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Funded by the European Union and coordinated by the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), the project “Governance of Multifunctional Landscapes in Sub-Saharan Africa: Managing Trade-offs between Social and Environmental Impacts” (GML) has officially launched in Zambia.
The project will be implemented across Sub-Saharan Africa for four years, and in Zambia it will focus on creating knowledge, options and engagement for sustainable management of woodfuel value chains.
During the kick off ceremony, which took place on November 27th in Kitwe, Copperbelt Province, CIFOR’s team presented preliminary research results on woodfuel trade flows in Zambia, with a focus on border flows with Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tanzania. “We want to understand the biophysical and social impacts of woodfuel value chains in the Copperbelt, Northern, Northwestern and Southern Provinces”, said Davison Gumbo, CIFOR scientist and project leader in Zambia. “We are then sharing this knowledge with partners to inform policymaking and to work towards more sustainable solutions”, he added.
In addition, the event served as an opportunity to invite key stakeholders collaborate in the framework of the project and to have their input in the framing of its key priorities. “Charcoal has thus far not received the importance and efforts it deserves, therefore the government is currently implementing various programs aimed at correcting this situation. We are very much interested in the experiences from this initiative on how we can start fostering a more sustainable charcoal sector”, said Mindenda Pande, Principal Forestry Officer in head office. “As project partners we want to work with charcoal producers and help them to organize themselves and to adopt more sustainable practices”, added Vincent Ziba of the Forest and Farm Facility.
The next stage of the project will be the production of knowledge on priority areas and key intervention sites, such as refugee sites, vulnerable ecosystems, large cities, and cross-border areas. Based on the results, options for sustainable management of woodfuel value chains will be developed in collaboration with stakeholders.
About GML:
Financed by the European Union and led by the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), GML is a four-year project implemented across Sub-Saharan Africa that aims to address key knowledge, technical and policy gaps related to the global impacts of the FLEGT Action Plan, as well as forest and land governance, trade in informal and legal timber products, deforestation-related commodity-based agribusiness, woodfuel and ultimately sustainable forest and land-use management and improvement of livelihoods.
About CIFOR:
The Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) advances human well-being, equity and environmental integrity by conducting innovative research, developing partners’ capacity, and actively engaging in dialogue with all stakeholders to inform policies and practices that affect forests and people. CIFOR is a CGIAR Research Center, and leads the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (FTA). Our headquarters are in Bogor, Indonesia, with offices in Nairobi, Kenya, Yaounde, Cameroon, and Lima, Peru.
Media contact:
Ahtziri Gonzalez, Communications officer a.gonzalez@cgiar.org +237680800382
Press release:
English version
French version