Using Market Knowledge to Advance Global Forest Sustainability (August 2004)
Imaflora’s Estevao Braga has a pretty thick skin and a gift for persuasion. If you spent the good part of a year cold-calling U.S. tropical wood buyers about their purchasing practices and importing hurdles, dealing with dismissal would be a part of daily life.
“Who are you?”
“What do you want this for?”
“I don’t have time for this.”
But Estevao, sponsored by USAID through its Sustainable Forest Products Global Alliance, interned for North American non-profit Metafore for a year to gather this information and educate forest products producers in developing countries, is a smooth operator. The Brazil native used his wealth of knowledge on the issues, approachable nature and Portuguese-inflected English to win over buyers.
He took leave of Imaflora in Brazil in March 2003 to intern in Oregon on a project that would inform foreign producers of sustainably harvested forest products on the opportunities and requirements of doing business in the U.S. marketplace. With Estevao’s help, several U.S. buyers came to understand that by educating foreign producers about the U.S. market it could ultimately help them secure a consistent supply of quality product.
His cold call acumen and ability to smooth talk gate-keeping secretaries got Estevao in the door for face-to-face meetings and telephone interviews with some of the most influential tropical wood buyers in the United States. Those meetings, coupled with dogged research on market trends, helped him put together a definitive how-to series of fact sheets titled “The U.S. Market for Tropical Wood Products” (available at www.metafore.org) that are taking Central and South America countries by storm.
In May 2004, Metafore, along with partner NGOs implementing USAID market development initiatives in Latin America, hosted five seminars presented by Estevao in Brazil, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Guatemala and Peru based on his research, which was funded by USAID and the USDA Forest Service.
“After each presentation, I realized how big the lack of information about international forest products markets in Latin America was,” Estevao noted. “All these countries are facing economic struggles, but they have potential to compete in niche markets for forest products. I believe the presentation gave them tools and knowledge to better prepare themselves and their companies to go overseas.”
“To hear from many attendees how important that information was for their businesses — to interact with them and ultimately help them to understand how to find better markets for their certified products — is a priceless reward,” he added.
More than 300 representatives from the forest products industry participated in the seminars, dedicated to showing those on the ground in these countries that if they implement responsible harvesting practices they can build a lucrative long-term future for their forests and communities.
Participants in the seminars universally noted in feedback documents that the material was helpful and that Estevao was very knowledgeable on the subject.
“This information received in the seminar was important to better structure the required processes to export products, visualize the market opportunities to export to U.S., especially with export expectations after the free-trade agreement was signed,” remarked one seminar attendee.
After word of the presentations got out, several mass media outlets in Central America, including Bolivia’s International Trade and Columbia’s M&M Magazine on that country’s wood and furniture industry, sought to publish the material in the presentations to an even broader audience.
What’s more, Estevao may have found a new calling. This isn’t going to be the last time you hear from him about market linkages and responsible forestry in the tropics.
“This motivates me to continue developing research tools, structure market information and link sustainable business around the world,” he said.
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