Adding Value to the Farmers' Trees – Experiences of Community-based Commercial Forestry In Indonesia 
Edited by Digby Race and Gib Wettenhall

Over a period of 10 years, a multi-disciplinary team of over 30 Australian and Indonesian researchers led by Dr Digby Race linked reafforestation with commercial opportunities for rural communities.

Training for farmers was based on an adapted version of the Australian Master TreeGrower program. Independent evaluation found that it resulted in a significant improvement in a farmer's knowledge of forestry as well as more active management of their trees.

Half of Indonesia’s smallholder farmers of 40 million people live in poverty, suffering from inadequate food and shelter. While most smallholders (i.e. with less than 4ha of land) have timber trees in their yard, these tend to be sold to the village broker on an ad hoc basis in times of great financial need. The project team concluded that the best avenue for ‘adding value’ to the farmers’ trees was by improving their silvicultural knowledge, as well as giving them a better understanding of how commercial markets work.
 
This seems a logical strategy for reversing the worldwide loss of forests. The Indonesian Director-General of Forestry and Environmental Research, Development and Innovation Agency (FOERDIA), Dr Henry Bastaman,  said at the launch of  Adding Value to the Farmers' Trees in Bogor, Java, that the approach outlined was in accord with the policy direction the government planned to pursue in coming years. The research program is continuing.

The well-illustrated paperback contains vital, easily accessible information for anyone engaged in community-based commercial forestry (CBCF) extension and policy-making, not only in Indonesia but throughout the developing world.

Major sponsors were the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) and the Australian National University.

​In September, 2024, a second, more ambitious book reviewing 15 research projects undertaking agroforestry  around the Pacific Rim from Asia to Africa was again co-edited by Digby Race and Gib Wettenhall – visit the em PRESS BLOG  
Once again sponsored ACIAR.

RRP $25  DISCOUNTED TO $19.99 inc p&h in the SHOP ONLINE 
124pp
Full colour, illustrated throughout
Paperback, published 2016.
ISBN 978 0 9757778 7 9