The Ministry of Environment and Forestry (MEF) through Kenya Forestry Research Institute (KEFRI) and Kenya Forest Service (KFS), and in collaboration with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), is implementing a project entitled; “Capacity Development Project for Sustainable Forest Management in Kenya (CADEP-SFM)”. The overall goal of the project is to ensure sustainable forest management is promoted in Kenya towards the national forest cover target of 10%. The project is supported by JICA and will run for a period of 5 years from June 2016 to June 2021.

CADEP-SFM is implemented through five components, namely; Policy Support, Pilot implementation at County level, REDD+ readiness, Tree breeding for drought tolerance, and Regional Cooperation. The main outputs for each Component are as follows:
Component 1: (Policy Support) is led by MEF with the main outputs to: enhance monitoring capacity at the national level by supporting the implementation of National Forest Programme results framework; support updating of the National Forest Programme, and facilitate information sharing between development partners’ activities.
Component 2: (Pilot implementation at county level) is led by KFS with the main outputs to: enhance capacity of County governments, Private sector, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), and Community Based Organizations (CBOs) through implementing forest management, and increase the area of land under forest.
Component 3: (REDD+ Readiness) is led by KFS with the main outputs to: develop National Forest Monitoring System (NFMS) and Forest Information Platform; support capacity development through implementation of REDD+ Readiness, and develop a system for periodical forest monitoring.
Component 4: (Tree breeding) is led by KEFRI with the main output to improve the breeding techniques for drought tolerant trees in Kenya.
Component 5: (Regional Cooperation) is led by KEFRI with the main outputs to: promote regional cooperation in knowledge sharing and transfer of technology towards African Initiative for Combating Desertification to Strengthen Resilience to Climate Change in the Sahel and Horn of Africa (AI-CD).

Component 5 is contributing to the objectives of AICD through capacity development in Knowledge sharing, Building networks and Access to finance. KEFRI has a lead role in the following:

• Building capacity of participating seven Horn of Africa countries, namely; Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan in: identifying, collecting, documenting and sharing of good practices; building networks; and access to finance;
• Developing tools for identifying, collection, documentation and sharing of good practices;
• Designing and developing a CADEP – SFM web within KEFRI Knowledge Management System for sharing of knowledge and information; and
• Developing a database for accumulation and sharing knowledge and information.

The participating countries have the role of identifying, collecting, documenting and sharing of good practices; building networks; and accessing finance.

The outputs of the CADEP-SFM Regional Cooperation Component are complementary to those of AI-CD, thus contributing to combating desertification and strengthening resilience to climate change in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Component 5 (Regional Cooperation) Major Achievements

• Participated in organizing and Official Launch of African Initiative for Combating Desertification to Strengthen Resilience to Climate Change in the Sahel and Horn of Africa” (AI-CD) at a side event during the Sixth Tokyo International Conference for African Development (TICAD VI) held in Nairobi, Kenya on 27th August 2016
• Designed and developed a Web page within KEFRI Knowledge Management System
• Developed a Database for accumulation and sharing information
• Developed Terms of Reference for Horn of Africa participating countrie
• Developed tools for collecting, documenting and sharing good practices
• Held one Regional Forum for Horn of Africa participating countries
• Trained 20 officers from seven Horn of Africa participating countries on identification, collection, documenting and sharing of good practice
• KEFRI has collected and documented 8 good practices from Kenya, repackaged 5 good practices and uploaded 4 good practices on Database