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MERGE
357
Trip Report
GENESYS Workshop:
Marketing Non-timber Forest Products
Belem, Brazil
By:
K Lee Ehrhardt-Martinez
April 1993
Prepared for:
Office of Women in Development
Bureau of Research and Development
Agency for International Development
Contract No. PDC-0100-Z-00-9044-00
GENESYS
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Table of Contents
Glossary of Acronyms ......................................... 1
Executive Summary ........................................... 2
A activities ................................... ...... 2
Critical Assessm ent .......................................... 3
Implications and Next Steps ..................................... 5
Glossary of Acronyms
Gender in Economic and Social Systems
Non Governmental Organization
Non-timber Forest Products
Grupo de Pesquisa e Extensio em Sistemas Agroflorestais do Acre
Rede Brasileira Agroflorestal
World Wildlife Fund
GENESYS
NGO
NTFP
PESACRE
REBRAF
WWF
I. Executive Summary
The third GENESYS workshop in Brazil was held in the city of Belem from March 28 through
April 3, 1993. The theme of the workshop was Marketing Non-timber Forest Products and was
geared to Amazonian NGOs and community groups who are working in agroforestry and extractive
reserve systems. The workshop combined a number of different training methodologies and an
innovative booklet prepared by GENESYS to convey information on the structure of market
channels, the nature of market actors, the interaction between actors, the determination of product
costs and selling price, means of basic market research, analysis of market information, and the
development of an economically, socially and environmentally viable marketing plan.
The stated goal and objectives were to:
Goal: to increase the capacity of NGOs to assess community marketing options for NTFPs through
the consideration of social, economic and environmental factors.
Objectives: To provide an understanding of
1. marketing and commodity systems.
2. the context of marketing systems including economic conditions, gender roles and
responsibilities, values, incentives, linkages between roles and actors, etc.
3. the connections between better marketing and increased incomes.
4. the "how to" and "why" of performing simple marketing assessments.
5. the "how to" and "why" of preparing a simple marketing plan.
6. the needs, perspectives, and motivations of participants/actors in the marketing system.
In addition to the workshop objectives, I had two others. They were to 1) monitor the use of and
reaction to the marketing guidelines prepared for the workshop, and 2) work with NGO
representatives to get a better understanding of the marketing problems/issues that they are facing.
H. Activities
As stated above, the training combined a number of different training methods in the week long
course (see attached agenda.) The workshop consisted of four sections: introduction, marketing
concepts/theory, marketing research, marketing plans.
In addition to addressing participant's expectations of the course and laying out the course
objectives, the introduction included a simulation of a marketing system. The participants were
divided into three groups of producers, middlemen, and consumers. The objective of the exercise
was to illustrate the motives of each actor as well as the barriers, limitations, and costs that are
associated with each role and how actors interact to create a system.
The theoretical concepts were presented and discussed based on the information provided in the
guidelines and through a group interview of two intermediaries who sell Cupuacu in Belem. On
Wednesday information on market research was introduced and the workshop participants were
able to spend some time preparing for the various interviews that would be implemented the
following day. Interview schedules were developed and participants were divided into subgroups
based on the market actors they were to target (i.e. open market, supermarket, restaurants, ice
cream shops.) On Thursday the interviews were carried out, assessed and presented.
Finally, on Friday the market information collected on Thursday was used to discuss marketing
options and recommendations.
II. Critical Assessment
The workshop objectives were met through the varied workshop activities, presentations and
discussions. The target audience, the NGO representatives, was open and receptive to the
information and successful in applying the concepts to their own experiences and market related
work. Some of the more advanced concepts that were taught in the workshop, however, seemed
to be just beyond the capacity of some of the community representatives attending the workshop.
Overall, I feel the workshop was extremely successful in meeting the above stated objectives. In
addition, the diverse backgrounds of the workshop participants led to many interesting and
insightful discussions. Some of these discussions also led to recommendations for other types of
related training. Suggestions included:
1. A more in depth look at specific marketing issues such as new
products/diversification, market research and analysis.
2. A more simplified approach to marketing to present to community representatives.
3. A more collaborative training effort which would include representatives from
government extension services.
