A combination of these constraints reveals the need to empower smallholders with access to training, market information, and improved bargaining power. Additionally, the limited silvicultural practices made the wood quality inconsistent and generally low (Mwambusi et al., 2021). As individuals, farmers have a lower bargaining power to negotiate prices. Trees would be sold as stumpage at the farm gate to any offer, which often constituted intermediary traders (Kallabaka, 2018 Munuyee, 2018). Often, farmers have inadequate access to price information or a structured market (Munuyee, 2018 Ntiyamagwa, 2018 Du Deetlefs, 1967). Wood value chain studies in Eastern Africa revealed how smallholders faced market imperfection (Munuyee, 2018 Ntiyamagwa, 2018 Hulusjö, 2013 Samanya, 2020). Farmers in rural areas managing small-scale woodlots play an increasing role as wood product suppliers (Arvola et al., 2019 Martin and Mwaseba, 2021).

We proposed a hypothesis and further research agenda, calling for a panel study to complement our conceptual assertion.Įastern African countries are challenged with increasing pressure on natural forests while the demand for wood products continuously rises (Chamshama, 2011 Jacovelli, 2014 Nambiar, 2021).

Those more likely to participate had larger household sizes and difficulty accessing the wood market. In Tanzania, tree growers associations focused on social learning and wood production improvement. Household heads in the middle age group and those who experienced price satisfaction in the last woodlot sales would be more likely to participate in an FFO. In Ethiopia, farmers understood an FFO as a tree marketing cooperative or a collective wood marketing enterprise. The results showed that 74% and 90% of smallholders would be willing to participate in an FFO in the Ethiopian and Tanzanian cases, respectively. Grounded in the social exchange theory, we employed regression analysis and thematic analysis to analyze the data. Data were collected from 185 and 190 farm forestry households in Ethiopia and Tanzania, respectively, and triangulated with focus group discussions and key informant interviews. Using two case studies, this study aimed to examine smallholder tree growers' perceptions of FFOs and the main factors influencing their willingness to participate in FFOs. However, how farmers perceive FFOs and what drives their willingness to participate in FFOs are not yet fully understood. Forest Farmers' Organizations (FFOs) are gaining scholarly traction as a means to mobilize non-industrial private farmers to upscale tree-growing practices, thereby contributing to securing the increasing demand for wood products.

Strata forest products