms. Alyssa Cheung from RECOFTC Headquarters in Bangkok, Thailand conducted the training, with facilitation and interpretation provided by the Myanmar Country Program staff led by Ms. Khin Moe Kyi.

The objective of the training was to increase the capacities of participants on enhancing livelihoods through understanding community forestry value chains, and to share their training with relevant communities or forest user groups. The course also included a one-day field trip to a nearby community forestry village and bamboo handicraft shops.

Mr. Greijmans and Ms. Cheung hope that the participants will use their enhanced knowledge and skills to engage with communities and initiate a participatory process to identify potential forest products and services for market development. Moreover, the trainers also emphasized that the process of thoroughly assessing constraints and opportunities before selecting the appropriate value chain(s) is of utmost importance because it will reduce financial and social risks associated with community forestry-based enterprises.

The participants brought to the course a wide range of experiences and different backgrounds, and found opportunities to learn from each other by exchanging experiences about their own work, communities and regions.

U Nanda Win Aung, a Staff Officer for Forest Department, said, “Before the course, I used to engage with the local people only from the point of view of my official work at Forest Department. But as the course progressed, I began to understand the various situations of the other participants which broadened my perspective.”

While the training helped this government official understand local people, the training also helped local people understand government officials. As U Win Min Set, Program Manager of Pyay Township, Karuna Myanmar Social Services, explained, “The training was helpful for community forestry user groups as they had a chance to share with government officials their concerns and had the opportunity to better understand each other.”

Moreover, the training has helped various organizations cooperate in working towards helping local people. As U Aung Baw, Vice Administrator of Hmawbi Township said, “The training has helped my department in cooperating with other relevant groups and organizations, as I became aware of how community forestry improves local peoples’ livelihoods.”

Mr. Greijmans and Ms. Cheung are both optimistic that in applying the tools and knowledge introduced in the training, the participants can begin to actively engage with communities using a participatory process to work collaboratively towards appropriate forest product selection and engagement with markets.