This practical guide is written based on the experience of a six-years project, conducted with the support of GRET in the northern mountains of Houaphan province, Lao PDR, in close with the Provincial Department of Agriculture and Forestry. The guide focuses on the development of sustainable bamboo-based value chains, involving farmers, the private sector and government.
A first introductory section describes the collective learning approach adopted by the Project for accompanying the bamboo sector stakeholders in co-developing sustainable value chains.
The four next practical sections describe methods and tools developed by the Project on: i. experimentation of bamboo forest management techniques, co-designed and implemented by villagers and the National Forest Research Center; ii. support to villagers for the preparation of bamboo forest management plans; iii. annual bamboo forest monitoring implemented by villagers; and iv. creation and training of bamboo producer groups.
This guide invites readers to understand the benefits and challenges of a collective learning process for developing sustainable and socio-economically balanced natural resource based value chains.
