Access to finance for forest and farm producer organisations (FFPOs)
Access to finance for forest and farm producer organisations (FFPOs)

Author: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org.

Published: 2018-12-14

Total Pages: 97

ISBN-13: 9251311323

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Forest landscapes are inhabited by approximately 1.5 billion people. The aggregate gross annual value of these smallholder producers approaches US$1.3 trillion. Adding value to that production, through financial investment, will be key to delivering the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Therefore, access to finance is an important issue. The Forest and Farm Facility (FFF) commissioned this scoping paper to assess what might be done to improve access to finance. Organisation of forest and farm producers allows finance to be channelled toward valueadded investments. But the motivation to form forest and farm producer organisations (FFPOs) varies with context, from the desire to secure resource rights for Indigenous peoples in the forest core, to the desire to strengthen economic scale efficiencies in periurban forest product processing industries. The scale and type of finance needs vary and span enabling investments (grants or concessional loans)through to asset investments (market-rate capital that requires a return). Access to finance for FFPOs requires tailored approaches. For FFPOs, enabling investments in four key areas are needed to create the conditions and necessary track record to attract asset investment: (i) secure commercial rights; (ii) strong organisation for scale; (iii) appropriate technical extension; and (iv) fair market access and business incubation. Enabling investments of this sort make FFPO businesses bankable and affords them access to finance.

Connecting forest and farm producer organizations to climate change finance
Connecting forest and farm producer organizations to climate change finance

Author: Diaz, J., Kerr, J.

Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org.

Published: 2021-11-04

Total Pages: 60

ISBN-13: 9251330786

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This toolkit does not provide a step-by-step guide for accessing global climate change finance, because the situation is very different in each country and a universally applicable checklist of steps to take is not possible to provide. However, the toolkit does provide a set of steps for apex FFPOs to figure out what they need to do in their particular country to set themselves up to access climate finance. The toolkit also provides a brief overview of actual practices that forest and farm producers can pursue. This overview is intentionally brief, partly because the main focus of the toolkit is access to climate change finance, and partly because what set of practices is appropriate for a given producer varies with geographic and socioeconomic conditions.

Prosperity in place
Prosperity in place

Author: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org.

Published: 2020-04-01

Total Pages: 77

ISBN-13: 9251322961

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Future generations are shaped by the opportunities afforded now to youth. Yet youth - defined here as those between 15-24 years of age – make up close to half the world’s unemployed. Rural rates of unemployment are particularly high. This is especially so for young women. United Nations figures class 75 percent of youth as underutilised. By this they mean: unemployed, in irregular (informal jobs), or outside of formal education and training. Underutilised youth are a missed opportunity. This report is written for the leaders of Forest and Farm Producer Organisations (FFPOs). In rural areas, FFPOs are often the major, or sometimes only employers. Set up to pursue the values of their members, FFPOs contribute to rural prosperity: namely ‘a negotiated vision of that which people value and have reason to value in line with the common good’. All people have their own vision of what prosperity looks like – and that is why a negotiation of a collective vision is important – so that the perceptions of different groups of people, such as youth, are taken into account.

The State of the World’s Forests 2022
The State of the World’s Forests 2022

Author: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org.

Published: 2022-05-01

Total Pages: 166

ISBN-13: 9251359849

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Against the backdrop of the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use and the pledge of 140 countries to eliminate forest loss by 2030 and to support restoration and sustainable forestry, the 2022 edition of The State of the World’s Forests (SOFO) explores the potential of three forest pathways for achieving green recovery and tackling multidimensional planetary crises, including climate change and biodiversity loss. The three interrelated pathways are halting deforestation and maintaining forests; restoring degraded lands and expanding agroforestry; and sustainably using forests and building green value chains. The balanced, simultaneous pursuit of these pathways can generate sustainable economic and social benefits for countries and their rural communities, help sustainably meet increasing global demand for materials, and address environmental challenges. The State of the World’s Forests 2022 presents evidence on the feasibility and value of these pathways and outlines initial steps that could be taken to further pursue them. There is no time to lose – action is needed now to keep the global temperature increase below 1.5 °C, reduce the risk of future pandemics, ensure food security and nutrition for all, eliminate poverty, conserve the planet’s biodiversity and offer young people hope of a better world and a better future for all.

Forest and farm producer organizations building resilience
Forest and farm producer organizations building resilience

Author: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org.

Published: 2021-10-04

Total Pages: 64

ISBN-13: 9251346011

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Forest and farm producers’ livelihoods are threatened by a complex risk context, where environmental change is accelerating (climate change, degradation of natural resources) and chronic and episodic stressors and disturbances (poverty, pests, economic shocks) are occurring outside of the range of past experience. Forest and farm producers’ livelihood systems are characterized by small-scale farms and woodlots, direct dependence on natural resources, and smallholder value chains extending over larger landscapes. Building the resilience of these systems and their functions requires i) improving the short- and long-term viability of livelihoods through sustainability, efficiency, and profitability in production and along the value chain; ii) increasing preparedness and the capacity to act in the face of climate change and other stressors and shocks; and iii) stewarding farm ecosystems and aiming for ecological co-benefits in all actions. In addition, participatory and inclusive service landscapes and management processes are considered preconditions for all the above-mentioned domains of resilience, largely defining the long-term impact and overall success of resilience actions.

