Young Designers 2011

		Young Designers 2011
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Sushil Kumar Mate | matesushil@gmail.com

Community-based Forest Enterprise Models for Cambodia

Strategic Design Management | PGDPD
Guide: Shashank Mehta
Sponsor: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Cambodia

Keywords
Grass-roots
Forest resources
Environmental services
Enterprise model

I did my project with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations Organization (UNO), in collaboration with the Cambodian government. In this venture, we combined our efforts and vision to suggest a solution for the socio-economic upliftment of indigenous communities and forest conservation in Cambodia, in the form of a Community-based Forest Enterprise (CBFE) Model. The project aimed to provide a common solution for poverty and forest degradation in the country.

Participatory Rural Appraisal, ethnography, forest research and market research were conducted based on the study of FAO’s directives, Cambodia’s National Forest Policy, UN and Cambodia Millennium Development Goals and inputs from field studies of the local communities.

By analyzing the data collected through primary and secondary research, I suggested a CBFE as solution. I recommended the modes of establishment of enterprise, production, distribution, etc. The enterprise model will be one which is multi-channel and generates income by way of sustainable utilization of forest resources by the community. It will deal with forest products such as craft and charcoal and environmental services such as eco-tourism and carbon credit) and will be managed by the forest communities in Kresh village of Poy commune, in the Ratanakiri district of Cambodia. The main forest resource that will be used is bamboo. The enterprise will also be targeting tourists and related services in Banlung city, Ratanakiri.

The project gave me an international platform to showcase how strategic design interventions are relevant to community development as well as forest conservation. I was grateful that I could work at the grassroots and enjoy learning and working at the same time.