Forest and Farm Facility

Unlocking finance for sustainable and inclusive wood value chains

A dialogue toward collaboration on innovative financing opportunities and mechanisms to promote sustainable wood production and consumption in East Africa, including smallholder forest and farm producer organizations

6 November 2023
Nairobi Kenya

The East Africa region offers significant opportunities to advance sustainable wood production and consumption. On the production front, the Kenyan government has committed to planting 15 billion trees to achieve 30% tree cover by 2032. Meanwhile, sustainability and efficiency improvements in wood processing are being pursued in Uganda, with potential benefits for the regional forest sector. Efforts are also underway to encourage the use of wood-based products in place of carbon-intensive materials in construction and other sectors. Coordinated support across the wood value chain can yield substantial positive impacts on the environment, biodiversity, and development.

However, expanding these value chains necessitates increased public and private investments. Several challenges, including the perception of forestry as a high-risk business, fragmented value chains, and unfavorable investment conditions, hinder progress. To address these issues, FAO, in collaboration with the Forest and Farm Facility (FFF), CIFOR-ICRAF, the Kenya Forestry Research Institute (KEFRI), and the Kenya Forest Service (KFS), organized the regional exchange event "Unlocking finance for smallholder forest and farm producers." This event, held from April 18-20, 2023, in Nairobi, Kenya, brought together 200 participants from smallholder Forest and Farm Producer Organizations (FFPOs), governments, technical support partners, development agencies, and financial institutions across Africa, as well as stakeholders from Asia and Latin America.

Objectives

  • Facilitate exchange and dialogue among key players engaged in improving different segments of wood value chains in East Africa.
  • Take stock of recent developments related to promotion of sustainable wood value chains.
  • Share examples, lessons, good practices and opportunities to increase finance for players that want to contribute to more sustainable wood production and consumption.
  • Discuss promising opportunities and scenarios to mobilize finance for wood value chains.

Expected outputs

Strategic elements and concrete activities identified and agreed to scale up results, accelerate the mobilization and sustainability of financing opportunities to promote sustainable wood production and consumption in East Africa.

Linkages to the International Congress on Planted Forests 2023

The International Congress on Planted Forests 2023 (ICPF2023) will take place in Nairobi, Kenya from 7 to 10 November 2023. ICPF2023 will focus on planted forests as “an essential nature-based solution to meet growing needs in wood products, restore forest ecosystems, and mitigate climate change.”

The proposed event will complement the ICPF session on: “New business models: investing into wood production, restoring ecosystem services, and enhancing livelihoods” which is expected to be organized for 7 November, the first day of the conference.