2.1.1 Size and Growth
According to the provisional results of the 1999 population and housing census, Kenya has a population of 28.7 million compared to 21.4 million, 15.3 million, 10.9 million and 8.6 million in 1989, 1979, 1969 and 1962 respectively. These figures translate into growth rates of 2.9, 3.4, 3.8, and 3.0% per annum over the inter-censual periods 1999-1989, 1989-1979, 1979-1969 and 1969-1962 respectively. The trend confirms the rapid decline in fertility rates, rapid increase in urbanization rates and changes in migration patterns and mortality rates.
2.1.2 Fertility
According to the 1998 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (KDHS), fertility rate has shown a steady decline from 8.1 in 1978, to 6.7 in 1989 and further to 4.7 in 1998.
The trend in the next 20 years is expected to follow a similar pattern. At the same time, the composition of the population has shifted and there is now a significantly higher population, about 61%, that is under age 20 and 51% under 15. Fertility differentials are profound with respect to geographical areas and education. The survey confirmed that 5.2 children are born to a woman in the rural areas compared to 3.1 children in the urban areas; and 5.8 children are born to women with no education compared to 3.5 children for women with secondary education.
2.1.3 Mortality
Evidence from the KDHSs shows a worsening mortality situation in Kenya over the 1990s as compared with the situation over 1980s. The figures for infant and under-five mortality rates are 62 and 91 per 1,000 live births respectively in mid 1980s as compared to 74 and 112 in 1998. There are pronounced differentials in infant and child mortality across geographical areas and according to the level of education of mother, reflecting to a great extent the imbalances that exist in levels of development in socio-economic factors across the country.
2.1.3 Migration and Urbanization
Projections based on Kenya’s 1989 population and housing census indicate profound changes in rural to urban migration reducing the concentration of rural population from a level of 82% in 1990 to 77% in 2000. It is projected that the level will be 64% by the year 2020.
The rate of urbanization was projected to grow at an approximate annual rate of 3.5% resulting in the proportion of urban to rural population of 21% in 1990, 27% in 2000 and 42% in 2020. Evidence shows that rural-urban migration is a key source of economic growth in Kenya having accounted for 4.6 percentage points of per capita income growth over a period of 10 years between 1970/72 and 1980/82 compared to 4% experienced in the case of technical change over the same period.
In light of the current slow growth of the economy, urbanisation is resulting into a concentration of a population that is increasing beginning to depend on fuel wood for their energy demand. This trend will result into increased demand of wood fuel products.
2.1.4 The HIV/AIDS Scourge
Kenya faces a high rate of HIV infection as shown by the urban and rural prevalence rates of 18.1 and 13.0% respectively in 1998. The rate of growth of HIV infection in rural areas is higher than that of the urban areas growing from 8.7% in 1994 to 13.0% in 1998. Compared to 14.5% and 18.1% in urban areas over the same period. The strategy of the government is to enhance the use of information, communication and education as measures for controlling and preventing HIV infection.
The scourge will reduce ability of majority of Kenyans to afford alternative energy sources such as gas, electricity or paraffin for domestic use. These will lead to more dependency on fuel wood.
2.1.5 Land-Use
Kenya has a total land area of about 582,645 km2 or about 5.8 million ha including 2.6 million ha of forest on both government land (56%) and trust land (44%). Population densities have grown over time, rising from 15 persons per km2 of land in the 1960s to 27 and 37 in the 1980s and 1990s respectively. The country’s population density is estimated at 50 persons per km2 for the 2000s. This increase in population density has taken place against a shortage of good agricultural land that is only about 1.9 million ha which represents only a third of the total land area. This scenario translates to corresponding figures for arable land per capital of 2.2 ha in the 1960s, 1.24 ha in the 1980s, 0.89 ha in the 1990s and 0.66 ha estimate for the 2000s. By the year 2020, arable land per inhabitant is projected to be 0.48 ha.
2.1.6 Income Changes and Distribution
The trend of real income per capital over time shows a sharp decline as reflected by annual growth rates of 1.5% over the 1972-1979 period, 0.5% over the 1982-1989 period and –0.5% over the 1992-1999 period. Income distribution is largely skewed with 20% of the rural population sharing only 3.5% of the national income compared to the top 20% of the population sharing more that 60% of the national income.
2.1.7 Poverty Incidence
The poverty situation in Kenya is a national crisis and its reduction is a national challenge. Kenya’s Economic Survey 2000 stipulates that 56% of Kenyans are living below the poverty line. This comprises the rural and urban proportions of 13.8 million people or 85% and 2.4 million people or 15% respectively. Although poverty has always been assumed to be a rural phenomenon, it is now evident that it is prevalent in urban areas as well. This scenario leads to increased dependency on wood fuel resources.
2.2.1 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) Growth Rate
Since the mid-1970s, the performance of the economy has been poor, declining to 5.2% annual average growth rate of GDP over the second half of 1970s, 4.1% in the 1980s and 2.3% during the first half of the 1990s. Structural reforms in the next half of the 1990s have focused on maintaining macro-economic stability by removal of bottlenecks to growth, improving public financial management, enhancing external and domestic competitiveness of the economy as well as addressing social aspects of development.
Structural Changes
Over the last three and half decades, notable structural transformation has occurred in the economy of Kenya, as reflected by changes in sectoral share contributions to total GDP. The share of agriculture sector has declined sharply from an average of 37% per annum over the 1964-1973 period to 27% over the 1990-1999 period, compared to a marginal decline of 1% in the share of the manufacturing sector from an annual average of 12% over the 1964-1973 period to 11% over the 1990-1999 period.
Kenya adopted an industrial transformation strategy in 1996 designed to expand considerably the share of contribution of the manufacturing sector to GDP and transform the country into a Newly Industrialized Country (NIC) by the year 2020. The service sector has grown rapidly with its share contribution to GDP rising from 53% over the 1964-1973 period to 62% over the 1990-1999 period.
External Trade
Kenya’s exports are dominated by a few agricultural commodities including tea, coffee and horticultural crops. Exports of manufactured goods accounted for 17% in 1990. Major import items include crude petroleum, industrial machinery and industrial inputs such as iron and steel. The sharp decline of the share of the total value of imports of the three mentioned products during the last years, was due to increased shares of other import items such as motor vehicles, chassis, refined petroleum products and pharmaceuticals following trade liberalization.
Value of exports as a percentage of GDP recorded an annual average of 21% between 1990 and 1999 as compared to 33% in the case of the value of imports over the same period. Terms of trade have remained favourable since 1993.
Investment and Savings
The general decline in economic performance since the mid-1970s reduced the growth of capital stock. The sources of gross investment financing have shifted significantly since 1991 toward the domestic saving financing. Inflows of Official Development Assistance (ODA) declined sharply since 1991 following suspension of donor aid to Kenya. To achieve sustainable levels of development, it is crucial to have the investment level increased to the level attained in the 1970s of about 30% of the GDP.
Since development in the forestry sector requires long-term investment, the current reduced investment capacity implies that the government will have inadequate capital to invest into forestry development. Therefore the improvement of forestry sector will depend heavily on external funding and individual investors in farm forestry.
Kenya recognizes the overriding importance of sound development of the infrastructure and communications sector because of its great potential in stimulating economic activities and improvement in the welfare of the people. Improved infrastructure will lead to improved livelihood resulting to less dependence on forest resources.
Development in the Infrastructure (Transport System) Sub-Sector
Most of the basic infrastructural facilities regarding the transport system that are necessary for an "economic-take off", by the integration of various production and population centres as well as facilitating mobility in both rural and urban areas, are already in place. Nevertheless, the deterioration in quality of the facilities in the last 15 years has posed a major challenge to economic growth. In order to ensure sustainable development in the sub-sector, the Government has placed emphasis on improving efficiency and quality of the existing infrastructural facilities.
Similarly within the forestry sector, there has been no proper maintenance of the transport infrastructure. The sector experiences inadequate supply of vehicles, collapsed unclassified road network and inadequate operational funds. Conservation efforts have therefore been subdued.
