Supporting small forest enterprises: a cross sectoral review of best practice

This paper discusses the challenges small and medium forest enterprises (SMFEs) face in various economies, and reviews the growing consensus on best practice support structures.<br /><br />Small enterprise support structures and associated guidance are widespread across many sectors, but more is needed to connect forest enterprises with these support structures. The author argues that these guidances (often extra-sectoral) need to percolate into and transform forest sector support initiatives. This report aims to be a step along that road &ndash; reviewing the growing consensus on best practice in small enterprise support, both within and outside the forest sector. However, the author acknowledges that while the report offers useful preliminary observations, real progress will require a process of action learning in many countries.<br /><br />The report argues that there is a need to build the capacity of local institutions to facilitate: <br /> stronger enterprise associations better provision of market information more accessible financial and business development services<br /> fairer business environment. It concludes with ten best practice steps for support programmes that aim to help small forest enterprises. <br />These include:<br /> to conduct a diagnostic of the SMFE sub-sectors to assess those with actual or potential growth prospects to identify, establish or support facilitators of market system development, preferable within neutral institutions, that have an autonomous mandate to pursue broad improvements to relevant forest sub-sectors to develop an information service that draws greater attention to what forest product markets want, what SMFE producers can supply and what service providers can offer.