Open Knowledge (FSC OK)

A forest, tree and agroforestry (FTA) value chain (also known as market, supply or commodity chain or production to consumption system) concerns the activities involved in bringing a timber or non-timber product from the tree or forest, through processing and production, to delivery to final consumers and ultimately disposal; including activities such as harvesting, cleaning, transport, design, processing, production, transformation, packaging, marketing, distribution and support services. Such activities generally add value to a product as it moves along the chain. A chain can range from the local to the global level. This range of activities may be implemented by various individuals or organisations, termed ‘actors', such as harvesters, processors, traders, retailers and service providers. The relations between actors and control of chains is known as chain governance (Gereffi and Humphrey 2005; Helmsing and Vellema 2011). Chains and products embody multiple relations of value - often explicitly economic but also social, cultural and environmental. Being based on natural resources, often wild sourced, sustainability of harvesting is a core aspect that differentiates forest products from agricultural chains.