Proceedings of the 1st Kenya Commercial Forestry Investment Conference & Expo

Abstract

Globally, forests are estimated to cover about 4.06 billion hectares according to Global Forest Resources Assessment Report 2020, of which 131 million hectares are plantation forests representing 3% of the total global forests that is expected to supply wood for industrial and domestic use. It is projected that in order to meet the growing demand of wood, the plantation forests should supply at least 1.8 billion m3 of wood annually. This cannot be achieved if countries will rely on public plantations considering there is a significant loss of forest estimated at 420 million hectares since 1990. This calls for action by all stakeholders both from public and private to arrest the situation of wood deficit. This is because forestry sector provides goods and services that are very essential to environmental integrity and employment creation, thus playing a significant role on countries’ Growth Domestic Product (GDP). Countries have made commitment on their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to reduce emissions through sustainable forest management practices including designing and implementing Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) programmes. In Kenya, forest cover is estimated at 8.83% (5,226,191.79ha) of which 11% are forest plantations contributing to 3.6% of GDP excluding charcoal and direct subsistence uses, implying that with correct statistics, this should be higher than the stated percentage. However, with exponential population growth, wood deficit in Kenya stands at 10.3 million m3 as the country is only able to meet 70% of the demand wood through sustainable supply. This implies that small and medium-sized enterprises are forced to operate below capacity resulting to unsustainable extraction of wood from natural forests and informal imports, leading to diminishing of the resource base. It is in this context that commercial forestry has the potential to bridge the wood deficit in Kenya and rest of the developing economies in Africa and rest of the world. The success of commercial forestry in Kenya lies in extending tree growing to private lands, community lands and arid and semi-arid lands that is constituting at least 80% of the total land. It is with this understanding that Kenya Forestry Research Institute (KEFRI) and partners organised the first Kenya Commercial Forestry Investment Conference and Expo from 23rd to 26th November 2021 at KEFRI headquarters Muguga with an objective of providing a platform to exchange knowledge and experiences on the potential of commercial forestry investment in Kenya. The conference also served as v an avenue for stakeholders and development partners who exhibited and showcased technologies, products as well as opportunities in commercial forestry in line with the conference theme “Commercial Forestry Investment for Wealth Creation, Enhancing Manufacturing, Food security, Health and Attainment of 10% Tree Cover in Kenya. The conference was structured into 11 sessions, namely: Opening session; Setting the pace for the commercial forestry in Kenya; Tree seed and forest plantation management; Forest product processing value addition and technologies; Regional Trade for key products and Bamboo value chain; Investment and financing models for forestry sector in Kenya; Commercial forestry investment forum dialogue; Education and skills development; Policy, legislation and governance; International perspectives on commercial forestry; Commercial forestry policy dialogue; Poster and expo; and Field excursion.