Local financing mechanisms for forest and landscape restoration
Local financing mechanisms for forest and landscape restoration

Author: Besacier, C., Garrett, L., Iweins, M., Shames, S.

Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org.

Published: 2021-03-17

Total Pages: 137

ISBN-13: 9251341028

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

To meet global restoration needs and recover degraded forests and landscapes, adequate public and private investments are required to support restoration activities on the ground. The new FAO publication “Local financing mechanisms for forest and landscape restoration: A review of local level investment mechanisms” examines the pathways available to financing restoration for a positive local level impact.The document provides an in-depth study of how financial mechanisms can be coordinated to maximise the leverage of finance and the adoption of practices at scale across the landscape.By examining some of the accessible investment mechanisms and planning strategies, it aims to support discussions, thinking and decision-making on how to effectively find, select and use investments to provide appropriate incentives and maximize forest and landscape restoration actions.Finally, the publication underlines how facilitators can bridge the gap between smallholders and investors, boosting investments, while promoting local ownership.

Developing bankable business plans
Developing bankable business plans

Author: Boscolo, M., Lehtonen, P., Pra, A.

Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org.

Published: 2021-04-28

Total Pages: 96

ISBN-13: 9251343535

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This guide was developed to improve the capacity of small producers, their organizations and small and medium-sized enterprises to access private investment and finance for sustainable forest-based businesses. It offers a framework to think through, organize and develop a convincing investment proposal. The guide introduces ten key elements, presented as modules, which should be included in any bankable business plan. Templates, tips and advice also provide users with a structured way to think through and substantiate information related to each of these elements. The goal is to increase the business’ attractiveness to funding sources and thus facilitate access to finance. The guide is especially aimed at those producer organizations and companies that seek to scale up operations and need the know-how to do it themselves.

Forest communities in the face of COVID-19 crisis
Forest communities in the face of COVID-19 crisis

Author: Covey, J., Bolin, A.

Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org.

Published: 2022-09-19

Total Pages: 98

ISBN-13: 925135183X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

COVID-19 continues to have severe impacts on the societies, economies and environment of forest communities. The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on forest communities have been shaped by pre-existing social, economic en environmental vulnerabilities. Despite existing vulnerabilities, forest communities have shwon a great deal of resilience. Forest communities have not been passive in the face of these significant impacts. Key responses have included the use of informal and formal social protection programmes. Reflecting on past crisis and building on the initial COVID-19 responses found in the case studies and lessons from producer organisations, this working paper identifies seven key pathways and 14 strategic actions for forest communities to recover and building back better from COVID-19.

Innovative finance for sustainable landscapes
Innovative finance for sustainable landscapes

Author: Louman, B.

Publisher: CIFOR

Published: 2020-11-25

Total Pages:

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This publication explores some of the barriers that hinder external finance from making greater contributions to the sustainability of landscapes in the global south. It provides insights into the potential of blended finance, green bonds and crowdfunding structures to contribute to bridging that gap. The document is meant for investors that are new to land-based investments in the global south and are particularly interested in achieving social and environmental impacts. It is also written for development organizations with little experience in leveraging private finance for local development and conservation and for future practitioners in this field. The authors identified several gaps in knowledge and experiences, and it is hoped that through this document the readers will be motivated to fill in those gaps in the near future, contributing to scaling up finance for sustainable and inclusive landscapes.

The State of the World’s Forests 2024
The State of the World’s Forests 2024

Author: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org. [Author] [Author]

Published: 2024-07-21

Total Pages: 122

ISBN-13: 9251388679

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Innovation is essential for achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals. It is also an important accelerator for the transformation to more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agrifood systems and for achieving global goals such as the eradication of hunger and poverty and the sustainable management and use of natural resources. But innovation does not arise in a vacuum. Among other things, it requires enabling policies; strong, transformative partnerships; investment; an inclusive culture that is open to and encouraging of new ideas; and a willingness to take calculated risks. This edition of The State of the World’s Forests (SOFO) provides highlights on the state of the world’s forests and explores the transformative power of evidence-based innovation in the forest sector, ranging from new technologies to creative and successful policies and institutional changes, to new ways of getting finance to forest owners and managers. Eighteen case studies from around the world provide a glimpse at the wide range of technological, social, policy, institutional and financial forest-sector innovations – and combinations of these – being tested and implemented in real-world conditions. SOFO 2024 identifies barriers to, and enablers of, innovation and enumerates five actions for empowering people to apply their creativity in the forest sector to solve problems and scale up positive impacts.