THE WAY AHEAD

The section focuses on the lessons learnt and their relevance to other countries.

The review has shown that overall progress in formulation and implementation of nfps. have been made in all five countries. It is also important to note that lessons have also been learnt. Building on these experiences and particularly addressing the key issues that have contributed to better quality or weaker quality of nfps seems to be the way to ensure that both formulation and implementation or revisions of current nfps produce the desired outcomes. For example, the analysis has shown that protracted processes (Gabon and Nigeria) in the formulation and implementation of nfps, result in qualitatively weaker nfps while relatively short processes (Namibia, Sudan and Senegal) result in qualitatively better nfps.  For those countries that have made significant advances in formulation, they now need to find ways of maintaining the momentum and forge ahead with effective implementation.

Although progress has generally been made in the implementation side, it seems that most countries will face significant setbacks in the implementation phase of their nfps. Key factors necessary for effective implementation will have to be resolved operationally. There needs to be real visible action in addressing such issues as decentralization and other policy issues. It will not be sufficient to simply state in the policy document that decentralisation will be done. Decentralisation and devolution of powers to organized local communities and user groups should be feasible and visible. Governments and the international community in the concerned countries  should  encourage this to happen.  Key issues such as the role of forests and trees in environmental protection, biodiversity maintenance, combating land degradation and desertification have been addressed on paper, but we will need to see these lofty goals achieved.

The nfps will constantly need to be revised and up-dated and so should forest products consumption surveys and national forest inventories. Tree planting, aforestation and reforestation measures will have to be enforced as a way of achieving sustainability. This applies to countries threatened by recurrent drought and desertification as well as to countries with reasonable forest cover.

At the policy and legislative level, the implementation of the nfp process has contributed to building up an iterative forest sector planning process in some countries (Nigeria, Namibia, Sudan and Senegal). But the enforcement of these policies at the local, regional and national levels will be essential to achieving effective forestry management.

Financing the forestry sector remains a serious problem. It has been observed that in the international process, the forest sector has been marginalized. This is partly due to choice, and partly out of exclusion in international trade negotiations. Ways of bringing in the Private sector to invest directly in the forest sector will be required. Private forests should also be encouraged. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), but not just for commercial purposes, but with a strong agenda to enhance conservation and regenerative capacities of the forests should be explored. Community Based Organizations (CBOs) need to be encouraged at the rural level and should be made up of both nationals and foreign-based groups.

Innovative or new sources of finance to support investment in the forestry sector are currently not well developed. Analysis by Whiteman (2002), of the current status of innovative financing in the sector has brought to light three key sources that will need to be tapped upon to significantly ameliorate forest sector finances. These include 1) revenues from new types of products and services from forests; 2) charges collected from other sectors; and 3) new sources of public and private investment. These suggestions should be seen as complementary to traditional methods (taxes, fees on traditional forest produce such as timber, fuel wood, bushmeat etc.). Mobilisation of all existing information and knowledge of forests and their products should be shared by all actors at all levels.

Mitigating the financial constraint is indeed key to both the successful formulation and implementation of nfps. The way ahead in accomplishing this does not reside in project type initiatives, which are short-lived and therefore inappropriate in addressing effectively the hard issue of structural change in the forest and related land-based sectors.  What may be needed are initiatives which are long-lived, sustainable and based on domestic resources and capacities. The establishment of national forestry funds throughout sub-Saharan Africa looks like one of these initiatives which could lead the way forward in effective stewardship of the forests and forest resources of Sub Saharan Africa.  

Gender issues need to be studied and addressed. In the review of the country case studies women did not figure prominently in the process. However, Sudan has involved women in its nfp process (Abdel Nour, 2001). As principal users of fuelwood for domestic energy and non-timber forest products, they ought to be involved in the planning and implementation phases of nfps because they are important stakeholders that cannot be ignored. Capacity building especially in the training of professional foresters  and efforts to support forest education and forest research should be encouraged. Professional should be given appropriate conditions of service in order to retain them in-country to halt the ongoing brain drain. The continuous search for alternative domestic energy sources for people who depend on fuelwood will be crucial. This is an area that should attract foreign aid.  Finally, governments should ensure good governance and take the lead in promoting measures that create conditions for successful nfps. 

