Forest Investment Project Coordination Unit 2 Validates Process for Identifying Farm Managers in Agro-Forests

The Forest Investment Project Coordination Unit 2 (UCP-PIF2), in collaboration with SODEFOR, organized a workshop on September 17-18, 2024, in San Pedro to validate the process and tools for identifying farm managers in the Rapides Grah agro-forests, Haute Dodo and Sci.

More than 60 participants from various national and international organizations attended the workshop, which was chaired by Mr. Koné Soumaila Kolo, Deputy of San Pedro and representative of the Prefect of the region. The workshop provided an opportunity to discuss best practices for data collection, georeferencing plots, and structuring agroforestry contracts.

The questionnaire validated during the group work will enable the collection of information that will serve as a solid basis for the formalization of agroforestry contracts with producers, essential for the sustainable management of classified forests.

Ms. Aloua Kadjo, Specialist in Stakeholder Engagement and representative of the PIF2 Coordinator, emphasized the importance of the workshop. “The implementation of agroforestry is a real challenge for the State of Côte d’Ivoire, the Ministry of Water and Forests, the World Bank, PIF 2, and for the populations, in short for everyone.”

“We will meet this challenge if and only if everyone at their level commits and this starts by sharing in your respective areas, structures, and institutions, the information received during these two days of the workshop,” concluded Ms. Aloua Kadjo.

The workshop brought together representatives from the Ministry of Water and Forests, the World Bank, PIF2 implementing agencies, NGOs, the private sector, planters, the media, and the Census Implementation Group. Discussions focused on agroforestry, the legal status of agroforests, European regulations on imported deforestation, and the involvement of local communities in forestry micro-projects.

Côte d’Ivoire has lost around 13 million hectares of forest in a few decades, reducing forest cover to less than 3.5 million hectares in 2015, or 11% of its territory. The Ivorian government, with the support of partners like the World Bank, adopted the Strategy for the Conservation, Rehabilitation, and Extension of Forests (SPREF 2018), aiming to reach 20% forest cover by 2040.

“We support the Ivorian government to implement the SPREF, of which the PIF is an essential part. This project complies with European Union (EU) regulations on imported deforestation, especially thanks to the official recognition of agroforests through decrees that legalize their change of occupation. The census of operators and georeferencing of plots will ensure the traceability of products. Beyond protecting forests, this project also aims to improve the living conditions of local populations,” declared Mr. Jean-Dominique BESCOND, responsible for PIF2 at the World Bank.

About the Forest Investment Project – Phase 2 (PIF 2)

The Forest Investment Project – Phase 2 (PIF 2) is a flagship initiative of the Ivorian Government, led by the Ministry of Water and Forests and financed by the World Bank. Launched in 2022 for a period of seven years, PIF2’s mission is to preserve and increase the forest stock while improving access to sources of income from sustainable forest management in its areas of intervention.

With a budget of 148 million dollars, the project actively contributes to the National Strategy of Côte d’Ivoire, aiming to achieve a forest cover of 20% of the territory by 2040. PIF2 operates in ten strategic regions of the country, focusing on Classified Forests categories 3 and 4, as well as on several national parks and nature reserves. It is also associated with the Cocoa Value Chain Integrated Development Project (PDIC), strengthening Côte d’Ivoire’s efforts to combat deforestation while promoting sustainable forest management.