Road Transport:
The road transport accounts for 80% of the country’s total passenger and freight traffic. It comprises a total of 151,000 km of both classified and unclassified network as well as the urban transport system. The classified network, or 42% of the total road transport network is under the Ministry of Roads and Public Works whereas the unclassified network (53%) is under the Forest Department in the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources as well as Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) and the Ministry of Tourism. The urban transport network, consisting of only 5% of road transport, is crucial for Kenya’s industrial development and is under municipal authorities including the City Council of Nairobi.
Railway Transport:
Railway transport, the second most important transport mode after the roads, is particularly important for the carriage of bulky goods over long distances. Freight haulage accounts for more than 80% of the total earnings from the railway transport whereas passenger transport accounts for 10% only and the rest of the earnings come from catering and other services.
It is envisaged that if Kenya improves her capability of increasing export of her forest produce, the use of railway transport is likely to be the best option available.
Marine Transport, Air Transport & Pipeline Transport:
The implementation of Kenya’s industrial policy required increasing the efficiency and capacity at the port of Mombassa to handle the expected increase in the magnitude of economic output that would emanate from increased export-oriented manufacturing as well as increased productive activities.
Air transport is Kenya’s key sub-sector for promoting the development of tourism industry and regional integration as well as for the transportation of high value exports and perishable goods especially horticultural crops, major sources of foreign exchange earnings.
Pipeline transport is the main mode of transporting petroleum oil under the management of Kenya Pipeline Corporation. Development of pipeline and liberalisation of the petroleum sector is expected to lead to reduced consumer prices for the petroleum products. Such reduced prices will lower consumer demand for wood fuel products.
The Communications Sub-Sector
The communications sub-sector consists of the postal and telecommunications services delivery as well as a regulatory mechanism. Kenya has joined the "information superhighway" following the convergence of technologies in the areas of computing, telecommunications and audio-visual, in order to improve the quality of services delivery.
If not for the current development in wireless telecommunications, the demand for poles for telegraphic purposes was expected to double in the year 2001, as predicted in the KFMP,1994.
Meteorology Sub-sector
Meteorology is recognized as an important aspect of economic development through provision of accurate and reliable information on climatological and weather conditions. The policy of the Government is to strengthen the capacity of meteorological facilities and avail information from the centres to resources planners.
Overview
The Kenyan population has continued to increase and this will continue putting more pressure on land resources. Farm holding sizes are likely to be subdivided further as people continue to depend more and more on primary land productivity. If the past trends are anything to go by, tree cover will increase in the farmlands because more and more people will continue to invest on tree planting as a fall back mechanism during times of difficulties. It has been reported that with smaller land holdings and increased settled population density, tree cover tends to increase (KFMP, 1994).
At the beginning of the last century, it was realized that wood production from the country’s indigenous forest would not sustain demand for industrial demand for long. It was therefore decided to establish fast growing exotic species for production of industrial wood. This programme has been supported by 4 development credits from the World Bank totalling to US $65 million. Several other donor grants have also been channelled into indigenous forest conservation, extension services and research programmes.
After the expiry of the last World Bank Forestry Development Project, funding of the major development programme reverted to the Government. Due to financial constraints budgetary allocation dropped to a tenth of the previous funding levels, with a corresponding drop in annual work programme. Currently the annual planting programme stands at about 400 hectares compared to 4800 during the World Bank Project days. In contrast, demand for timber has continued to increase leading to the opening of more areas during harvesting. The reduced annual work programme has therefore led to accumulation of backlogs in plantation establishment and maintenance, now standing at about 40,000 ha.
With foreign direct investment levels in Kenya still stagnant and falling, the investment in forestry sector has declined drastically at the moment resulting in reduced development programmes. If this scenario persists, the future sustainability of government dominated forestry development will be at stake. This trend can only be reversed if the envisaged policy and institutional reforms are put in place in good time to incorporate other interested stakeholders in the sector.
From the current observations, we are likely to have a shift from a government dominated timber supply to a private sector (farm forestry) dominated market. There are new tree products with favourable markets that are likely to influence tree growing at the farm level. In some areas and especially in the semi-arid areas, forestry investment is more sustainable and profitable in the long term than agriculture. Trees are more adapted in these environments and tree-based crops are likely to be the answe r in coping with the harsh environment. Ngugi (1997), found that farmers with heavy reliance on tree crops were more secure in food security than those depending heavily on food crops alone. With introduction of land tax, people are likely to invest in forestry (which has low investment costs) as a way of assigning the land to its most productive use. This will however, need to be supported by incentive measures like technologies, suitable species, micro credits, and market support systems. This observation is drawn from the realization that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MoA&RD) is in the process of formulating a comprehensive land-use policy.
We are likely to see more local investments on tree production, marketing and processing especially for non-wood forest and tree products. A lot of potential exists in both the high potential and marginal areas in the production and processing of these products. Information and awareness has started reaching the target areas, and this is likely to change the tree investment scenario with the realization that public land under forestry production is likely to go down during the period under review.
Following the identification of fast growing and high quality commercial tree species, a substantial amount of land in the semi-arid areas and high potential areas is likely to be allocated for growing trees on commercial basis, with private entrepreneurship taking a dominant role in this sector. The current estimate is that approximately 70,000 ha of fast growing plantations are under private ownership. Apart from tea and tobacco firms with good management, some of these resources are poorly managed. There is however, some scope for improved management given the supply scenario from gazetted forest areas, as the price starts to increase due to shortfall in supply.
Trees such as Melia volkensii, Albizia tanganyikensis, Terminalia prunioides, T. brownii and Acacia xanthophloea have been found to grow fast in semi-arid areas with high water table (at the age between 10-12 years) and produce commercial timber for construction, furniture and carving. Similarly, trees such as Acacia senegal, Commiphora africana, Sclerocarya birrea, Tamaridus indica and Hyphaene compressa have also been observed to grow fast in semi-arid areas and have important commercial non-wood tree products. The large-scale establishment of plantations will only be possible with appropriate land use policy, defined land tenure and an appropriate regulatory and monitoring system. The need to involve pastoralists communities in tree crop development and conservation is recognised as a national priority. The process must however be packaged and introduced suitably to allow the communities to realize the benefits and own the process.
If the past trends are anything to go by, we are likely to continue to have an estimated KSh 0.5 billion investment from the donor community per year. This external capital is needed to augment the current low-level government funding towards the development of the forestry sector. Similarly, the private sector will be expected to continue investing in excess of KSh 1 billion per year (50 million seedlings at KSh 20 per seedling production, including cost of seedling, planting, tending and protection).
Although it has been quoted in all economic surveys that the share contribution by the forestry sector to total capital formation over the first half of 1990s averaged about 0.5%, this figure is only official government revenue from gazetted forests. It is noted that contributions to the rural economy based on fuel wood alone, with a demand of 24 million m3 of wood, is valued at about KSh 7.2 billion annually. Similarly, non-wood forest and tree products generate about KSh 2.8 billion a year according to estimates by Kenya Association of Forest Users (KAFU, 2000) while the carving industry alone contributes about KSh 1.5 billion (WWF, 1998). It is important to note here that both the carving industry and non-wood forest products earn the country a substantial amount of the much-needed foreign exchange.
Although the contribution of forest resources to the economy is highly undervalued, realistically, the sector’s contribution to the national economy stands at 2 billion Ksh, which is approximately 10% of the agricultural sector GDP (KEFRI Strategic Plan 1999-2001). There is therefore an urgent need to carry out national forest valuation exercises to collect data to be fed into the national economic planning and accounting system.
Investment in the forestry sector also includes human resource development at undergraduate level in the departments of Forestry and Wood Science Technology at Moi University, which amounts to an annual average of 5.6% of the total undergraduate enrolment between 1988 and 1995.
Investment in Research:
Forestry Research in Kenya started about the same time as the practice. Due to the experiences encountered in regeneration of indigenous forests the department embarked fully on exotic programs that required investments in research in order to ascertain optimum working rules for industrial plantation development. These rules were to be the basis for policy prescription for optional management.
