Abstract:
Though a significant volume of information has been documented on the importance and potential of NTFPs’
utilisation and its impacts on poverty reduction, livelihoods improvement and environmental sustainability, a lot of confusion
is still associated with NTFPs semantics and terminologies. NTFPs have proved to be difficult to clearly define because of the
blurred boundaries between timber and non-timber products and the underlying difficulty in defining a forest. The overabundance
of terminologies relating to a single term having a range of interpretations, and none of which is universally recognised is at the
heart of the NTFPs semantic confusion. Consequently, the meaning of “NTFPs” has generated a lot of controversy. In other
words, there is no universally accepted operational definition of NTFPs. Various definitions proposed in literature tend to
expound on specific species, aspects and products according to different authors’ focal interests. The increasing realisation of
the importance of all forest resources makes the dichotomisation of forest resources into “timber” and “non-timber” overly
simplistic. The lack of a common definition, terminologies as well as the multiplicity of interest, constitutes a real hindrance to
research on and development of NTFPs. Through an extensive and critical review of literature and consultations with experts,
this paper examines the semantics and the difficulties in defining NTFPs, the ensuing confusion and the consequences for
research, and development and promotion of these products.