Impacts of Skill Improvement in Small-scale On-farm Timber Processing in Kenya

Abstract

Following the logging ban in Government natural and plantation forests in Kenya, the demand for timber from farms increased but without appropriate sawing technologies. This resulted in the use of less preferred sawing methods; chain saws and mobile saw benches, which are known to be wasteful due to large saw kerfs and lack of adequate sawing skills for the operators. KEFRI initiated a programme to improve sawyers’ skills through training, with about 200 sawyers benefiting in three Districts in the first two years. An evaluation study two years after training in each District showed that timber recovery increased by over 7 % and 8% for trained chain saw and mobile saw bench operators respectively. Mobile saw benches had significantly higher timber recovery than chain saws due to their differences in saw kerfs and mode of operation. It was recommended that skill improvement be incorporated in initiatives aimed at improving on-farm timber processing. The use of thinner chains and circular saws should also be encouraged. Further research should be targeted towards developing more cost effective and recovery improving sawing technologies for the small-scale on-farm timber processing.