KEFRI has received development assistance from JICA since 1988. This contribution has been mainly in the construction of buildings and research facilities, staff training and in procurements of vehicles and equipments. There are also a host of other donors financing various research programs highlighted above. KEFRI’s strategic plan is to devise research and development programmes that will be supported by a service program whose activities include information documentation and dissemination.
Appended in Table 1 are direct financial inputs to further forestry research between the periods 1995/96 to 2000/01 in Kenya.
Table 1 Kenya Forestry Research Institute Recurrent and Development Expenditure 1995/96-2000/01
|
Financial Year |
Recurrent Expenditure |
Development Expenditure |
|||||
|
Salaries |
O&M |
Total |
Gok |
Donor |
Total |
Grand Total |
|
|
1995/96 |
165,558,820 |
14,236,400 |
176,795,220 |
24,051,000 |
39,900,000 |
63,951,000 |
240,746,220 |
|
1996/97 |
173,009,920 |
9,055,520 |
182,065,440 |
8,671,320 |
- |
8,671,320 |
190,736,760 |
|
1997/98 |
177,994,680 |
17,339,000 |
195,333,680 |
1,930,000 |
- |
1,930,000 |
197,263,680 |
|
1998/99 |
232,843,840 |
22,467,400 |
255,311,240 |
200,000 |
52,760,000 |
52,960,000 |
308,271,240 |
|
1999/00 |
230,760,700 |
22,266,380 |
253,027,080 |
5,000,000 |
58,000,000 |
63,000,000 |
316,027,080 |
|
2000/01 |
242,592,000 |
23,408,000 |
266,000,000 |
11,000,000 |
18,800,000 |
29,800,000 |
295,800,000 |
|
Total |
1,219,759,960 |
108,772,700 |
1,328,532,660 |
50,852,320 |
169,460,000 |
220,312,320 |
1,548,844,980 |
2.4.2 Constraints in Forestry Investment
Constraints in forestry or tree-based programmes originate primarily from inappropriate legislations, in-adequate institutional capacities, lack of credit support, poor planning, weak project preparations and implementation capable of competing successfully for scarce investment funds with non-forestry projects.
Credibility of forestry business among financial institution is usually poor because of lack of understanding and difficulties involved in valuing and pricing of forest/tree products. In summary, the following constraints affect the development of forestry sector in Kenya:
Inappropriate policies in encouraging private sector participation
Institutional inadequacies (including skills)
Lack of incentives
Weak economic conditions and inadequate infrastructure
Environmental policies (e.g. those discouraging forest utilization, especially bamboo, cactus and aloe)
Political interests and interference
Forest resources are often assigned a very low market value
Although financial resources alone are not sufficient to ensure sustainable forestry, without appropriate financing, the goal of economically efficient, socially balanced and environmentally sound forest management will be difficult to be achieved.
What Needs to be Done
There is need to improve investment in the forestry sector so that the sector can contribute effectively to the socio-economic development of the country and play its other roles as highlighted under the policy objectives. To achieve this, the following issues needs to be resolved:
Policy reforms that include securing the market value of the national resource capital stock and land-use planning
Create and promote a favourable environment for investment in sustainable forest management, and develop and maintain strong institutional and human capacities
Provide incentives and promote the use of appropriate technologies to support sustainable forest management
Donors should focus on resource management based on appropriate land-use practices, value-adding and tree-based income-generating activities
A comprehensive forest establishment, management and utilization monitoring and evaluation programmes should be established
2.5.1 Latest Developments of Kenya Forest Policy
Significant changes have taken place in the country and the world since the present forest policy was adopted. Since the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) the country has embarked on updating the policies and legislation relating to the management of natural resources including forests. Sustainable forest management requires the involvement of all citizens and the adjacent forest communities. Nationally forestry development is now seen as a component in an integrated effort to raise the living standards of the people, create employment and increase industrial output for both local and export market.
The current policy undergoing revision has been found to be inadequate in a number of areas. It is through this recognition of the inadequacy of the existing policy as a basis for long term sectoral planning that the government, since 1991, has been undertaking to review both the forest policy and legislation. A new forest policy has therefore been proposed and adopted by the government and is ready for submission to parliament for enactment. The new policy will in particular address the following issues:
The need to sustainably manage all types of forests including those in state, trust and private lands
Farm forestry and dry land forestry, which provide an opportunity for the expansion of the forest resource services and products
Increased role of the private sector and other stakeholders including forest industry in sustainable forest management and utilization
Participation of local communities and gender issues in planning, programming and implementation of forest programmes as well as providing them with guidelines on access and benefit sharing
Recognition and institutionalise global conventions and other protocols related to sustainable forest management
Incorporation of environmental impact assessment as a major criterion in forest development
This new policy takes into consideration the existing land-use, environmental, energy, industrial and other related policies. It has been prepared through wide participation of all the stakeholders including NGOs, education and research institutions, international donors and local level communities. This policy is therefore expected to guide forestry sector development into the new millennium. This has been done in order to make the policy & legislation stakeholder driven and hence acceptable within the overall social and economic development context of the country. In order to enforce the new forest policy, a new forest bill has been drafted and is awaiting enactment. This new bill will re-define forest management in line with emerging challenges.
Institutional Framework for Forestry
The broad responsibilities of the Forest Department as stated in Government Circular No. 1 of 1995 on organization of the Government of Kenya, is conservation and development of all forest resource in the country. It is the responsibility of the department to ensure that forests are managed sustainably so as to provide the country’s need for wood products and ensure environmental and biodiversity conservation. In addition the department also provides extension services to farmers and other landowners in order to increase tree cover and wood production outside the gazetted forests.
In pursuing these objectives, it must be borne in mind that as the country’s population grows to an estimated 30 million in 2020, the adequate supply for fuel wood, poles and posts, industrial wood and many other forest products will be maintained. If these needs are not sustainably met, then the forest and tree resources of the country will decline at an accelerated pace that will intensify environmental imbalance and cause irreversible loss of biodiversity.
The forestry sector is currently faced with several critical challenges, including:
Difficulties in undertaking regulatory, statutory and extension services due to lack of commercial flexibility and existing cumbersome procedures
Lack of autonomy and external influences
Multiple licensing authorities (for forest produce extraction) including local authorities, provincial administration and other departments
Under-valuation of forestry resources leading to inadequate linkages between budgetary allocations on operations and maintenance (O&M) and revenue collection leading to absence of incentives to improve revenue collection
Depletion of forest cover through over-exploitation and excision
Lack of an effective management information system and technology
Land-use conflicts between forests, agriculture and urban development
In view of the above constraints, the Forest Department cannot be able to adequately carry out its functions and mandate. Development partners have therefore to be identified and given appropriate roles, according to their existing or potential interests and capabilities.
For the seek of public sector amenities, the government must continue to be the highest authority in the forestry sector, and particularly in areas of policy, law enforcement, licensing forest utilization, collection of revenue, research, education and training, extension and other public services. The government is also expected to co-ordinate and provide support to the forestry activities of the other development partners. All these activities are geared towards the development of an appropriate multi-agency regulatory and monitoring framework.
Focus on Forest Department
The Forest Department was established through an Act of Parliament (Cap. 385) of the laws of Kenya in 1942. It is headed by a Chief Conservator of Forests who is assisted by other forestry professional and technical officers at national, provincial, districts, divisional and forest station levels.
Logistical support within the department is provided by a variety of support staff. The development of the forestry has been mainly in the hands of the state although farmers have been planting trees for decades especially where they have had secure tenure of their land.
The Forest Department has had a dual role as forest authority and as manager of forest resources. Under this arrangement the department has established a good supply of industrial wood predominantly from fast-growing exotic tree species. However, due to the various constraints enumerated earlier, the management of the forest resources is a serious cause for concern.