4. Integrating marketing efforts into the organizations' overall plan of action or
strategic plan.
In relation to my objectives, I feel the trip was equally successful. Regarding the marketing
guidelines, I was able to collect first impressions from workshop participants who were asked to use
the guidelines as reading/preparation materials for the second, third and fifth day of the workshop.
Feedback was generally positive with people stating that the guidelines were clear in presenting
topics and discussions. However, with workshop sessions scheduled for the evenings, many
participants didn't complete their "homework" assignments and therefore were unable to give even
first impressions.
Therefore, in order to provide every participant with the opportunity to review the guidelines more
thoroughly and to provide feedback based on a more thorough consideration of the content and
presentation, I put together an evaluation form for participants to fill out once they returned to
their respective NGOs. This also would provide for the opportunity to get feedback from people
who were unable to attend the workshop. Because of the likelihood of a decline in responses due
to the use of this method, I tried to get personal commitments from a number of participants and
we decided to require the evaluations be sent as a part of the gender specialists regular reporting
cycle. They are to be sent to Suely Anderson at REBRAF by April 22, 1993.
My second objective, to work with NGO representatives to get a better understanding of the
marketing problems/issues that they are facing, was met through my integration into the workshop
as a participants and resource person. By working with the workshop participants, their concerns
became clear. Although concerns varied from organization to organization, largely depending on
the level of sophistication of the organization, many issues were held in common including:
LESS SOPHISTICATED ORGANIZATIONS
questions what "types" of marketing efforts can be supported by small
organizations?
how is marketing research similar or different from the sociological
research being performed by these organizations?
mrkting problems large amounts of a particular agroforestry product have been planted
and will currently be coming into production, however, the existing
marketing/distribution mechanisms are inadequate and there are no
plans to change them.
middlemen (transporters of amazonian fruits) are unjustly reaping
the majority of the profits from the marketing process due to their
monopoly over transportation.
MORE SOPHISTICATED ORGANIZATIONS
questions how can organizations plan for a diversified products and consumer
base?
what resources are available to address marketing problems
(including information, extension, and financial)?
what types of questions need to be asked in order to answer different
types of marketing questions?
what types of analysis can be done with marketing research data?
mrkting problems need to make recommendations to the community regarding the
future regional demand for various forest products and provide
direction to communities based on assessments of profitability and
other factors.
IV. Implications and Next Steps
In addition to the recommendations for future workshops discussed above, the next steps relate to
the refinement of the marketing guidelines, technical assistance GENESYS could provide to the
NGOs, and the continuing work of the gender specialists.
A. Marketing Guidelines The portuguese version of the guidelines, prepared specifically for
the Belem workshop, should be revised to reflect some corrections to the translation as well
as some changes made during the course of the workshop in the portuguese terminology.
In addition, the English guidelines need to be updated to reflect some final adjustments that
were made solely in the portuguese version due to a lack of time just prior to the beginning
of the workshop. With some additional revisions, the English version of the guidelines
could also easily become a useful tool for use by the GENESYS project and other
organizations dealing with similar types of marketing issues with other organizations in other
developing countries.
B. Technical Assistance As a result of the workshop, GENESYS should monitor NGO
progress in implementing marketing research and developing marketing plans and be
available to provide assistance as required. Prior to the workshop GENESYS provided
assistance to PESACRE in developing and implementing some basic marketing research and
may be involved in some of the preliminary assessment.
C. Work with the Gender Specialists Somewhat aside from the primary focus of the
workshop, GENESYS representatives Judith Lisansky, Suely Anderson, and Lee Martinez
met with the Gender Specialists from each NGO. As a result of these meetings two issues
were identified as requiring follow-up.
The first issue is the need for a model for the progress reports required of the gender
specialists. Most gender specialists indicated that a model (maybe a form) would be helpful
to their efforts of organizing their thoughts on and writing up their progress reports. Lee
will work with Suely to develop a model.
The second issue was the possibility of combining the reporting requirements of the World
Wildlife Fund with those of GENESYS to reduce the reporting responsibilities of the
NGOs. This idea was introduced by John Butler of the World Wildlife Fund and explored
in the meetings with the Gender Specialists. The idea seemed to be widely accepted in
theory but the format and content will need to be decided by WWF and GENESYS. This
idea will only be pursued when future funding for GENESYS/Brazil work is confirmed.
