Help Self Help Centre, Nairobi, Kenya [info@hshc.or.ke] 1. Project title Nature Based Enterprise Program  2. Field of activity of the project (development education or development cooperation)  Development Cooperation  3. Donor to which you are planning to apply European Commission, EZE, Bread of the World  4. Brief description of your project idea: 1-2 paragraphs, maximum 2 pages (incl. objectives, activities, target groups, target countries, other involved partners)   Lack of strong policy direction and high incidence of poverty among communities bordering forests have contributed to forest degradation in Kenya. And although recently, there have been tangible progress on the legislative front, Forest ACT/Policy 2005 challenges still persist, especially in implementation. Both the ACT and the Millennium Development Goals recognize the potential of NWFPs and the link between poverty and forest degradation. More importantly, within the context of new Millennium Development Goals, NWFPs have been recognized as the potential to achieve the dual conservation and development goals.  

 NWFPs offer the promise of untapped resource and economic opportunities for forest adjacent communities. Despite the high incidences of poverty, forest areas are rich in biodiversity, which if sustainably managed could substantially improve livelihood systems, by generating employment and income opportunities. Many of these opportunities could be generated through business development in non-wood forest products (NWFPs). There is growing body of evidence to suggest that NWFP industry will become an important part of the solutions to the decades of unemployment and poverty that have plagued rural areas. Yet the potential of NWFPs to poverty reduction through sustainable trade and income has not been fully realized in Kenya. 

 But challenges such as, legal access to the resources, appropriate technology, inadequate technical knowledge and market information, unorganized/secretive trade and inequitable sharing of benefits have hindered their sustainable management. Others include lack of organized structures to collect, process and market products and inadequate exertion of market power along the value chain. Consequently, the perception that this biodiversity is non-economic, has contributed to genetic erosion and resources degradation.  

 Preliminary investigation by HSHC indicate a large population of economic plants in Ngare Ndare, Aberdare and Mount Kenya forest. The proposed project will quantify the potential value for key NWFPs in supporting rural livelihoods systems, identify opportunities for added-value, marketing and benefit sharing strategies.  

 The purpose of the project is to promote sustainable economic opportunities based on harvesting, processing and trading of non-wood forest products (NWFPs). It will facilitate potentially viable enterprises to embrace a commercially sustainable focus, while engaging in activities that contribute to biodiversity conservation goals. It will identify NWFPs with the large market potential and promotes their commercial development

through an integrated, holistic strategy that addresses the entire value chain. It will work on the premise that within the legal frame work provided in the Forest Act 2005, it will be possible to provide controlled, legally secure access to NWFPs and negotiate appropriate benefit-sharing deals.  The project will tackle both the legal aspect, business and the technical issues related to the NWFPs.  

Other partners will include PACT Kenya, Tree Crops Network Africa, Kenya Forestry Working Group and University of Nairobi.  

The target areas will include Mount Kenya Forest, Ngare Ndare Forest, Aberdare Forest all found in Central and Eastern Kenya. The target groups include women groups, Community Forest Associations (CFA), user groups, traders and squatters – those bordering the forest.  5. Requirements for the partner organization you are looking for: 1 paragraph/maximum 1 page (e.g. country, field of experience, role in the project)  

The partner organization we are looking for is the one working in the field of sustainable natural resource management. We are particularly interested in the organization with experience (interest) in the commercialization and sustainable management of non-wood forest products. Specific areas include: 

o Product development

o Product certification

o Market and Value Chain Development

o Fair Trade

o Equitable Benefit Sharing

 The organization is willing to attach a manager to the project. 

 The preferred countries will include; Ireland, Germany and Switzerland. 

 The role of the partner will include the following: o Joint project management o Fund raising o Sourcing for expertise needed in the project o International product certification o Market linkage o Project monitoring and evaluation o Linkage with the relevant technology(ies) needed to add value to the products 

6. Indicate a deadline by which you would need interested organisations to get in contact with you. This call particularly is open in 2008/2009 

7. Your full contact information (name of NGO/address/contact person). We ask people to get back to you directly.  

 NGO Name: Help Self Help Centre Contact Person: Bernard Muchiri Address: Purvi House, Mpaka Road, 3Rd Floor  

Westlands P.O. Box 00100-40603 Nairobi 

Telephone: 254-020-4448166 Mobile: 254-720-005717 Email: info@hshc.or.ke Web: http://www.webhost.co.ke/selfhelp

8. Documents available that can support this program include;  - Mount Kenya Forest Management plan - Ethnobotanical survey of Mount Kenya forest - Ngare Ndare forest management plan - Marketing and Value Chain Analysis of Yangu oil - Kabaru Forest Management plan