In view of the challenges facing the department, an organizational change has been proposed. One of the most conspicuous options is a move in the long-term direction to commercialise the management of state-owned forest plantations. This will mean splitting the functions of the Forest Department into two. The management and development of forest plantations will be taken over as a business venture, and carried out on commercial basis. The remaining Forest Department will become the National Forest Authority dealing with indigenous forest conservation and responsible for policy, legislation, law enforcement, extension and monitoring. Under this arrangement, there will be a clear separation of the regulatory and development functions in forest resource management. The new organizational structure is aimed at making the department more focused, productive and efficient, with appropriate staff rationalization. It is anticipated that under this re-organization, adequate revenues will be generated for sustainable plantation management, with surplus being utilized for indigenous forest conservation and extension services.
2.5.4 Structure and Functions of Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS)
The Kenya Wildlife Service is an institution established under the Wildlife Conservation and Management Act (1989). One of the statutory functions of the service is formulation of policies regarding the conservation, management and utilization of all wild animals. It has the sole jurisdiction over national parks and an oversight role in management of national reserves and private sanctuaries. It also has the legal mandate to enforce wildlife laws and regulation.
In carrying out the above mandate, KWS has recognized the need to form partnership with stakeholders (including private researchers, group researchers, Forest Department through Memoranda of Understanding, etc) and local people living adjacent to protected areas for effective and sustainable management of the natural wildlife heritage. The future vision of KWS is to focus on mobilizing the competent authorities and stakeholders, educating them on the importance of biodiversity, on user-rights policy and in providing the skills needed to participate in conservation programmes.
2.5.5 The Private Sector
The role of private sector participation in the forestry sector has been mainly in forest enterprise use area especially within forest industry. These are however, plantation forests under private companies, tea & tobacco that are well managed and are based on short-term fuel wood cycles to cure their raw materials. Within such estates, Eucalyptus spp is the dominant and preferred species. The information on the exact area under the above forests is however not available.
A number of such companies have shown interests in leasing government forestland to grow trees for their use. Therefore if an enabling environment is created, a number of these private firms could secure deforested government land for reforestation programmes and in the process ease the government’s role in forest development.
Individual farmers have however been planting trees outside the gazetted forest estate for a long time, especially when they had secure tenure of their land. They constitute a very large and important sector in forestry related private sector. With the intended shift in the reorganization of forestry sector, the role of private sector/local communities in future forestry management will continue to play an increasingly important role in tree planting and forest management.
2.5.6 Research and Education
There are a number of institutions involved in forestry-related research and education on the research aspect. Kenya Forestry Research Institute (KEFRI) has the overall mandate to conduct research in forestry issues in Kenya. KEFRI co-operates with other research bodies within and outside Kenya carrying out similar research, liases with other organizations and institutions of higher learning in training and on matters of forestry research and in disseminating research findings. KEFRI strategic plan is to undertake more discipline-oriented and prioritised research programmes, and develop a flexible problem oriented research structure based on core research programmes in farm forestry, natural forests, plantation forests and dry land forestry.
Kenya Forestry College is an institution that trains at sub-professional level and is the main trainer of technical cadres for the Forest Department. Professional forestry training is done at both Moi and Egerton universities.
Overview
Since independence, Kenya has continued to rely heavily on agricultural sector as a base for economic growth, employment creation and foreign exchange generator. Agriculture has been the mainstay of the Kenyan economy. The share of agriculture in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) declined from 36.6% during 1964-73 to 26.2% during 1990-95. The agriculture sector’s share in GDP is projected to decline from 27.9% in 1996 to 26.0% in 2001. Unless urgent interventions are carried out, this share is projected to decline further by 2020.
The small-scale agricultural sector is the single largest source of employment in Kenya absorbing over 51% of the labour force. On the National Level, the plan is to create 2.6 million jobs annually by year 2001. Of these jobs, small-scale agriculture is projected to create 1.08 million or 41.6% of the new jobs.
While there is no doubt that agriculture is the mainstay of the country’s economy, agriculture as a land-use option cannot be seen in isolation from other related land-use sectors. It is by emphasizing too much on one sector and de-emphasizing on other sectors that has made sustainable agriculture development rather difficult in Kenya. The fact that Kenya has no comprehensive land-use policy has meant that agriculture development (expansion) has infringed to some extent on forestry conservation, biodiversity conservation, water conservation, etc. Urban development has also occurred at the expense of forestry and agriculture.
The forestry sector has also been weak in using its development potential to compete with agriculture in resource allocation. While a lot of research has gone into agriculture development and agro-based industries, the same cannot be said of the forestry sector and its associated industries. While agriculture has been vibrant, the forestry sector has remained largely traditional despite the overwhelming productive and industrial potentials. Lack of information on the forestry potential, importance and the difficulties involved in valuing forest resources have also contributed to the poor performance of the forestry sector.
Subsistence Nature of Agriculture
The fact that a majority of Kenyans live in the rural areas means that majority of Kenyans depend on primary products. Most farmers in the rural areas produce or attempt to procure their own food for subsistence.
Since people have been accustomed to growing their own food, over time, there is usually presumed food insecurity if one is not able to grow their own food for consumption. This means that more land is brought under cultivation to grow own food and in most cases, the land in question is usually forest land. Food security is however more to do with income security (regular incomes) rather than growing own food. If the trend changes from subsistence agriculture (growing own food) to income security (regular incomes), then the land can be allocated to what is best suited to produce (rational allocation of resources).
This way, forests can be expanded and protected where they have comparative advantage over any other land-use. Factors that have made forestry not competitive enough (like credit incentives) must be addressed. This way, farmers will be able to allocate their natural resources to the most sustainable and productive use, and which might not necessarily be agriculture. Policy on food security has to be addressed to reflect the real issues (food and income security).
Public Versus Private Goods
Forests are largely seen as public goods while agriculture is treated as a private good. Property rights are an incentive in resource management and conservation. Since agriculture falls largely within private property domain, it enjoys legal and economic incentives, which makes it grow and develop.
Forestry, on the other hand, is largely a public good therefore greatly affected by its common use. As a common property resource, forestry enjoys less personal initiative for its protection, at the same time exposed to less investment incentives to develop it. By assigning user rights to stakeholders, forest may receive better protection and development resources and the urge to convert them to other uses may be greatly reduced.
Similarly, fishing, bee keeping and eco-tourism practised by forest-adjacent communities would be sufficient incentives to protect the forest if the property/user rights are put in place.
Policy Environment
Kenya has no comprehensive land-use policy and this has meant that we have allocated our resources on very narrow land-use considerations, which are greatly influenced by the politics of the day.
Alternative uses of land must be sought and supported with incentives for the take-off while the necessary infrastructures must be put in place to support food security (communication, transport and marketing). There must also be an emphasis on income security as opposed to growing own food.
To some extent, agriculture expansion has meant sacrificing forests, both gazetted and ungazetted. There has been tremendous increase of area under tea. The expansion of tea growing has meant conversion of 6,000 ha of forests, although in partial compensation, the tea plantations are supposed to be a buffer zone to protect the forest from future encroachment.
Although agriculture was commonly considered more important than forestry, now it is clear that forestry supports agriculture and other sectors that are related to agriculture like livestock, fisheries, energy and rural employment. Of interest here is the need to clearly articulate the role of forestry in providing clean water for irrigated agriculture, livestock keeping, industrial and domestic use and electric power generation. Consequently, the sustained development of these other sectors must be understood to directly depend on the good health of our forestry sector.
Legislative Schemes
Settlement Act among the agricultural-related pieces of legislation is the most important in expansion of agriculture. Forestland is usually seen as idle land (mainly by politicians) and for this misconception, many of the settlement schemes have been created by excision of forest land. Again because of the ease of valuing resources under agriculture, it is possible to visualize the importance of agriculture enterprises as compared to forestry enterprises, which are difficulty to discuss and measure. Forestry problems are usually long term in nature and will tend to remain obscure in the short term, just to appear in compounded nature in the long run.
Institutional Linkages
There are no elaborate linkages between agriculture and forestry. This means that agriculture development may at times affect forestry indirectly. The issue of agricultural subsidies and other incentives like credit (not available in forestry sector) has encouraged people to invest more in agriculture and, at times, at the expense of forestry.
