Non-timber forest product extraction as a productive bricolage process

This chapter explores the usefulness of the ‘productive bricolage’ concept, coined by Croll and Parkin (1992) and further elaborated by Batterbury (2001), in understanding the role of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) in people’s livelihoods and the forested landscape. I argue that NTFP extraction as part of a productive bricolage process - defined as ‘the flexible and dynamic crafting together of various livelihood options and its associated impacts on the landscape’ - holds limited potential for poverty alleviation as it is mostly a sign of economic precariousness. Regarding the impact of NTFPs production on the landscape, I demonstrate that the productive bricolage concept is useful for reinterpreting Wiersum’s writings on the evolutionary continuum of forest-people interactions and the co-domestication of forests and
trees. However, a more encompassing approach is needed considering the decreasing autonomy of community forestry and the growing integration of NTFP production into commercial networks and multilevel governance regimes. I propose political ecology as the overall perspective to deal with such multiscalar influences.