INVESTING IN TREES AND LANDSCAPE ... - PROFOR

TABLE 1.4. PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION OF SAWNWOOD IN 2005 AND PROJECTIONS TO 2020 AND 2030
REGION
Production
(million m 3 )
2005 2020 2030
Consumption
(million m 3 )
Production
(million m 3 )
Consumption
(million m 3 )
Production
(million m 3 )
Consumption
(million m 3 )
Africa 9 12 11 19 14 26
Europe 136 121 175 151 201 171
North America 156 158 191 188 219 211
Asia and the Pacific 71 84 83 97 97 113
Latin America and 39 32 50 42 60 50
the Caribbean
World 417 421 520 515 603 594
Source: Compiled from FAO 2009.
It is clear that demand in Africa will increase for a variety of wood products, ranging from lower value
fuelwood to higher value wood panels; however, it is not clear whether the demand will be met by African
producers or from imports. In the case of paper and paper products, the only well-developed industry in
Sub-Saharan Africa is in South Africa, and FAO estimates do not project this industry developing in other
African countries, given the rather low increments in demand growth over the coming years (FAO 2003b).
This projection also applies to other higher value products, where demand may be too fragmented to spur
investment in local industry. This is obviously an area that merits attention, for it could have enormous
implications for the management of tree and forest resources.
Supply Conditions in Africa
Traditionally, most wood products have been sourced from Africa’s forests and woodlands. However, between
1990 and 2000, Africa lost 40.7 million hectares of forest, with 31 percent cleared in southern Africa and
44 percent in Zambia, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Deforestation slowed between
2000 and 2010; nonetheless, 34.1 million hectares were lost. Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, and DRC are in
the top 10 countries in terms of area deforested between 2000 and 2010 (FAO 2010a).
The Forest Resource Assessment (FAO 2010a) estimates that only 2.3 percent of forests in Africa are
planted (compared with 35.3 percent in East Asia), with 8 million hectares of plantations in Africa as a
whole. Plantation area in Africa started from a very low base and is growing by only about 1.75 percent a
year, which is below the global rate. The global trend toward plantation forests has been limited in Africa to
a few countries, especially South Africa, Swaziland, and Zimbabwe (FAO 2003b). Most plantations are in
forest-poor countries; very limited planting takes place in countries that still have large tracts of natural forest.
In this context, agricultural land will become an increasingly important frontier for tree growing. Tree growing
on farmland is already common in Africa, including growing trees for wood. Some of the private plantations,
such as those in South Africa, are industrial plantations, but many are small woodlots or boundary plantings—
these are particularly common in the East African highlands. Timber growing in South Africa and Zimbabwe
features a number of outgrower schemes, in most cases with small plantations of 1–3 hectares. Woodlots in
densely populated East Africa are much smaller, but they occupy a significant area. Aerial photos from across
30 districts in Kenya showed that about 2 percent of all land area was under woodlots, with much denser
plantings in some districts, such as Vihiga (Place et al. 2006). In Rwanda, more area was private plantation
than state-owned plantation as long ago as 1990 (Mihigo 1999).
Chapter 1. TREE-BASED AND OTHER LAND MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGIES FOR LANDSCAPE RESTORATION AND LIVELIHOOD IN AFRICA
27