Any agricultural intervention that affects forestry development will, in the final analysis, affect agriculture and thereby, leave people worse off than before. A good example is the conversion of forests into agricultural land and the subsequent loss of the catchment’s function. This leads to reduced water flow and less water being available for irrigation. There is thus need to have linkages between agriculture and forestry in terms of ecological functions and conservation of resources like soil, water and biodiversity. Impact assessments should be strictly followed for any change in land-use while forests need to be valued for their physical resources, functional roles and for their use and non-use values.
Historical Background
Kenya’s post-independence industrialization process was based on an import substitution strategy. Through this strategy, rapid growth was attained in the manufacturing sector during the first two decades of independence in 1963. However, this strategy developed some weakness and problems as some industries turned out to be inefficient with high production costs. The protection of local industries reduced domestic competition and created monopolies that lead to continuous raised consumer prices. The industries also found it more profitable to produce for a highly protected domestic market than for the export market and hence resulting in anti-export bias (Development Plan, 1994-96). Since 1990, industrial growth declined sharply because of continued global recession, poor weather conditions, shortage of foreign exchange, inflation and political uncertainty and inefficient resource allocation.
Current Industrialization Status
Kenya targets to become one of the newly industrialized countries (NIC) by the year 2020 and the government’s efforts are focused on encouraging new investors. Manufacturing by the primary industries within the country are mainly agro-based and include fruit and vegetable processing, vegetable oils and fats, bakery, alcoholic beverages, dairy, fish, leather tanneries, cotton textiles, pulp and paper, timber and wood products. The other category of industries are in chemical and mineral industrial sector and engineering industrial sector which include pharmaceutical, fertilizer industry, pesticides, plastics industry, cement and lime products, glass industry, petroleum and oil product industry, iron and steel industry, transport industry, motor industry, electrical and electronic industry.
With market liberalization, some agro-based industries have been facing acute competition from imported products. This ha s led to the collapse of some industries especially the public-owned ones. The public-owned industries have been performing poorly resulting to the government embarking on privatising its interests.
Industrial and commercial sectors being the engines of faster development, they are expected to provide significant employment opportunities for the rapidly growing labour force. However, there is very little growth in employment in these sectors and therefore there is always a labour surplus. The current economic situation within the country is forcing some industries to retrench work force and therefore making the employment situation worse. The government is now encouraging the small scale and jua kali enterprises to develop and play an important role in job creation.
Industrialization and its Implication on Forestry
The Eighth National Development Plan (1997-2001) reiterates the broad national goals of poverty alleviation, eradication of illiteracy and disease, and the creation of employment mainly through industrialization. There is however a very strong forward and backward linkage between agricultural and industrial sectors. These sectors will therefore continue to be the vehicles for economic growth. Resulting from the unreliability of agricultural sector due to weather vagaries, poor infrastructure, low domestic savings and unfavourable investment climate, it is unlikely that NIC status will be achieved in the planned period.
As Kenya transforms into a NIC, one of the major challenges to be faced will be promotion of industrialization without compromising environmental quality. One of the acute problems that arise as a result of industrial development is pollution in form of solid wastes, gaseous pollutants (sulphur dioxide and other toxicants from industrial effluent which may have local and regional effects). Forestry plays a beneficial role in terms of reducing the carbon in the atmosphere and fixing it into woody material (sequestration).
During the initial stages of industrial development, packaging was mainly of paper products made from plant fibres where forestry had a big contribution. However, the trend is changing to plastics packaging, which is not easily biodegradable leading to several tonnes of plastic wastes, which are not environmentally friendly. Development in the petroleum industry has also affected the use of plant fibres, as synthetic ones are preferred.
Currently, there is a shortage of wood products as the consumption of forest products by the forest industries has been higher than the forest establishment. This inefficient management of the resource base has resulted in environmental degradation. To achieve efficient resource management, there is need to develop environmental management tools which include laws relating to the management of regional and international shared resources, environmental pollution, environmental impact assessments, environmental auditing, monitoring and evaluation.
The horticultural industry is growing very fast in Kenya and is supported by forestry in the supply of support sticks for horticultural crops. This industry is contributing significantly in the export market.
Forest Industries and Raw Materials Availability:
Since 1982, logging of hardwoods from indigenous forest has been banned, and the wood-based industries have therefore been relying on plantations and farmlands. The main plantation species used in the building industry are cypress and pines. These plantation species account for 76% of the total area planted (KFMP, 1994). Until recently, the rate of harvesting industrial wood exceeded the average rate of replanting which threatens the long-term supply of industrial wood in the country.
Forest industries can be classified as wood based and non-wood-based, these being further sub-divided into mechanical wood industry and the pulp and paper industry. Kenya’s mechanical wood industry includes saw milling, wood-based panels manufacture (plywood, particleboard and fibreboard), wood processing and pole production.
There are about 450 sawmills in Kenya, which produce about 200,000m3 of sawn wood. These industries face the problems of depletion of hardwood stocks from natural forests and softwoods plantations, low recovery rates of 25-40% due to poor machinery and pollution caused by residue disposal problems.
The production of poles and post for construction and transmission markets forms a significant industry. About 50% of the total industrial wood production goes to pole market (KFMP, 1994). A lot of these poles will be expected to be supplied from the farm forestry in the future.
The wood-based panel industry comprises three plywood mills, one particleboard mill and one fibreboard mill (KFMP, 1994). The furniture and joinery industry consists of a large number of small diversified artisan workshops absorbing 15-20% of the sawn wood and panel output.
Tea and Tobacco industries use fuel wood from forest resources in drying and curing. With the increasing cost of industrial oil, most tea factories are converting their boilers to fuel wood fire.
Industrial development is likely to lead to improved income level and this is expected to lead to a shift in demand resulting from change in preferences and technology. It is therefore envisaged that the above changes will translate into efficient production systems and less dependency on extractive forest uses.
Construction
With industrial development it is expected that incomes will improve and people will invest in the development of better housing. This will increase the demand for scaffolding and use of timber in housing. As a result, there will be increased pressure on forest and tree resources.
Water supply
There will be increased demand for water resource. To cope with this demand for water resource by the year 2020, forest resources require to be conserved and protected sustainably.
Health
There is likely to be an increase in use of herbal medicine as evidenced by a variety of products got from e.g. Prunus africana bark in the treatment of prostate cancer and Neem (Azadirachta indica) in the treatment of malaria and other diseases. In order to have sustainable supply of the herbs from some of these very useful trees, it is important that their production be commercialised and regulated through the envisaged forest policy. Many other indigenous trees are used in herbal medicines for human beings and/or livestock. Their importance, especially in the ASALs, cannot be overemphasized given the sparse distribution of human health and veterinary services centres.
2.8.4 Eco-Tourism Development
Kenya has a network of protected areas spread over representative ecological zones and ecosystem ranging from the coastal mangrove estuaries through arid and semi arid plains to high land forests and alpine tundra. This diverse and spectacular heritage forms the backbone of the country’s tourism industry. The tourism industry in Kenya is a precursor for the development of the eco-tourism sector. The management of this new emerging sector falls within the mandates of Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) and the Forestry Department (FD) by virtue of the two institutions being charged with the responsibility to manage the protected area systems. The two institutions FD and KWS therefore entered into a memorandum of understanding for the joint management of some key forest blocks with potential for eco-tourism development. Again both the two institutions have recognized the need to form partnership with local communities living adjacent to those protected areas including the NGOs and private firms to encourage joint participatory management by all stakeholders. In some of the conservation programs, communities benefit through economic incentives by sharing gate fees or having a percentage of the collected royalties ploughed back to the respective county councils.
In contrast to the wide spread mass tourism sector in Kenya, the development of eco-tourism sector infrastructure has been restricted to zones with diverse or unique biodiversity. These zones have tended to cover mostly the forest reserves with an exception of eco-tourism infrastructure developed for the mount Kenya National Park. At the moment, eco-tourism activities are concentrated within Araboko-Sokoke Forest Reserve, Kakamega Nature / Forest Reserve and Mount Kenya Park/Forest Reserve. Within these sites, the supportive infrastructures such as accommodation have been developed by the private sector and county councils. It should however be noted here that over the years, FD had developed good accommodation infrastructure in all key stations country wide in the form of guest houses for eco-tourism sector. These facilities were not maintained and therefore collapsed.
