Who We Are

The Private Forestry Programme – Panda Miti Kibiashara (PFP) is a bilateral Programme between the Governments of Tanzania and Finland. The Programme aims at increasing rural income in the Southern Highlands area of Tanzania through developing sustainable plantation forestry and value addition. One of the main objectives is to support private plantation establishment with the priority on small holder owners, who will also be supported by assisting them in their efforts to establish Tree Growers’ Associations (TGAs) to gain group benefits when entering timber markets. To ensure the future forest plantation management quality, the Programme has an extensive capacity building plan, targeting all levels of the forest product value chain from growers to sawmilling enterprises. Capacity building will also target employment issues in the Southern Highlands’ forestry sector.

To enhance social development in the Southern Highlands, the Programme will promote inclusive and equal participation as well as strengthen the rights of vulnerable groups by ensuring that they are given the opportunity to genuinely involve in the land-use planning processes. To ensure environmental sustainability, the Programme has integrated biodiversity conservation into the land-use planning process and improves biodiversity management in plantation development.

The Programme’s innovative approaches will be evaluated and its best practices disseminated widely within the sector to ensure sustainability and maximize the benefits from used resources. The Programme will also facilitate broad development of the sector by initiating and engaging in dialogue among key stakeholders and by processing proposals for policy, legislative and business development.

The planned 16-year Programme is now in its first Phase (2014-2017). Phase I is implemented by Indufor Oy in partnership with Niras Finland Oy, providing technical assistance services. The Programme works under the guidance of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism of Tanzania and the Embassy of Finland in Dar es Salaam.

Vision & Main Objective

Vision

The Programme’s vision for the private forestry sector in Tanzania is to provide sustainable income for a wide population within the forestry and related value chains sector, while ensuring the social and environmental sustainability of plantation forestry investments.

The above will ensure that Tanzania will become a significant producer of wood fibre for both domestic and export markets, that tree plantation and forest industry investors will see the Southern Highlands of Tanzania as an attractive potential investment target, and that the national policy and regulatory environment will be supportive of such investments.

Main Objective

The overall objective of the programme is to introduce and strengthen sustainable and inclusive private forestry that contributes to Tanzania’s economic growth and alleviates poverty. While the Programme will support in particular those households in the Southern Highlands with potential for plantation forestry in generating income and employment, it will also safeguard the rights of the vulnerable groups and support their participation in the value chain.

The purpose of the first phase of the Programme (2014-2017) is to see that economically viable, sustainable and inclusive plantation forestry and related value chains provide employment and increased income for private forest owners, SMEs and vulnerable households in the Programme area. The Programme will adapt successful private sector development models to its needs and scale-up their applications in plantation forestry.