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.