2010 TOR for Lead Consultant – Forest Plantations

Under the guidance of Prof. Godwin Kowero, Executive Secretary, AFF, the Lead Consultant, shall undertake the activities listed below with respect to AFF’s work on “Rehabilitation of Public Forest Plantations” in the eastern and north-eastern African countries of Ethiopia,   Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi.

Specific tasks

1. Undertake a study of the current public and private forest plantations situation, specifically with respect to the distribution and location of these plantations, species planted and sources of seedlings and seeds, age distribution of tree species, their management and quality of stands, and other features.

2. Undertake market surveys to determine supply scenarios and demand projections of plantation wood volumes and trends (by tree species, private and public sources), including current cost of importing timber and wood products and sources of such products.

3. Evaluate the current revenue collection systems, licensing/concession procedures, forest tenure, management arrangements and pricing mechanisms for roundwood and industrial forest products (from natural and plantation forests).

4. Estimate the potential for income generation and employment creation,

5. Evaluate and propose incentives that could favour rapid forest plantation establishment by public and private sectors, and outgrowers schemes by individual farmers. In this case consideration should also be given to:

• Availability of appropriate land; 
• Availability of quality germplasm; 
• Financing for plantation forestry; 
• Private sector readiness in plantation forestry; 
• Policy and environmental issues, including land and forest tenure issues, biodiversity considerations, and legislation and governance issues. 
• Potential for additional revenues from carbon trade.

6. Provide options for establishment, expansion and improved management of public and private forest plantations, including ways to overcome existing and potential constraints.

7. Evaluate the processing of industrial round wood from the plantations in the individual countries, ownership, its current and potential capacity, wood raw material supply (sources, types, and adequacy), product lines and quality of produce, potential for future investment in the sub-sector, constraints facing the sub-sector, among other key considerations.

8. Make a presentation, based on this work, in a workshop that will be organised by the AFF.

Implementation

The Lead Consultant shall be engaged for five months, spread over a period of one  year,  and supported by a national consultant from each of the six countries. The Lead Consultant shall   design the framework for the work, terms of reference for the national consultants, supervise their work, guide writing of national reports and papers based on the national reports, and organise a country workshop/ meeting in each country.  In addition to the individual country reports, the Lead Consultant shall prepare a synthesis on the work done in the six countries guided by the terms of reference above.

Closing date: May 30, 2010