Participants amend the Toolbox project on the right to adequate feeding, food security and NTFPs, determine the next steps in the finalization process of the Toolbox and formulate recommendations to States for the development of policies, strategies and legal and institutional frameworks on NTFPs which consider the right to adequate feeding.

Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, 11-13 April 2012 – Holding of the Second Meeting of the Sub-Work Group on Non-Timber Forest Products (SGT-PFNL) of COMIFAC Biodiversity Work Group of Central Africa (GTBAC). This meeting was organized by COMIFAC Executive Secretariat, with the support of the UN Organization for Food and agriculture (FAO).

The meeting gathered representatives of the following COMIFAC countries: Burundi, Cameroon, Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, CAR, DRC, Chad; representatives of the following international and sub-regional organizations and programmes: FAO, COMIFAC, PACEBCo; and the following civil society organizations: RAPDA, COPACO-RAPDA, CAGDF, CONADEC, CSE, OCDN.

Deliberations at this second meeting took place in three phases: (1) the opening ceremony; (2) Plenary sessions and interactions; and (3) the restitution and the adoption of recommendations. Three speeches marked the opening ceremony of the Workshop: the welcome address of FAO representative in Congo, the address of COMIFAC ES and the official opening address of the legal counsel, representing the Congolese Minister for Sustainable Development, Forestry and the Environment. After the opening ceremony, a presentation by participants and plenary communications followed on the topics hereafter: (1) Links Between the Right to Adequate Feeding, Food Security and NTFPs, by Mr. Ousseynou Ndoye; (2) Introduction to the Concept of the Right to Adequate Feeding and Human Right Principles, by Mrs Juliane Masuch; (3) The Implementation of the Right to Adequate Feeding, by Mrs Juliane Masuch; (4) The Development Process and the Structure of the Toolbox and Work Groups’ TDRs, by Mr. Mariano Iossa; (5) Analysis and Revision of Chapters in the Document, by Mr. Mariano Iossa.

 At the end of deliberations, participants amended the Toolbox project on the right to adequate feeding, food security and NTFPs and completed the remaining steps of the Toolbox finalization process. To close the meeting, they formulated recommendations à three levels: (1) at CEEAC: To ensure NTFPs are taken into consideration in the Detailed Programme for the Development of Agriculture in Africa (PDDAA). (2) At COMIFAC: To encourage States to develop policies, strategies and legal and institutional frameworks on NTFPs which take into consideration the right to adequate feeding. (3) At FAO: To support COMIFAC in the development of a guide for the inclusion of the right to adequate feeding in the forest polices and laws of COMIFAC countries.

Available for download:

Final Communiqué of the Second Meeting of SGT-NTFPs of COMIFAC Biodiversity Work Group of Central Africa