KEFRI Knowledge Base

A report on KEFRI's 7th Institutional Colloquium held on ^29th March 2023

The 7th KEFRI Institutional Colloquium was held on 29th March 2023 in auditorium KEFRI headquarters ( it was a hybrid of physical and virtual). Participation to the event included staff from KEFRI headquarters and eco-regional programmes . Physical Participants were37 while online participant--. The colloquium started at 10.10am with an introduction to the program by Dr. Nyambati who steered the program all through. Dr. Robert Nyambati invited a volunteer to officially open the event with a word of prayer and thereafter welcomed all participants. Dr. Robert Nyambati invited Dr Mbuvi Deputy Director Forest Research Support Services(DD FRSS) who gave his welcoming remarks.

Presentation

Dr Nyambati invited Dr Muthike who introduced and invited Dr. Joram Kagombe - for his presentation.

Title of address: Creating Enabling Environment for Forest Conservation and Commercial Forestry in Kenya

Speaker : Dr. Joram Kagombe– Deputy Director Social –Economic Policy and Governance

Watch the Recording Zoom Recording Passcode: #S4.S0UT

Dr Kagombe started his presentation by saying that forest sector is very important because it contributes to 2.6 %Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and therefore creating a conducive environment for forest establishment and conservation is vital. Dr Kagomber said that Forest play a key role in Kenya’s socio-economic development and Kenya is the largest importer of timber in the Eastern Africa. In addition to that , he mentioned that KEFRI has been at the forefront in undertaking research in forest trade and markets to enhance trade both locally and regionally. During his presentation , Dr Kagombe highlighted the status of forest and tree cover in Kenya and aspirations of the country as follows; Forest cover 8.3% but one reported under REDD 5.99% with aspiration to achieve 10% by 2030 Tree cover 12.13% with aspiration to increase to 3o% by 2032 He elaborated on various approaches to be used by Government Kenya to achieve 30% tree cover 15B trees by 2032 . He recommended on the following key approaches;

• Whole government whole society approach
• Multiple benefits, Landscape restoration, biodiversity, livelihoods and decent jobs
• To cover 10.4 M ha - conservation 65% (9.76B) and commercial 35%(5.3B)
• 70% equivalent to 10.6M Ha in ASAL
• Private sector 1.5 B, Faith based 50M
• Commerical Tree growing 3.8B
• Private commercial 500M
• wood producers 100M
• Sustainable charcoal 500M
• Gums and resins 200M

He further discussed the various Research gaps/problems in Socio- Economics, Policy and Governance which needs to be addressed as it has influence in forestry and environmental development in Kenya which include;Poor governance of forest resources, Forest land tenure and conflicts over resources, Society interests, gender and special interest groups in forests and forest resource management, Trade and marketing of forest products, Contribution of forests to livelihood improvement and Forest investment and financing

He started by saying that forest sector is very important because it contribution to 2.6 %Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and therefore creating a conducive environment for forest establishment and conservation is vital.00000 He mentioned that for Kenya Government to achieve 30% tree cover 15B trees by 2032 the following approaches should be used;

• Whole government whole society approach
• Multiple bnefits, Landscape restoration, biodiversity, livelihoods and decent jobs
• To cover 10.4 M ha - conservation 65% (9.76B) and commercial 35%(5.3B)
• 70% equivalent to 10.6M Ha in ASAL
• Private sector 1.5 B, Faith based 50M
• Commerical Tree growing 3.8B
• Private commercial 500M
• wood producers 100M
• Sustainable charcoal 500M
• Gums and resins 200M

He futher discussed the various Research gaps/problems in Socio-Economics, Policy and Governance which needs to be addressed as it has influence in forestry and environmental development in Kenya which include;

• Poor governance of forest resources
• Forest land tenure and conflicts over resources
• Society interests, gender and special interest groups in forests and forest resource management
• Trade and marketing of forest products
• Contribution of forests to livelihood improvement
• Forest investment and financing

He started by saying that forest sector is very important because it contributuon to 2.6 %Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and therefore creating a conducive environment for forest establishment and conservation is vital.

He highlighted the status of forest and tree cover in Kenya and aspirations of the country as follows

Forest cover 8.3% but one reported under REDD 5.99% with aspiration to achieve 10% by 2030 Tree cover 12.13% with aspiration to increase to 3o% by 2032

He mentioned that for Kenya Government to achieve 30% tree cover 15B trees by 2032 the following approaches should be used;

• Whole government whole society approach
• Multiple benefits, Landscape restoration, biodiversity, livelihoods and decent jobs
• To cover 10.4 M ha - conservation 65% (9.76B) and commercial 35%(5.3B)
• 70% equivalent to 10.6M Ha in ASAL
• Private sector 1.5 B, Faith based 50M
• Commerical Tree growing 3.8B
• Private commercial 500M
• wood producers 100M
• Sustainable charcoal 500M
• Gums and resins 200M

He futher discussed the various Research gaps/problems in Socio-Economics, Policy and Governance(SPG) which needs to be addressed as it has influence in forestry and environmental development in Kenya which include;

• Poor governance of forest resources
• Forest land tenure and conflicts over resources
• Society interests, gender and special interest groups in forests and forest resource management
• Trade and marketing of forest products
• Contribution of forests to livelihood improvement
• Forest investment and financing

He also mentioned that SPG has also spearheaded development of forest policies, legislation and governance. It has contributed to Drafting of KEFRI Bill and Strategy which is a stand-alone Bill and strategy to enable KEFRI to carry out it’s forestry research mandate and activities more effectively and to achieve its strategic objectives.it has also participated in Review of Policies and Legislation which include The Draft National Forest policy, which 2020 was reviewed finalized and submitted to the Ministry of Environment.It also Review of FCMA 2016 and Climate change Act,Subsidiary legislations in FCMA 2016 and Model County Forest Policy and Legislation.It has also patricipated in the development of subsidiary legislations which incudeForest Policy, Draft recommendations of review of FCMA 2016,Inputs to amendment of FCMA 2016,Draft Forestry and Allied Resources Regulatory Authority framework, Inputs to Kenya Water Towers Agency Bill, Inputs to Review of EMCA, Model County Forest Policy and Legislation and Draft Forestry and Allied Resources Regulatory Authority framework.

Dr Kagombe further Discussed areas that will create a conducive environment for forest establishment and conservation which should be under consideration. They included;

• Policy and Legislative
• Financing in Forestry
• Incentives to forest conservation
• Social protection social safeguards and inclusion
• Gender inclusion - Youth engagement
• Good governance
• Certification and standards and chain of custody
• Data sharing and communication
• Capacity buiding
• Land tenure and land access

Dr Kagombe also concluded by giving various recommendations which included Mainstreaming SPG in other thematic areas, Linking forest research strategies to livelihoods of Kenyans, Continuous monitoring of effects of policy and legislative changes to the sector, Support development of policies and legislations, Capacity buiding, demos and awareness creation and Continuous engagement of research practitioners and policy makers.

*Questions and answer session*

Questions	Answers
What role does KEFRI play in ensuring effectiveness of Community forest Association (CFA)	KEFRI has been fighting for total inclusiveness in CFA
What is generating reception of Commercial Forestry?	Good reception of commercial Forestry has been enhanced through creation of awareness on importance of trees and forest also private sector has been used to provide capital for commercial Forestry in Kenya which has reduced funding by the government.

Vote of thanks

Vote of thanks were made by Nellie Oduor.On behalf of management, Ms Oduor thanked the organising committee of the colloquium, Thanked Dr Kagombe for his presentation and appreciated online and physical participation to the event.

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Submitted by NaomyKemboi on 25 Apr 2023

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