The Market Participants
The rattan market participants include all those involved from the production of the raw
materials up to the point where the finished product is made available to consumers in the
desired form, time and place. They are as follows:
Gatherers who are mostly tribal people and could be members or non-members of a
gatherers’ association;
Gatherers’ associations, composed of gatherers residing in particular upland communities
and organized for the purpose of obtaining a rattan cutting permit or undertaking
other activities;
Raw material traders who may or may not hold permits;
Manufacturers who include producers of furniture and handicraft items;
Workers who include subcontractors and in-house workers;
Finished product traders who are engaged in trading at the domestic or foreign market
or both;
Transporters who include truckers and shippers; and
Plantation owners who initiated rattan planting on their own or through government
reforestation program.
The number of respondents for each of the different categories is shown in Table 4.