The African Forestry and Wildlife Commission and the Near East Forestry Commission (both statutory bodies of FAO) in 1998 requested that FAO should carry out the Forestry Outlook Study for Africa (FOSA), one of a series of global and regional outlook studies to examine the broader and longer term prospects for the forest sector. FOSA, completed in 2002, has as its main objectives to signal how the forest sector is likely to evolve in the next two decades to year 2020 if current trends in driving forces persist and business continues as usual; and, then, to portray alternative scenarios founded on the interplay between the different visions that stakeholders hold - offering them policy options and investment strategies through which forestry may contribute towards a better future in terms of poverty alleviation, food security and sustainable development. FOSA was built from outlook reports from 47 African countries including the 5 countries under review. The study revealed that, within the context of current trends, the two key issues that will continue to be relevant to for Africa are poverty alleviation and environmental protection (FAO, 2003).

The FOSA study has therefore confirmed and highlighted further the challenges the nfp process in the different countries in Africa must address. The forestry sector in each of the five case study countries (as well as other African countries) could contribute to the efforts each country is deploying to alleviate poverty and protect the environment. Key actions within the forestry sector to achieve these will depend on the socio-economic and political commitment of each country. The way forward, as identified by the outlook study, is for the nfp process in each country to adapt the following priority action indicated according to the five regions in Africa. 

Table 11. Priority actions for poverty alleviation and environmental protection  in North, East, Southern, Central, and West Africa.

KEY OUTPUTS  -   Sub regional Outlooks
FOSA is essentially a sub-regional study built from constituent country outlooks, and separate analyses of driving forces, outcomes, opportunities and strategies have been developed for each of the African sub-regions.  The priority actions geared to poverty alleviation and environmental protection  are indicated by the study as:
Sub-region	Poverty alleviation	Environmental protection
North Africa	Supporting rural forest industries Provision of livestock fodder.	Watershed protection. Protection of agricultural land against desertification.
East Africa	Provision of fuelwood to rural and urban poor. Emphasis on rural income generation and employment, esp. from wildlife management and non-wood forest products Improving the technical and entrepreneurial capacity of traditional wood-based industries.	Protection of watersheds. Integration of tree cropping in all land uses. Improvement of institutional framework for effective management of protected areas and biodiversity protection.
Southern Africa	Improving the policy and institutional framework to  enhance the economic role of the informal sector in forestry. Increased emphasis on social considerations in implementing commercial forestry. Refinement and wider application of the community participation in the management of natural resources.	Watershed management. Improving land use practices to arrest degradation. Effective use of environmental impact assessment in implementing land use changes, including for plantation establishment.
Central Africa	Improving the institutional framework for local entrepreneurs and communities to play a lead role in forest management and wood processing. Investing part of the income from forests in social development, especially rural infrastructure.	Wider application of criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management, including reduced impact logging techniques. Improved management of protected areas.
West Africa	Improved local participation in forest management and wood processing. Technical and institutional support for small-scale forest enterprises.	Watershed protection and prevention of land degradation. Improvement of the management of natural forests through application of criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management. Increasing the coverage of protected area networks.

 

Source: FAO 2003 Forestry Outlook Study for Africa  report

In June 2002 leading international partners and FAO created a National Forest Programme Facility (The Facility). This new partnership supports the implementation of nfps worldwide. One of its major objectives is to provide developing countries direct country-level support, with grant money, to the development and implementation of nfps with a strong emphasis on the involvement of all stakeholders (National Forest Programme Facility, 2002).  Another important feature of the Facility is that it is directed towards developing national capacity to assemble and exchange forestry information and knowledge, with particular accent on addressing poverty alleviation and governance issues. Key beneficiaries of the Facility include: stakeholders actively participating in the nfp processes such as national and local government agencies, local communities, non governmental organisations and other recognised legal and legitimate interest groups; and investors with an interest in the forest sector. The Facility is essentially demand driven.  Of the 5 countries under review Nigeria, Namibia, Senegal are participating in the Facility activities and Gabon is working on getting involved. The advent of the facility is thus very timely as it is directly focusing on the two of the identified major obstacles  in nfp formulation and implementation - the impediment of financial constraints and weak institutional and individual capacity to implement nfps.