Coaching on market study

The volunteer will be in charge of coaching NTFP team on how to perform a market study.

NTFP, is a local Non-Government Organization based in Ratanakiri Province since 1996.

NTFP works in Virachey and Veun Sai- Siem Pang National Parks that form part of a 11,217 km2 network of protected areas in Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, one of the largest protected landscapes in the Mekong basin. Wildlife surveys in 2021 confirmed the exceptional biodiversity of the Key Biodiversity Areas (hotspot) with presence of mega fauna and flora (In total, there are ten CR species present at Veun Sai – Siem Pang National Park that consists of 84.30% of evergreen forest, 13% of deciduous and bamboo forest, and extensive upland savannahs.)
NTFP has played a critical role in helping indigenous people secure their rights to their land and natural resources (Community Protected Areas, Community Forestry creation).
NTFP has worked on the implementation of community protectors and patrols to protect the communities’ lands (forests). Even though the relevance of this type of intervention has been proven, the communities’ members are still not paid to provide this service and the international funds don’t fund this type of intervention.
NTFP wants to develop new income generating activities in order to sustainably fund the community protectors.
Non-timber forest products like Malva nuts are currently sold within the communities’ villages and constitutes the main part of community income. A past granted project (2016-19) allowed the harvest of Malva nuts to be tripled and the resulting increase in revenue provided a fund that financed community rangers to conduct patrols.
Even though important legal issues remain (required authorizations from different administrations), the ethical commercialization of these nuts could generate sustainable incomes for the communities.
NTFP wants to identify a way to commercialize these products (e.g. identify young Cambodians entrepreneurs that could create a business) but the team lack of expertise in commercialization/business development (commercialization techniques, how to conduct a market study, etc.)

This mission’s objective is to support the local employees to perfom a market study that will help them to commercialize the Malva nuts.

A first mission was implemented in May 2023 and allow the team to:
– Design of the format for the interviews
– Conduct interviews with local stakeholders and producers
– First analyze of the data collected
– Training and discussions about market strategies
Following this first mission, the second mission must then cover those topics:
– Coaching the team in collecting and analyzing more data (number of households collecting nuts, Calculation of the total Malva production by CPA, number of community buyers working on foeld, provincial buyer data, export record to Vietnam, amount of Malva nuts collected in non-CPA areas)
– Make recommendation on best approach for market access for Malva nuts (logistics & marketing) and avoid intermediates (set up a fair or a fair/social company).
The training must be very interactive, adopting a practical approach in order to facilitate the staff’s understanding and application to NTFP’s activities.

Banlung is the capital city of Ratanakiri Province (636 kilometers from Phnom Penh – approx. 9h of mini-bus), located in Cambodia’s far northeast. Eight major hill tribes and ethnic groups live in Ratanakiri, accounting for 80% of the province’s population. Its forests and rich biodiversity also characterize the province.
There are some touristic hotels and restaurants in Banlung city, and a supermarket selling western products.

Malaria and Dengue are present in Ratanakiri and preventive drugs for Malaria are recommended.

Training location: NTFP’s office

Training hours:

• First week: activities in the field, in the village to assess the situation, meet the community leaders, CBO and community guards.
• Second week : activities and training in NTFP’s office in Banlung

NTFP team members

The NTFP conservation project team (6 people – 2 women) Some team members are fluent in English, some can understand well but don’t feel confident enough to speak. The project leader supervising the mission speaks good English and will support the volunteer regarding translation.