On December 6, 2019, the FSC Eastern Africa Sub-region convened an interactive Business forum at Serena Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya under the theme: Enhancing market for certified wood and associated products in Kenya. The forum brought together potential and current FSC certified companies in pulp, paper, print and packaging industry; key players in construction, green building and energy sectors; Forest owners and managers, Non-Governmental Organisations and Development partners with related projects and; key institutions of government among others. Participants discussed current overarching market issues for wood and related products in Kenya and came up with country-specific recommendations on how to enhance demand for certified materials and associated products as a basis for FSC and all key players to develop and implement workable solutions. The ultimate goal is for responsible forest managers and businesses in Kenya to have both local and export markets for their FSC certified wood and associated products.
The objectives of the Business Forum were:
• To create awareness about the benefits of FSC certification for the current and potential buyers of wood and associated products in Kenya.
• To generate local and regional interest and set the stage for putting certified wood and associated products on the market
• Increase the number of Chain of Custody Certificates in Kenya and influence Kenya’s Public Procurement Policies to recognize and practice sustainable sourcing that also supports responsible forest management.
Presentations, panel discussions and open dialogue, generated constructive debate around the need for the government of Kenya to lead by example, by certifying some of its forest estates under the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) and enhance the reach of Kenyan certified wood products on the local and international markets. Mrs Zipporah Chebett, the KFS representative at the Forum, noted that the debate on certification aligns well with what KFS requires to create reliable systems for forest management and chain of custody as already stipulated in the Kenyan forestry law.
Various opportunities for use of certified wood in various sectors were highlighted: The Kenya green-building initiatives under the Kenya Green Building Society (KGBS) has great potential for project certification as noted by Mr Mudhir Ramrakha, the KGBS Advisory Board Member. Mr Mwaura Kimani, the Managing Director of East Africa Packaging Industries (EAPI) noted that EAPI is keen to source its certified raw materials locally, however, due to lack of such sources, most of EAPI’s raw materials are from Sweden, Germany and Russia among other countries. Mr Sachen Gudka, the Managing Director of Skanem Interlabels Ltd, an FSC certified company dealing in the manufacture of packaging products emphasized the need for the government of Kenya to work together with the private sector to improve the business environment that in turn will trigger local demand for certified forest products.
Dr Harrison Kojwang, the FSC Africa Regional Director called upon the line government agencies to swiftly re-visit their social, environmental and economic policies as well as procurement, to create an enabling environment for Kenyan wood products to be acceptable in more strict markets where the use of sustainable wood and related products is the norm. Dr Kojwang pledged to work with his team under the Eastern Africa Sub Regional office to engage with all relevant stakeholders more actively in 2020 and beyond, for brighter years for sustainability in the forest and forest products’ sectors.
Key recommendations from the business forum were:
• Robust awareness-raising, training and technical backstopping in forest management and chain of custody certification amongst all relevant sectors are needed to enable newcomers to get on board from an informed point.
• Develop partnerships and collaboration with stakeholders involved in and/or interested in forest certification and trade in certified products.
• Government of Kenya should work closely with the private sector, NGOs and Development Partners to create an enabling policy framework and to implement specific policies for responsible forest management and procurement of responsible wood and other forest products.
• Government of Kenya to lead by example by certifying its forest estates and put certified products on the market.
Kenya ranks fourth-largest economy in sub-Saharan Africa, with an estimated GDP of $74.94 billion in 2017. The country is currently a business hub for Eastern Africa and the wood sector is among the fast-growing businesses. Kenya’s annual wood demand is currently estimated at about 41,700,664.45 m3 while the country’s supply is estimated at 31,372,531 m3 annually (a deficit of 10,328,133m3). Most of the current wood supplies are not certified and the legality of those sources are not clear. To reverse this trend, Kenya’s market for wood and associated products needs to recognize and prefer to purchase certified wood products and promote certified product supply chains at all levels. It is in this context that FSC Eastern Africa Sub-Region chose to organize this business forum to discuss the ‘virtues and benefits of certification in forest management and trade.
For more information, contact Annah Agasha, Eastern Africa Sub Regional Coordinator a.agasha@fsc.org