This report summarizes and discusses research experiences from four reports, by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and Tyynela, Otsamo and Otsamo. They are all interested to some extent in the security of benefits for the outgrowers concurrent to maintaining economic and environmental sustainability. The FAO report (FAO, 2000) provides a broad overview of forestry outgrower schemes around the world. We propose a set of principles and criteria by drawing on published literature and the results of this report. The IIED report (Mayers and Vermeulen, 2002) examines outgrower schemes in five different countries that cover a range of forestry contexts within as wide a spectrum of different experiences and problems as possible. From case studies and experiences it identifies factors that encourage or prevent partnerships, and tackles the practical issue of how company-community relationships can go forward. Based on the lessons learned from the case studies, ways forward in the different stages of the process are identified and illustrated with examples. The CIFOR report (Nawir and Calderon, 2001), on the other hand, starts from an already established set of principles, criteria and indicators for mutually beneficial partnerships to assess existing outgrower schemes in Indonesia and the Philippines. In the report by Tyynela, Otsamo and Otsamo (2002), changes and alternatives in farmers' livelihood planning were studied in an industrial forest plantation scheme in West Kalimantan, Indonesia. Financial analyses were done using cash flow techniques. Job opportunities, rice yields and returns on land were compared for varying production combinations at the household level. The FAO, IIED and CIFOR reports are similar and complementary in their key issues, principles, and criteria that relate to building mutual beneficial partnerships.
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