ANNEXES
PROGRAM DO WORKSHOP GENESYS/IMAZON
"COMERCIALIZAQAO DE PRODUTOS FLORESTAIS NAO MADEIREIROS"
Bel6m, PA, 28 de margo a 3 de abril de 1993
DOMINGO, 28/MARQO:
manha e tarde:
20:00
Chegada dos participants
Jantar de abertura
SEGUNDA-FEIRA, 29/MARQO:
08:00-12:00
12:00-13:30
14:00-17:15
17:15-17:30
INTRODUQAO
a) GENESYS/introducdo ao curso
b) Apresentagdo: participantes/monitores
c) Expectativas: participantes/monitores
d) Objetivos do curso/contexto
e) Program e logistica do curso
ALMOQO
EXERCICIO DE SIMULAQAO DE COMERCIALIZAgAO
a) Determinagao do preco de "commodities"
b) Beneficiamento: o que aconteceu e por quA?
RESUMO DO DIA
TERQA-FEIRA, 30/MARQO:
08:00-12:00
12:00-13:30
14:00-17:15
17:15-17:30
20:00-21:30
CONCEITOS TE6RICOS SOBRE COMERCIALIZAQAO
a) Sistemas de "commodities" e de mercados
b) Comercializacgo na Amaz6nia: hist6ria e
caracteristicas especiais
c) Prd-concepc6es sobre comercializagco
d) Prd-concepc6es sobre atores/intermedidrios
ALMOQO
ENTREVISTAS COM PESSOAS ENVOLVIDAS EM MERCADOS
LOCAIS E/OU PROCESSES DE COMERCIALIZACAO
a) Exigencias de beneficiadores/consumidores
b) Comercializacgo e intermedidrios
c) Quest6es importantes
RESUMO DO DIA
Entrevista James LaFleur (ECOTEC/C. Survival)
QUARTA-FEIRA, 31/MARCO:
06:00-08:00
09:00-12:00
12:00-13:30
14:00-17:15
17:15-17:30
20:00-21:30
VISIT A MERCADOS DE BELEM
INTRODUYAO A METODOS DE PESQUISA DE MERCADO
a) Revisao de conceitos e metodos basicos
b) Informaq6es necessdrias para a elaboragAo
de pianos de comercializacao
ALMOQO
PREPARAQAO PARA ENTREVISTAS DE CAMPO
a) Formulado de categories e perguntas
b) Explicag6es sobre a atividade
c) Organizaqgo de grupos e divisao de tarefas
d) Planejar em grupos/praticar questionArio
RESUMO DO DIA
Apresentac&o do PESACRE
QUINTA-FEIRA, 01/ABRIL:
06:00-14:00
14:00-16:00
16:00-17:00
20:00-22:00
SEXTA-FEIRA,
08:00-12:00
12:00-13:30
14:00-15:00
15:00-16:00
16:00-17:00
17:00-18:00
ENTREVISTAS DE CAMPO/PESQUISA DE MERCADO
AVALIACAO DE INFORMAqOES E ELABORAQAO DE
PLANS DE COMERCIALIZACAO
a) Sintese dos dados coletados
b) Processamento das entrevistas
CONTINUAQAO (avaliagco e pianos)
a) Revisao de conceitos
b) Elaboragdo de um piano
c) Formula~&o de recomendac6es
CONTINUAQAO (avaliagdo e pianos)
02/ABRIL:
PLANS DE COMERCIALIZAQAO: Apresentago e
discussao em plendria das recomendag6es
formuladas com base nos dados de campo
ALMOQO
CONCLUSAO
a) Discussao: pr6ximos passes
b) Revisio de todo process (produtor at6
consumidor)
AVALIAQAO DO WORKSHOP (discussao informal)
INTERVALO ESPECIAL BUFFET REGIONAL
PR6XIMOS PASSOS PARA O GENESYS
12:00... Entrega de certificados e churrasco
SABADO, 03/ABRIL:
ILHA DO
BANANAL
FIGURE 1.1 Amazonia Legal
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