The challenges that need to be overcome in-order to enhance eco-tourism development should therefore include the following:
Provision of clear legislative mechanism to guide the development of eco-tourism
Improvement of capacity to monitor impact of development of other sectors on eco-tourism
Improvement of capability to plan for and to develop eco-tourism infrastructure
Development of a comprehensive land-use plan to reduce conflicts
Improvement of security within the eco-tourism zones
Decimation of information to improve public awareness on the potentials of the sector
Institutionalisation and strengthening of capability of regulatory authority for the sector
If developed properly, eco-tourism as a non-extractive form of forestry activity especially within the indigenous forest zones has enormous potential in generating foreign exchange at the same time providing employment opportunity for the locals and a forum for education and scientific development. To achieve the benefits from eco-tourism, it is imperative that the government should provide an enabling environment where all the stakeholders have appropriate roles to play.
As more people start to appreciate the roles of eco-tourism potential and the need for a more balanced resource utilization, it is anticipated that more people will take the challenges thereby increasing the variety of attraction and thereby becoming competitive in this important sector.
2.9.1 Energy Use in Kenya
Wood fuel:
Over 80% of Kenya’s population is dependent on wood fuel for their domestic energy needs. Wood fuel caters for between 70 and 80% of the country’s final energy demand and provides for more than 93% of rural household energy needs. In urban areas, use of wood fuel is predominantly in the form of charcoal rather than firewood. It is estimated that about 80% of the urban households’ wood fuel demand is met by charcoal.
Cooking and space heating represents the largest single demand for fuel wood. There are many rural and urban small-scale industries using fuel wood or charcoal as a source of energy in processing their products. Examples include tobacco and tea curing, brick-making, fish drying, bakeries and small-scale workshops.
The major government agencies concerned with energy issues are Forest Department and Ministry of Energy. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development mainly complements the two agencies (FD and Ministry of Energy) in terms of on-farm wood production and domestic energy conservation. Other agencies, government and non-government, also collaborate with the three agencies in promoting energy utilization and conservation in various ways.
Most of the country’s wood fuel comes from forests, woodlands, shrublands and farmlands. Government gazetted forests cover about 2.5% of the country and are mainly found in the high and medium potential areas of the country, which are only 20% of the total land area. The government plantation forests provide most wood fuel for industries.
Sources of wood fuel in Kenya
An assessment of vegetative cover of Kenya was done for the Water Master Plan (1992) and its interpretation modified by KIFCON (1994a), with re-mapping to correspond to the broad vegetation units defined by White (1987). The Kenya Forestry Master Plan (1994) has estimated that closed indigenous forests, woodlands and bushlands, farmlands and settlements and protected area industrial plantations have between them a total of 48.6 million ha of wood. These are distributed as shown in Table 2 below.
Table 2: Sources of Wood fuel in Kenya (millions of ha)
|
Source/Year |
2000 |
2005 |
2010 |
2015 |
2020 |
|
Closed indigenous forests |
1.27 |
1.245 |
1.22 |
1.195 |
1.17 |
|
Woodlands and Shrublands |
37.15 |
36.875 |
36.6 |
36.325 |
36.05 |
|
Farmlands and Settlements |
10.02 |
10.32 |
10.62 |
10.92 |
11.22 |
|
Protected Area Industrial Plantations |
0.134 |
0.118 |
0.107 |
0.093 |
0.078 |
|
Total |
48.574 |
48.558 |
48.547 |
48.533 |
48.518 |
Source: KFMP, 1994
Closed Indigenous Forests
One of the main sources of wood fuel is the gazetted closed indigenous forest. This contains stocks of non-commercial species, which are used primarily for rural wood fuel as well as construction poles and timber. It is estimated that about 5,000 ha of the closed forest are being lost each year to both authorized excisions and illegal encroachments. A 1994 estimate (KFMP, 1994) indicated that the average closed indigenous forest growing stock is 176 m3/ha, which includes stem and branch biomass. From these forests, the sustainable annual wood fuel is 0.9 m3/ha. The decline in closed indigenous forest size is expected to be steady at an estimated 5,000 ha every year to reach 1.17 million ha in 2020. Wood production from closed indigenous forests consists of 60% wood fuel, 27% timber and 13% poles. Hence, in the year 2000, these forests are estimated to carry wood fuel stocks amounting to 105.6 m3/ha or a total of 154.4 million m3. The wood fuel stock will decline to 99 m3/ha or a total of 115.8 million m3 by 2020.
Woodlands and Shrublands
O ver 80% of the country is arid and semi-arid (ASAL) and contains over 80% of the country’s forest resources. The population is sparse and shortages of wood are not severe. People do not cut down trees for wood fuel but gather fallen wood. However, this situation has been changing over recent times as much of the charcoal used in urban centres such as Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, etc. comes from these areas. This has caused serious deforestation in most ASALs and the continued increase in urban population is expected to accelerate this situation. Decline in area under wood has been estimated at 5,000 ha annually (KFMP, 1994), especially in unmanaged areas. These areas will decline to 36 million ha by 2020.
Woodlands, shrublands and wooded grasslands currently cover about 37.2 million ha and are mainly found in the rangelands but also occur in the medium and high potential areas. This woody vegetation is under threat, mainly from opening up of new farming land, followed by charcoal production (Leach and Mearns, 1988). In settled ASALs and where tenure has been established, trees are being protected and planted. The forestry master plan (KFMP, 1994) estimated that the average growing stock of the woodlands, shrublands and wooded grasslands is about 16 m3/ha of woody biomass with an annual increment of about 0.115 m3/ha. The stock will attain a high of 19 m3/ha by 2020. Elsewhere, savannah woodlands and reasonably productive bush have been estimated to have standing tree stocks of about 20-30 m3/ha (ETC, 1987). Degraded savannah and dry bush, on the other hand, have 7-10 m3/ha of wood (Leach and Mearns, 1988).
Woodfuel production from woodlands and bushlands is 89% (14.24 m3/ha or a total of about 530 million m3 in 2000) and the sustainable annual woodfuel production is 2% of the inventory. The total amount of woodfuel in these forests will drop by about 20 million m3 to an average of 510 million m3 by the year 2020 (KFMP, 1994).
Charcoal production in the rangelands is an important income generation option and is done by most households on small-scale basis. Sometimes people get together in organized groups and produce charcoal on a substantially larger scale. During the dry season and extended periods of drought, charcoal production for cash income becomes more important when other types of activities fail to produce sufficient household income. It is estimated that around 20% of marketed charcoal originates from these sources.
The productivity of these areas is quite low (1 m3/ha/yr) and intensive clearing of vegetation for agricultural land and subsequent charcoal production has caused long-term resource management problems. Since these areas are ecologically fragile, full recovery of degraded land takes 40-50 years, and this has forced the migration of large numbers of people and animals. With continued and increased influx of human population from the high-potential agricultural areas to the rangelands, it is likely that charcoal production will become the primary rather than the secondary objective of land clearing operations in these marginal areas. It is difficult to ensure that these operations are carried out on a sustained-yield basis or in an environmentally sound way. These harvesting procedures will be devastating and will have irreversible negative impacts on soil and water resources and on agricultural productivity.
Farmlands and Settlements
Most farmlands are found in the high potential agricultural lands, which cover less than 20% of Kenya’s land area. More than 25% of the country’s wood supplies are located in these areas and most of the resources are in protected forests. These areas also accommodate about 80% of the population of Kenya and have a high potential for annual biomass production. Most charcoal production is from land being cleared for agricultural development. These operations are small-scale and have the primary objective of facilitating land clearing and not specifically to produce charcoal (Agatsiva, 1997; Leach and Mearns, 1988). This source is unsustainable for charcoal production since it is a once-only operation and is further limited by the size of the resource as most arable land is settled.
