Three key takeaways from our March meetings in Nairobi and Zanzibar

In March, CSFEP staff spent several full days meeting with Coalition members and partners in East Africa. While we often spend our trips focused on the construction industry, this trip provided a unique opportunity for us to also engage with many key forest side actors. Although we are still unpacking all that we learnt, we wanted to share three initial insights from our forest conversations: 

• We need to tell better stories about East African forests. To inspire action, we must clearly explain why these forests matter. What makes them unique? Why is it important to manage them well? How does climate change affect them? Answering these questions can help us gain the support of policymakers, investors, and other key leaders. With so many competing priorities in the region, keeping forests on the agenda will require all of us to share compelling stories. 

• Plantations, smallholder farmers, and tree growers’ associations all have a role to play in developing a diverse mix of forest products industries in East Africa. The region is home to a range of forest types and tree species that could support a diverse mix of forest-based industries. While we discussed biobased construction products extensively in our conversations, we also explored the potential of industries such as cashews, frankincense, furniture, health products, telephone poles, and coconuts. For us, the key question is always this:  how can these industries drive revenue back to forests and communities to support sustainable forest management and decent livelihoods? 

• There is opportunity to better support smallholder tree farmers in the region. For example, it could be helpful to connect smallholders to markets, share best practices for forest management, or provide information about resources, such as traveling nursery visits. To address the challenge of connecting smallholder tree farmers to information, we can look to other sectors for inspiration. For example, East Africa’s agricultural sector uses an AI-based SMS platform to send farmers real-time updates based on their location and crops. Could similar innovations be useful in the forestry sector?

An enormous thank you to everyone who met with us and shared invaluable insights on the forest resources and related value chains in East Africa, including Gatsby Africa , New Forests Kenya Forestry Research Institute Ardhi Na Mbao.

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We’re already planning another round of meetings in June. If we didn’t connect in March, we’d love to catch up then. Please reach out to Bongiwe Shongwe (bongiwe.s@csfep.org) to schedule a meeting.