Vegetal non-timber forest products in Cameroon, contribution to the national economy

This paper analyses the contribution of some non-timber forest products (NTFPs) to the economy of Cameroon through the lens of livelihoods, food security, employment and financial values. Specifically, the work aims at determining the income generated from vegetal NTFPs sales, the value of self-consumption and the number of jobs provided, in order to assess the contribution of NTFPs to the national economy. A combination of literature review and in-depth data collated by CIFOR from households and markets for different periods corresponding to specific NTFP funded projects in Cameroon was used. The results show that NTFPs constitute a regular source of income (even though not the most important) for rural households due to their diversity. About 38% of vegetal NTFPs are used as food and the annual economic value for 16 of them is estimated at 32 billion XAF (64.7 million USD). Their value added is estimated at 6.4 billion XAF (13 million USD) representing 0.2% of the GDP of the country with at least 283,000 people involved.