Wood production from farmlands and settlements, according to KFMP (1994), consists of 73% wood fuel, 20% timber and 7% pole. The amount of wood in farmlands and settlements available for wood fuel in the year 2000 then is estimated at 9 m3/ha (or a total of about 82 million m3). The farmlands and settlements are expected to provide more wood for fuel attaining a maximum of 15 m3/ha or a total of 155 million m3 by 2020.
Forest Industrial Plantations
Forest industrial plantations under the management of the Forest Department cover less than 170,000 ha with a growing stock of 332 m3/ha of wood biomass (KFMP,1994). A steady decline is estimated to put the amount at 320 m3/ha in 2020 while the area under forest will decline to 78,000 ha or less by 2020 if the trend of non-planting and excisions observed in the 1990’s continues at the then estimated rate (KFMP, 1994). Wood fuel plantations from these areas serve many industrial requirements such as the tea and tobacco industries. Fuel wood salvaged as waste wood from plantations and sawmill sites supplies about 20% of the country’s fuel wood requirements as detailed below:
Table 3: Wood Biomass Inventory (m3/ha, 1994 Trends)
|
Source/Year |
2000 |
2005 |
2010 |
2015 |
2020 |
|
Closed indigenous forests |
176 |
176 |
176 |
176 |
176 |
|
Woodlands and Bushlands |
17 |
18 |
18 |
19 |
19 |
|
Farmlands and Settlements |
13 |
16 |
20 |
23 |
27 |
|
Forest Industrial Plantations |
332 |
320 |
320 |
320 |
320 |
|
Total |
538 |
530 |
534 |
538 |
542 |
Source: KFMP. 1994
Wood fuel Species
Species preferred for woodfuel (charcoal and fuelwood) vary from place to place. In the drylands, Zizyphus mauritiana, Acacia senegal, A. seyal, A. tortilis and Eucalyptus grandis, among others, are the most preferred species. In the high potential agricultural areas, the most preferred woodfuel species include Croton megalocarpus, Eucalyptus spp., Acacia mearnsii, Afzelia quanzensis, Olea europaea var. africana, etc. When suitable wood fuel species are cleared, any available species can be selected to meet wood fuel demands.
Standing Stock Wood Biomass
Farmlands and settlements will produce an increased amount of wood fuel from 7.7 million m3 in 2000 to a high of 15 million m3 in 2020, an overall increase of 67%. This will only be possible if sustainable resource management strategies are adopted. On the other hand, wood fuel production will decrease in other land-use categories with the exception of FD forest industrial plantations, which will produce a modest overall increase of 6% from 0.42 million m3 in 2000 to 0.44 million m3 in 2020 based on assumptions made by KFMP (1994). The situation has changed slightly as some forestland has been alienated for agricultural and other developments in recent years.
Overall, available wood varies between 0.1 tonnes/ha in poor woody biomass cover categories to 317 tonnes/ha in woodlands with taller and bigger trees. This represents the standing or wet weight. Poor roads, rugged terrain, poor security and land-tenure problems sometimes hamper accessibility of some of this wood.
Table 4: Accessible Sustainable Wood fuel Production by Land-use Category (‘000 m3 )
|
Land-Use/Year |
2000 |
2005 |
2010 |
2015 |
2020 |
|
Closed indigenous forests |
1,143 |
1,120 |
1,098 |
1,076 |
1,053 |
|
Woodlands and Bushlands |
10,508 |
10,430 |
10,352 |
10,274 |
10,196 |
|
Farmlands and Settlements |
7,746 |
9,418 |
11,079 |
12,947 |
14,731 |
|
FD Forest Industrial Plantations |
416 |
352 |
361 |
380 |
443 |
|
Total |
19,813 |
21,320 |
22,890 |
24,677 |
26,423 |
Source: KFMP, 1994
Most of the wood is found in the southern rangelands such as Narok and Kajiado, while Kiboko, Kibwezi, Masongaleni, Taru, Bachuma and Samburu are major charcoal-producing areas along the Nairobi-Mombasa road and are the major charcoal-supply sites for the two towns. Numerous points along this road sell charcoal in varying quantities every day. The majority of the trees along the road have a diameter of less than 12 cm and at this rate of exploitation, these areas could become deficient areas in the near future.
The northern rangelands have less wood fuel since most woody species have stem diameters of less than 5 cm and therefore are unsuitable and often uneconomical for charcoal production. Also, demand zones are far away from markets and, therefore, it is uneconomical to transport charcoal. Woody production from other lands consists of 95% wood fuel.
Scenarios of Woodfuel Supply and Demand Dynamics
Under sustainable forest management strategies and on 5-year intervals, total wood fuel demand will increase by between 16% (between 2000 and 2005) and 12% (between 2015 and 2020). Over the 20 years under consideration, the demand for wood energy will increase from 23.9 million m3 to 40.1 million m3. On the other hand, and based on similar 5-year periods, the total accessible sustainable supply (all wood) will increase at between 6% (between year 2000 and 2005) and 8% (between year 2010 and 2015 and also between 2015 and 2020). Over the 20-year span under analysis, accessible sustainable supply of all wood will increase from 25 million m3 to 33.1 million m3. If non-sustainable wood supply and wood fuel substitutes are included, the total supply will increase from 27.7 million m3 in 2000 to 38 million m3 by 2020. However, after 2000, there will be a deficit that will rise gradually, reaching about 1 million m3 in 2005 to a high of about 6.8 million m3 by 2020, manifested mainly as deficits of wood fuel. The annual rate of increase in charcoal demand is projected at 11.4%, which will result in a shortfall of about 23.3 million tonnes by 2010. (KFMP, 1994; Agatsiva, 1997)
The need to increase stock to meet current and rising demand goes without saying. Farm forestry has been playing an increasingly leading role in wood production not only for wood fuel but for a wide range of needs and is expected to continue doing so in the next 20 years. Suitability of available wood resources to meet local wood fuel demand depends on many factors, including distance to population centres, incomes and budgets of households, availability of tools for cutting and climate.
There exists a relationship between wealth and fuel use. Households with more income tend to use kerosene, gas or electricity, while poorer ones go for agricultural residue and animal dung. This would result from decreased availability of wood fuel. As income increases, energy use also increases.
At least 80% of urban wood fuel demands by households are met by charcoal. Charcoal use amounts to about 1.4 million tonnes annually (10-14 million tonnes of wood fuel, at 10-14% recovery). Traditional forest and farm-based wood supplies are being used faster than they are being replaced. At 10-14% conversion rate, charcoal production is not efficient.
Petroleum:
Petroleum is the major source of energy used by commercial and industrial establishments. Overall, imports of crude oil and refined products rose from 2.8 million tonnes in 1997 to 5.9 million tonnes in 1998, with the refinery processing some 1.7 million tonnes of crude oil in the same period (Annex 3).
Total domestic demand for petroleum products in 1998 was 2.3 million tonnes. The trend in consumption of petroleum is highly dependent on economic performance of the country. With improved economic performance it is expected that petroleum as a source of energy will continue to rise.
Electricity:
Electricity is the third largest source of energy in Kenya after wood fuel and petroleum fuels. However, it is second to petroleum fuel as a source of commercial energy.
Demand for electricity by domestic and small commercial establishments went up by 8.2%, mainly as a result of the expanding micro and small-scale enterprises sector as well as the increase in human settlement particularly in urban areas. This has resulted in overloading of the national electricity grid leading to frequent power outages, failures. Reforms in this sector could lead to better management and efficiency resulting to affordable tariffs and direct shift from wood fuel dependency especially in urban centres.
Alternative Energy Sources
Solar Energy
Solar energy is proving to be very popular and appears to be an attractive option, especially where accessibility of energy from the national electricity grid becomes less guaranteed. However, this source of energy has not been fully utilized due to the relative cost of the systems, lack of standards and poor consumer education. Kenya is estimated to have over 120,000 solar home systems rated at approximately 1.3 MW of power currently operational. Most of the systems are the 2- to 4-lamp installations costing approximately KSh 950 to 1,400 per watt ± 20%.
Wind
Wind energy has been used in Kenya for water pumping purposes since the beginning of the last century. A major advantage of wind energy is its cost-effectiveness of incremental at particular sites. Lack of appropriate technology and effective promotion strategies have, however, hampered the exploitation of this source of energy, which could be harvested as an alternative to wood-fuel.
