Plantation Forestry in Sub Saharan Africa: Silvicultural, Ecological and Economic Aspects

Plantation Forestry in Sub Saharan Africa: Silvicultural, Ecological and Economic Aspects

BACKGROUND


Plantation forestry in Africa is practiced using exotic species to supply timber and non- timber forest products, which are for industrial and non- industrial purposes. Ownership of the plantations extends from governments and large industrial corporations to individual farmers. Private plantations are performing well, with a better supply compared to the public ones. Plantation programs in Africa have undergone various challenges leading to a decline in production in the past two decades.

RESEARCH GOALS


The study sought to identify factors that contribute to the long-term economic, social, and environmental viability of forest plantations i.e. to determine the extent to which forest plantations help to overcome the problem of supply of wood. Also, to determine the sufficient conditions for promoting plantation forestry in Africa to achieve sustainable management.

CONCLUSIONS AND TAKEAWAYS


The authors state that there are lessons that can be learnt from case studies of public and private sector industrial plantations. They suggest that some action must be taken for forest plantations to have long term viability including promoting and finding methods for predicting supply and demand at regional level, and establishing pilot programs for privatizing public plantations to guide the process of privatization on a larger scale.

Reference: 

Chamshama SAO, Nwonwu FOC, Lundgren B, Kowero GS. Plantation Forestry in Sub Saharan Africa: Silvicultural, Ecological and Economic Aspects. Discovery and Innovation. 2009;21. doi:10.4314/dai.v21i3.48210.

Affiliation: 

  • Department of Forest Biology, Sokoine University of Agriculture, P.O. Box 3010, Morogoro, Tanzania
  • Africa Institute of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa
  • Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry, Stockholm, Sweden
  • African Forest Forum, c/o World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), P.O. Box 30677-00100, Nairobi, Kenya