Creating, enhancing, and capturing environmental product values – Medicinal and spice plant trade in the Himalayan foothills

There is a substantial trade in renewable environmental products, including medicinal and spice plants. Yet, their production networks remain largely unknown. Here, using a global production network approach, we unravel the trade for such products in the Himalayan foothills of Nepal, focusing on how values are created, enhanced, and captured. We conducted quantitative interviews with harvesters (n = 25), traders (n = 12), and central wholesalers (n = 2) in 2014–15 and with traders (n = 5) in 2021–22 in Kailali District of Sudurpaschim Province, Nepal. All traders from the district were interviewed in both case years. We found that harvesters created and enhanced value by wild-harvesting, cultivating, and air-drying 10 products from nine species in 2014–15 and 14 products from 13 species in 2021–22. The total annual trade increased from 151 to 340 tons in the period, and the value rose from USD 103,939 to USD 125,800 (in 2021–22 prices). The trade was dominated by the cultivated tejpat leaves (Cinnamomum tamala) and the leaves of kadipatta (Murraya koenigii) in 2021–22. Traders and central wholesalers enhanced value through transport, not processing. Secondary processing in the district was limited, resulting in missed opportunities for added value through processing. Non-firm actors captured value in connection to issuing collection, trade, and export permits. An average of 68 % of volume and 86 % of harvester value were sourced from cultivation, showing the growing importance of these species for supplementary rural income in the lowlands. The process of increased commercialisation reflects similar changes in the neighbouring countries. Finally, we conclude that the global production network approach can be applied to examine the dynamics of South-South trade in renewable environmental products, even in the absence of a lead firm.