Linking Market Intelligence and Remote Villagers: Innovative Use of Rural Radio Networks in Brazilian Amazonia

The Center for International Forestry Research created a methodology to disseminate information about the production and marketing of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) to improve the livelihoods of small, isolated landowners and promote biodiversity conservation in the Brazilian Amazon.

With support from the Rainforest Alliance’s Kleinhans Fellowship, this project aimed to make market research available to small landholders interested in forest product commercialization, but are located far from markets and uninformed about prices; give a practical application at the grassroots level to the available research and market data related to commercialization of NTFPs; and explore the enormous potential of communication tools such as local radio to disseminate relevant market information to and help improve the livelihoods of communities scattered throughout the Amazon basin.