Can Smallholder Tree Farmers Help Revive the Timber Industry in Deforested Tropical Countries? A Case Study from Southern Philippines - Smallholder Tree Growing for Rural Development and Environmental Services - page 167

Chapter 8
Can Smallholder Tree Farmers Help
Revive the Timber Industry in Deforested
Tropical Countries? A Case Study
from Southern Philippines
M. Bertomeu
Abstract In many countries of South and South-east Asia trees planted on farms
are becoming the most important source of wood. In the Philippines, forestry statis-
tics indicate that since 1999 between 50 percent to 70 percent of the log production
came from planted trees because of misdirected policies on natural forests. Today,
there are in northern Mindanao 135 active small-scale sawmills (SSS) exclusively
supplied with farm-grown timber. These have an estimated log utilization potential
of 111,064 m 3 year −1 and a sawn timber production potential of 76,596 m 3 year −1 .
However, the Philippine government has not duly acknowledged yet, the impor-
tance of timber production by smallholder farmers and their contribution to sustain
the wood industry. Existing policies disincentive tree planting and the marketing
of farm-grown timber. This chapter explores the importance and the potential of
smallholder farmers to sustain the wood industry by characterizing the producers
and the timber produced, and describing the structure of the market of farm-grown
timber. The study was conducted among farmers in Claveria, northern Mindanao
and wood processing plants located in Cagayan de Oro City and its neighbouring
municipalities. Evidence is provided that most of the planted trees used by the
wood industry in the region and sold in national and international markets are
produced on-farm. This shows that smallholder farmers can produce large quanti-
ties of timber and efficiently supply local and national markets. The Philippine
government and the wood industry sector must recognize the role of smallholder
farmers as land managers and efficient producers of many important agricultural
commodities, including timber.
Keywords Gmelina arborea , mini-sawmill, smallholder, timber trees, tree farm-
ing, tree marketing, wood industry