2009/6 Value Chain Workshop - Value Chain Cases in the Context of Conservation Marketing and Certification (Arusha, Tanzania)

OVERVIEW

Communities living in some of the world’s most beautiful and diverse ecosystems are struggling to meet their basic human needs for livelihoods, food, fuel, and water. As populations increase, greater pressure is put on remaining high biodiversity areas, while local community members watch dwindling natural resources impact their daily lives. Eroded soils produce less food, erratic water supplies make household water sources, farming and livestock production more unreliable, disappearing forests take away opportunities for livelihoods and subsistence goods (medicines, building materials).

Referred to as “ecosystem services” the protection of these basic functions requires that conservation and poverty alleviation must be approached in an integrated fashion to conserve a wide variety of ecosystem services needed by people and wildlife alike. Enterprise options that seek to access markets that reward conservation of essential ecosystem services are referred to as payment for ecosystem services (PES).

For too long, traditional business development has paid little attention to incorporating conservation and social goals into business strategies. This is now changing with a host of conservation marketing and certification programs around the world designed to incorporate sound environmental and poverty alleviation practices into product value chains.

The “Value Chain Cases in the Context of Conservation Marketing and Certification” Workshop and Training, held in Arusha, Tanzania June 25 – 27, 2009 brought together key stakeholders to share successful strategies from horticulture, livestock, forest products, energy, carbon and water sectors. These efforts are linking products to conservation markets and a wide variety of certification programs and payment for ecosystem services mechanisms. Twenty-six participants, from eight countries representing field practitioners, community groups, the private sector, government and donors shared their product and enterprise development experiences and learned about tools, methodologies, and market trends that are generating documented benefits for the poor and conservation of key biodiversity areas.

The workshop focused on key tools (including The Conservation Marketing Equation, Trends in Green Marketing and How to Position Products,  Strategies to Access Green Markets – Specialty Markets and Certification, and Ecosystem Primer) and presentation of case studies to illustrate the use of tools with a wide variety of products and their value chains.

It concluded with panel discussion Branding and Marketing Strategies for Conservation Products - Eco Labels, Certification Schemes and Online Retailers, which included a summary of current eco-friendly enterprises.

ANNEX: Branding and Marketing Strategies for Conservation Products - Eco Labels, Certification Schemes and Online Retailers

Resource materials was provided for a sampling of programs.

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