Growing ‘The Wood of The Gods’: Agarwood Production in Southeast Asia - Smallholder Tree Growing for Rural Development and Environmental Services - page 248

were originally products harvested from the wild by the forest dwelling communities
earning a substantial part of their income by the hunting and gathering activities.
However in all these cases new actors entered the scene, once domestication of the
plant and animal species turned out to be a profitable business. In many cases and
depending on the amount of technology and specialized labour involved, the produc-
tive units were transferred to other and often distant locations. People originally
involved in the domestication process were not recruited anymore once sufficient
seedlings or breeding animals were collected. Rattan and orchid gardens, crocodile
and deer farms are just some of these examples. It is likely that a similar develop-
ment might also take place in the future with respect to the production of agarwood.
Most likely the forest based people will continue to harvest until collecting agarwood
will no longer be rewarding. The technology involved in the artificial production of
high grade agarwood and the need for technically high level processing units can not
easily be organized by local producers. The more sophisticated producers, with more
financial and technological means at their disposal can simply out-compete the local
ones. In this process market forces and business opportunities are likely to com-
pletely dominate this development. Traditional growers of agarwood such as those
in Vietnam and Thailand will easily be out-competed and become only the providers
of the local demand for agarwood. They can only maintain a special position if a
kind of differentiation in the market will actually take place for instance on the basis
of the production methods or the area of origin. This may allow for an appreciation
of the way agarwood is produced (e.g. by monks), or a positive appreciation for the
locality where Aquilaira trees are grown. Differentiation based on certification of
agarwood referring to its geographical origin, traditional methods of production,
aspects of 'fair trade' or 'ethical shopping' in particular for an item that is used for
religious purposes, might provide some relative advantage for small holder agar-
wood farmers. As yet however this differentiation is not yet in place. This fact indi-
cates that the small holder agarwood farmers may be facing severe competition from
large scale agarwood producers in other parts of the world. If the consumers of
whatever kind of agarwood products are willing to include aspects like 'tradition',
'religiosity', 'original or indigenous producers', or 'fair benefits' in their considera-
tions when buying agarwood products, then small holder agarwood farmers might
have a chance to survive as suppliers of the 'wood of the gods'.
References
Barden A, Awang Anak N, Mulliken T and Song M (2000) Heart of the matter. Agarwood use and
trade and CITES implementation for Aquilaria Malaccensis. Cambridge, TRAFFIC
Catholic Encyclopedia (1998) Incense. Available at http://www.ewtn.com/library/ HOMELIBR/
CEINCENS.TXT accessed on 14 November 2007
Chhetri DB, Pelden K and Dhendup K (2004) Sustainable agarwood production through artificial
inducement in Bhutan. Council of RNR Research of Bhutan
Coakley T (2007) Similarities of agarwood and sandalwood. Paper presented at the Second
International Agarwood Conference, Bangkok/Chantaburi/Koh Chang, 4-11 March