Biogas
Biogas, which is appropriate for rural areas, has been adopted in Kenya. It can help lower household demand for wood fuel and commercial fuels. Constraints hampering exploitation of this source of energy include lack of extension programmes, technology and high capital cost.
Major Issues
The major challenge facing Kenya today is poor economic performance, the ensuing problems of rising unemployment and increasing levels of poverty. Under this situation, the future of the economy is not bright and therefore it has necessitated the county to put in place policies and strategies to stimulate economic growth to generate necessary job opportunities for the country's expanding labour force. This calls for enhanced efficiency in utilizing available energy and other resources so as to maximize productivity and ensure rapid and sustained economic development without straining the environment and especially the forest estates, which act as primary biomass reservations.
The broad issues in energy that require addressing in future include the following:
Whether future energy use can be restrained so that it grows substantially less rapidly than does economic output (economic efficiency)
Whether domestic sources of energy can be available in the long run to support the production of goods and services desired by the country
Whether the cost of that energy, including environmental and health costs, can be sufficiently low to sustain expected standard of living
The high dependency on wood fuel contributes to forest and tree cover depletion thereby destroying the fragile ecosystems and rainfall catchment areas while lowering productivity
If the economy does not improve over the period under review, it is expected that more people in both the urban and rural areas will continue to relay on wood fuel as source of energy due to high costs of other alternatives
Low exploitation of domestic non-biomass energy resources due to three major constraints, i.e
Existing resources with the exception of solar energy are located far from main consumption centres
Their valorisation requires high capital investments
There is lack of financial resources to develop these resources
Poor distribution and outlets for petroleum products and electricity in the rural areas where the bulk of population lies
Weak planning, co-ordination and monitoring and evaluation capabilities in the field of household energy. This includes insufficient allocation of financial resources to the household energy issues and lack of comprehensive and integrated strategies
Priority Action Programmes
The Kenya government recognizes some critical areas of focus for development of the energy sector. The priority action points are:
Improvement and rationalization of supply of the rural energy through concerted action on:
Improvement of woody resources management and replenishment.
Expanded development and utilization of substitute fuels for cooking such as kerosene, electricity and charcoal briquettes.
Improvement in efficiency of cooking through use of more efficient cooking devices and techniques of food preparation
A more rigorous campaign on alternative energy especially solar, wind and biogas
Diversification of conventional energy sources with major emphasis on development of local geothermal and hydro sources of energy
The creation of Rural Electrification Fund at 5% levy on energy used in part responses to this need
Expanded participation by the private sector
Vigorous application and utilization of new and renewable sources of energy with a view to substituting wood fuel, agricultural waste and cow dung in some areas
Educating the public about energy conservation and promoting efficient utilization and management of energy use
In this programme of action, some specific action areas include:
Specific conservation efforts targeting specific types of technology
Government fuel efficiency standards
Policy and institutional initiatives to realize the full measure of feasible energy savings
Easily understood information on comparative economics, which help people towards choices that save money and energy
Development of a Code of Practice, specifications and standards especially for the renewable forms of energy, which operate without specific standards and quality control mechanisms
The single most important determinant for meeting Kenya’s economic aspirations is the extent of the country’s success in export to world markets. The industrial and trade sectors have a crucial role to play in this strategy. With respect to trade liberalization, the most important elements of Structural Adjustment Programmes (1980/1981) have been liberalization of prices and marketing systems, financial sector policy reforms, international trade, budget rationalization, divestiture and privatisation. With the implementation of trade liberalization, imports and exports of forest-based products are likely to improve and reduce pressure on forests. Other investors are likely to exploit the potential existing in Kenya.
It is also expected that local demand for high quality forest products will increase trade and expand the contribution of the sector to the national economy. At the same time, local dependency on wood fuel for domestic energy will drop resulting into the long-term conservation of the nation’s forest resources.
Overview
The technology in forest-related industries has been improving very slowly in terms of operational efficiency due to the high cost of investment that is involved and the uncertainty on availability of raw materials. This slow progress in technological change has resulted in the current use of obsolete technologies.
It has also been noted that some current developments in allied sectors such as plastics industries and alternative energy sectors already have significant impact on the forestry sector.
Pulp and Paper Making
Currently, pulp and paper making in Kenya utilizes two methods, mechanical and chemical pulping methods. However, both processes are inefficient and not environmentally friendly hence room exists for improvement. There is scope for use of wood substitute materials such as sugar baggase, banana stems, papyrus and bamboo for pulp and paper production.
Wood and bagasse are the dominant biomass fuels used in Kenya. Bagasse is being used by the industry only. An excess amount of 270,000 tons of bagasse is available from the sugar industry. The total amount of bagasse used amounts to slightly over 1 million tons annually. Surplus of bagasse could mainly be used for industrial power and steam generation. For wood fuel replacement bagasse would have to be dried and briquetted, which might make it uneconomic to use especially in the households.
Tree Improvement and Propagation
Since the introduction of exotic fast growing commercial tree spp. at the beginning of the last century, there have been efforts to improve productivity through use of proven superior provenances. Seeds from these provenances have been utilized to develop the planting stock. With proper management the productivity of our plantation has been in the average range of approximately 300-400 m3 per hectare. Due to management problems this production has been declining steadily. It is however envisaged that with the involvement of competent and commercially oriented players the productivity through improved management can be improved as a first step measure.
In order to further improve on productivity, some new improvement techniques will need to be explored through the use of:
Clones obtained from selected superior individual trees. This will ensure propagation of desired genotypes for specific management objective. These include high calorific values for firewood or fibre characteristics for pulp production.
Hybridisation: will have similar results as in agriculture. In forestry use of hybrids will increase the planting range while maximizing on the superior characteristics of the species. Included in these is the hybridisation between drought tolerant species and fast growing species.
Pest management and particularly the Integrated Pest Management Systems, has been applying biotechnology by use of gene probes in diagnostic services.
Tissue culture technology is gaining momentum in forestry as a tool of bulking up of selected individuals. With this technique species with poor natural regeneration and poor seed reproduction can be multiplied rapidly and selectively. There are many such instances where tissue culture will in future be a superior tool of trade, thereby impacting positively on forestry development.
In general, forestry development in Kenya should harness biotechnology techniques in order to claim its place in the modern management particularly as we move towards private sector and enhancement of conservation of the fast declining natural resources. These techniques and many others will optimise on productivity and mitigate losses in order to optimise on utilization of the forestry resources.
2.11.4 Conversion
The documented wood conversion efficiency currently in Kenya stands at 25 to 30%. (KFMP, 1994). This level of efficiency is wasteful. With improved technology there is capability of increasing efficiency to over 50%. The implication of this scenario means improvement of supply of raw materials, culminating in improved forest conservation.
2.11.5 Processing and Utilisation of Non-Wood Tree and Forest Products
Currently Kenya lacks appropriate technologies in processing and utilization techniques for non-wood tree and forest products. There is therefore a need to invest in appropriate technologies to fully maximize the potential of the non-wood tree and forest products especially in ASALs. The non-extractive use of forest resource such as eco-tourism will in future contribute significantly to forest resource conservation and management.
Alternative Energy Sources
As previously mentioned, there is a potential in the use of wind power, biogas and micro-hydro schemes to meet the country’s energy requirements. The shift from wood-based energy to alternative energy sources would mean reduced pressure on forests.
2.11.7 Plastics Industry
The emergence of plastics industry especially in the packaging industry has greatly reduced pressure on wood-based packaging materials. This has however, brought negative environmental impact. With the anticipated public environmental awareness, there is likely to be a shift in future from plastics-based packaging to biodegradable materials. This will likely have a negative impact on the forest resources conservation .
In addition to the major change drivers discussed above, the following are other, mainly external, factors that may affect the sector in various ways:
Major changes in weather and natural catastrophes
Political climate and governance
Adherence to national, regional and global conventions and protocols
Regional stability
Major outbreak of diseases and pests
