National dialogue on Wood Energy and Forest Landscape Restoration in Togo

This national dialogue is part of a wider series of initiatives implemented in the context of the project “International dialogue on Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) and wood energy”. This project has been implemented by the Global Bioenergy Partnership (GBEP) on behalf of FAO, in collaboration with IEA Bioenergy, with funding from the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) of Germany. The overall objective of the project is to facilitate raising awareness and dialogue among stakeholders from both FLR and bioenergy communities on the positive contribution of Sustainable Bioenergy to FLR and vice versa, with a view to intensify opportunities for collaboration and to develop a joint agenda for action.

In Togo, this project built on the achievements of the activities carried out by the GBEP in 2018, as part of the project "Capacity building on GBEP sustainability indicators for bioenergy in the bioenergy in the countries of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)". It will benefited from the participation of the Multisectoral Stakeholder Group (MSG) established in 2018, which initially focused on the multiple aspects of bioenergy production and use in the country. The existing GPPMs have been expanded for the scope of this project, with the aim of including stakeholders concerned with the FLR sector in Togo, thus providing an opportunity to lay the foundations for long-term cooperation and coordination between these two sectors. In addition, this event is an example of joint actions between various international agencies (i.e. FAO Forestry Dept., GBEP, FFF, GIZ), national research institutes and civil society working on the issue in the country. It provided an opportunity to exchange knowledge and raise awareness of three activities underway and the results achieved so far in the country, thereby enabling better mobilisation of funds and accelerate the achievement of the respective objectives in the territory.