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The business of rattan production and trade is well established in Asia. It remains a vibrant business although one greatly affected by over-exploitation of the resource, resource scarcity and relative labour costs between countries. Far less is known about rattans in
Africa, yet there is a potential to emulate the better aspects of Asian experience in order to alleviate rural poverty. It is a unique crop in that it makes the farmer a colleague in arresting deforestation. The concept of participatory rattan farming in the forest margins deserves far greater attention than it has received from all those who wish to involve local people as allies in stabilising forest margins and arresting deforestation. This workshop brought together many practitioners and experts from Africa. It concluded by summarising that, since there are so few researchers and practitioners, duplication of effort should be avoided. There are policy and regulatory problems that needed to be overcome before rattanbased development can thrive. It concluded that greater effort was needed to disseminate information and technologies. Higher value products are also needed.
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