At the Ethnic Minority Development Forum in Quang Nam province in August 2018, Viet Nam’s Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh called for the development of non-timber forest product (NTFP) value chains for the socio-economic development of ethnic minority people, who “have lived with and relied on the forests for successive generations and are the best protectors of the forest.”

Small-scale success stories in Viet Nam point to the considerable potential of effective public and private investments in NTFPs that foster genuine partnership with ethnic minorities. Such approaches can contribute to forest protection, economic development of the forestry sector, poverty reduction and lasting benefits for ethnic minority people living in and around the country’s forests.

Strengthening the position of ethnic minorities as partners in forest value chains requires enabling policies, laws and public investments, incentives and effective models for private sector investments, and improvements in production, processing, certification, branding and marketing in NTFP value chains.