SUMMARY
A Brief on the Forestry Outlook Study
Anne Chileshe
Director of Forestry
Forestry Department, Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources
PO Box 50042, Lusaka, Zambia
Tel: 260-1-22 16 38/61 31; Fax: 260-1-22 16 38
Zambia has an estimated population of 9.3 million people with an annual growth rate of 3.5% which is considered to be very high and has an effect on the forest resources.
The overall objective of the country is to reduce poverty through economic growth, investment in human resource development and protection of the environment. The forest sector objective is to enhance the quantitative and qualitative contribution of the forest sector towards the national socio-economic development.
Mining dominates the Zambian economy, followed by the agriculture sector. Forestry contribution to GDP is less than 1%. However, the forest sector has a lot of potential to the socio- economic development of the country if managed properly.
Forest resources although not assessed for the last four decades cover 60% of the total land area. Most of the forests are located in the customary areas, which are administered by the traditional leaders.
Apart from the forest resources, the country is endowed with substantial water and wildlife resources, which are vital to the rural communities and the nation as a whole.
The forest growing stock is estimated at 3.5 billion cubic metres as merchantable standing volume and 2.2 billion cubic metres is considered as commercial value timber.
Sawmilling is considered as a well-developed forestry industry in the country. About 400,000 cubic metres of saw logs per annum is the estimated demand for the sawmilling industry. The wood-based industry is steadily growing under the private sector. Pit-sawing has a lot of potential to support the informal sector.
Fuel-wood and charcoal have remained the major primary source of energy in most households. Figures available indicate that 95% of rural people depend on fuel-wood and 90% of urban households depend on charcoal. The demand for fuel-wood will continue to increase as the population continues to expand.
In order to improve forestry contribution to the national development, the country’s forestry policy and legislation have been revised based on the principles of participatory approaches and employing broad-based approaches of management and utilisation of the forestry resources.
The Government has also developed a national framework for managing forest resources on a sustainable basis. The framework covers economic, social and ecological issues and it also addresses the institutional framework. The priority areas for interventions in the forestry sector are divided into the primary and supportive development programmes.
List of acronyms and abbreviations
CBOs Community Based Organisations
DoE Department of Energy
FAO Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations
FD Forestry Department
FETP Forestry Education and Training Sub-Programme
FINWFPDP Forestry Industries and Non-Wood Forest Products Development
Sub- Programme
FREDP Forest Research and Extension Development Sub-Programme
GMAs Game Management Areas
GDP Gross Domestic Product
GRZ Government of the Republic of Zambia
Ha Hectare
IFMBCP Indigenous Forest Management and Biodiversity Conservation
MAFF Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries
MENR Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources
NGOs Non-Governmental Organisations
NWFP Non-Wood Forest Products
PFAP Provincial Forestry Action Programme
SAP Structural Adjustment Programme
ZAFFICO Zambia Forestry and Forest Industries Corporation Limited
Table 1: The Poverty Groups of Zambia ( % of Population ) 7
Table 2: Some Attributes of the Zambian Population 8
Table 3: Structure of the Zambian Economy based on the average
GDP (US$ Million) 9
Table 2.4.1: Agro-Ecological Regions of Zambia. 16
Table 2.5.1: Contribution of different energy sources to household energy,
1990 to 1995. 19
Table 3.1: Land cover distribution in Zambia, 1992. 20
Table 3.2: Forest and the land cover, 1996 – 2016, Current trends in
Million Hectares. 22
Table 3.2.1a: Annual Demand of Wood by Periods in Million m3. 22
Table 3.2.1b: Annual Demand of Wood by Periods in Million m3
(ZFAP Scenario). 22
Table 3.2.2a: Cord-wood supply in Million m3/Annum (Current Trends) 23
Table 3.2.2b: Cord-wood supply in Million m3 (ZFAP Scenario) 23
Table 3.3.1a: Annual Cord-wood Supply and Balance in Million m3/Annum,
(Current Trends). 24
Table 3.3.1b: Annual Cord-wood Supply and Balance in Million m3/Annum,
(ZFAP Scenario). 24
