When Margret Mburu ventured into sawmilling in 2015, she knew her future would be bright. She set up her company, Prime Timber Limited, in Flyover, Nyandarua county.
“I started with a small plot of 80 by 40, but I have been improving and it is now 160 by 80,” she says with smile.
Mburu is hoping that her plant, categorised by Kenya Forest Service as small-scale, will soon grow and join the medium-scale category.
This step-up is not easy as KFS has tough and robust procedures and regulations in place.
Sawmillers such as Mburu are now casting their eyes on value addition.
Apart from processing timber from plantations, Mburu also makes door frames, doors and trappers, and for this, she has invested in state-of-the art machines.
In a nearby yard, Eunice Maina has been operating Stuti Limited for 10 years. Maina said KFS has streamlined its services to weed out cartels and enhance transparency.
At Maina’s stall, there are nine workers. In Flyover Master Sawmill, there are 200 workers.
The firm, which was started 20 years ago, does value addition of timber by making products such as doors, frames, bindings and ‘quarter rounds’.
Ruth Muraya from Flyover Master Sawmill said they are also contributing to tree growing to ensure that there is sustainability of their industry.
Through the Timber Manufacturers Association, investors in the timber industry have established tree nurseries that supply high-quality seedlings to the national tree growing campaign.
Muraya, however, said they have a challenge in transporting logs to their yards as most of the forest roads are impassable, especially during the rainy season.
She also decried the logging ban that had been imposed since 2018, saying that it messed up with the quality of trees, most of which developed heart rot due to over-maturity.
This, she said, has deteriorated the quality of timber they produce from such plantations. “We had to source our materials from farmers to sustain our work,” Muraya said.
“Trees from farmers are, however, of poor quality because most of them have not reached maturity age and have not been maintained well.”
LOGGING BAN
Muraya was lamenting about the 2018 logging ban imposed by the government in all public and community forests in response to pressure by activists and civil society, who were alleging destruction of forests through uncontrolled harvesting.
Even as sawmillers termed the ban ‘insensitive and politically motivated’, thousands were left jobless as the timber industry ground to a halt.
Sawmills across the country went silent, with devastating impacts to the owners and thousands of their employees.
Investors in the sector felt the pinch, especially those who had taken bank loans to invest in modern machinery as directed by the state.
The quality of timber was also affected as the ban interfered with silvicultural practices, such as pruning and thinning carried out by KFS on a regular basis. Pruning and thinning ensure the trees are of good quality, which result in high-quality timber.
The initial 90-day ban on logging was imposed on February 24, 2018. This was later extended to November 24, 2018 before it was extended annually up to July 2, 2023, when it was finally lifted.
The harvesting of about 5,000 hectares is expected to fetch the state some Sh8 billion.
On August 1 last year, former Environment CS Soipan Tuya said that an inventory done by a multi-agency task force between 2020 and 2022 found out that 26,000ha of plantations were either matured or over-matured.
Kenya has a wood supply capacity of 31.4 million cubic metres against the national demand of 57.6 million cubic metres, leaving a deficit of 26.2 million cubic metres.
Public Plantations Forests in the country cover about 150,000ha and are composed of mainly pine, cypress and eucalyptus.
They make up six per cent of Kenya’s 2.5 million hectares of gazetted forests under the management of KFS.
President William Ruto has already directed KFS to ensure that it raises own revenue by next year.
In an Interview, chief conservator of forests Alex Lemarkoko said that one of the strategies that the service will use to generate its own revenue is harvesting and disposing of mature and over-mature plantation trees.
He said harvesting of plantation material does not in any way amount to destruction of forests.
“KFS applies the principle of allowable cut, which means that the total area harvested is equal to the total area planted,” Lemarkoko said.
“The harvesting is also carried out in strict adherence to Plantation Management Plans and approved felling plans. This ensures that harvesting of mature plantations is sustainable.”
ROTATION AGE
Under the principle, the total area under plantations is divided by the rotation age or maturity age of the plantation species, which ranges from 25 to 30 years for cypress and pines.
This, therefore, means only a maximum of 5,000ha can be harvested and replanted annually.
To further streamline the sector, Lemarkoko said that all the investors in the sector are required to undergo e-registration and verification.
The purpose of these measures is to ensure that they have the proper technical capability in terms of appropriate and recommended machinery and personnel to efficiently absorb and convert the material allocated to them as well as the financial capacity to pay for it.
Lemarkoko said the verification is also important for categorising the sawmillers as large, medium or small by assessing their technical and financial capacity.
According to the CCF, the law provides that all plantation materials should be disposed of through a tendering process for accountability purposes and so that the Service can get the optimum value for its product.
The e-registration of sawmillers is also meant to improve transparency through ensuring that the whole process is done online, minimising people contact.
Lemarkoko said plantations are an investment by the government, which is done with the primary purpose of spurring the development of the country by supporting the construction and timber industry as well as to generate revenues that are ultimately used for conservation.
He added that one of the requirements for prequalification as an investor in the timber industry is that one should have a plan for value addition.
This includes manufacturing of timber products such as tongue and groove (T&G), making of furniture, beehives and supply of building materials to the construction industry, including the affordable housing programme, he said.
To improve the value addition capacity of the local timber industry players, the CCF said the service is revamping the curriculum at its Kenya Forestry College to equip young Kenyans with the latest skills in value addition for the timber value chain.
Lemarkoko said other sources of revenue for the Service include the sale of fuel wood and sanitary harvesting, which involves salvaging of deteriorating plantation material before they lose their economic value.
SILVICULTURAL TREATMENT
There is also the sale of silvicultural treatment material, including thinnings and coppices, to improve the quality of wood lots.
The service also rents shambas to members of the Community Forest Association under the Plantation Establishment and Livelihood Improvement Scheme system, which also helps to improve food security for the community.
KFS says this is the most cost-effective way of ensuring that the survival of trees planted is guaranteed through nurturing by members of the CFAs.
Other sources of revenue include the sale of non-wood forest products, including cut and carry grass, quarry material, water easement and wayleaves. There is also payment for other installations in forests, such as communication masts and wind turbines.
Lemarkoko said KFS is also exploring other sources of revenue generation, including promotion of the non-extractive use of natural forests for ecotourism and recreation activities.
The service is also looking for ways to tap into the provisions of the Climate Change Act and Carbon Markets Regulations to access funds for conservation, Lemarkoko said.
Plantation Management head Andrew Soi said there is a robust procedure for allocating plantation materials.
This ensures there is equity among all interested investors, including the women and youth. The tendering process is guided by a number of laws.
These include Procurement and Disposal Act of 2015, Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Regulations 2020, Public Financial Management Regulations 2015, Forest Harvesting Rules 2009 and the Forest Conservation and Management Act of 2016.