05.03.26

A Multi-Stakeholder Workshop on Seasonal Forest Products (SFP) Value Chains Held in Ranchi, Jharkhand

A one-day workshop on strengthening value chains and market linkages for seasonal forest products (SFP) in Jharkhand was organised by SIDHKOFED and the Forest Department at Van Bhawan, Ranchi. The workshop brought together a cross-section of senior government officials, technical institutions, financial bodies, and private sector actors — reflecting the breadth of stakeholders whose alignment is critical for building functional SFP markets in the state.

The workshop was attended by Minister Shilpi Neha Tirkey, the Head of Forest Force (HoFF), the Director of ICAR-NISA, the DGM of NABARD, Divisional Forest Officers (DFOs), Divisional Coordination Officers (DCOs), SFP buyers including Terviva and Wild Harvest, and representatives from Multi-Purpose Cooperative Societies (MPCS) and Joint Forest Management Committees (JFMCs). The breadth of participation underscored the growing institutional interest in creating structured, transparent, and remunerative markets for forest produce in Jharkhand.

IoFE's Proposed SFP Inventory Exercise

IoFE presented its proposed SFP inventory exercise for Jharkhand at the workshop — a systematic, technology-enabled effort to map the distribution and abundance of key forest products across the state's 36 forest divisions. Both the HoFF and the Secretary of SIDHKOFED referenced the upcoming MoU between SIDHKOFED and ISB for this exercise in their addresses, noting that it is currently under departmental process and expected to be signed in the near term. Other speakers also acknowledged the importance of robust, ground-level data for planning, procurement, and policy — affirming the value of the exercise across multiple levels of the system.

Engaging the DFOs

Following the workshop, the HoFF facilitated an introduction between the IoFE team and the eight DFOs who had participated. A detailed technical and operational walkthrough of the inventory process followed — and the session drew substantive engagement. Technical queries were addressed by Abhinash and Nitesh, while Vijay and Neha shared field learnings from the inventory exercise conducted in Himachal Pradesh, offering a concrete reference point for what implementation looks like on the ground.

The overall response from the DFOs was positive. They noted that forest guards across divisions already use mobile applications for field purposes, reducing anticipated challenges around device adoption. Given that data collection will be spread across all 36 divisions, the exercise is estimated to require no more than 10 days per division.

Following the MoU signing, IoFE will convene a meeting with all DFOs to align on divisional-level targets and develop a detailed plan of action. In parallel, work is underway to finalise the training structure for field teams conducting the inventory.