• Cheboiwo said Kefri was given a target to produce 60 metric tonnes of seeds.
• He said with the new target, Kefri has the responsibility of increasing the seeds it produces from 60 to 100 metric tonnes per year.
Image: ENOS TECHE
The Kenya Forestry Research Institute has said it is ready to realise the government’s ambition of 30 per cent tree cover by 2032.
Kefri CEO Dr Joshua Cheboiwo said on Tuesday that the institute has put in place the necessary measures towards attaining the target.
“The ambition to accelerate tree growing started in 2018 under the 2018-2022, 10 per cent strategy. At that time, we were aiming to grow three billion seedlings 2018-2022,” Cheboiwo said during an interview in his office.
Cheboiwo said Kefri was given a target to produce 60 metric tonnes of seeds.
“That time we were for a long time producing eight and 10 tonnes of commercial species and few for conservation annually because that is what the market demanded,” he said.
He said with the new target, Kefri has the responsibility of increasing the seeds it produces from 60 to 100 metric tonnes per year.
“This will be moved to 1,000 metric tonnes by 2032 to produce between 16 and 20 billion trees,” he said.
Cheboiwo said Kefri was during the term of retired President Uhuru Kenyatta directed to start producing 60 metric tonnes, which can produce almost 1.3 to 1.5 billion seedlings per year.
“By the end of President Kenyatta’s term, Kefri had moved to produce 41.6 metric tonnes,” he said.
Cheboiwo said they have since developed a green app that maps out the number of trees grown in the country.
He said the app uploads tree-planting initiatives in real-time.
“One takes the photo of the area planted and Kefri is able to track per county and area,” Cheboiwo said.
He said they are also helping with site-matching applications.
“When you are in your village, you can tap and see which species can grow there for conservation and commercial use,” Cheboiwo said.
He said site-matching helps guide tree growers not to take trees, which are meant for another ecological zone, where they cannot do well.
Results generated from the National Forest Resources Assessment 2021 indicate that Kenya has 7,180,000.66ha of tree cover, representing 12.13 per cent of the total area.
The report was launched at the State House, Nairobi, by Uhuru on May 27.
The findings indicate that the country has 5,226,191.79ha of national forest cover, representing 8.83 per cent of the total area.
Cheboiwo said there will be other players who will produce more seeds across the country.
He said a new strategy was being worked on.
Cheboiwo said there would be a responsibility for several players for each player to play in the government’s bid to increase tree and forest cover.
“It is all government and all society's approach that will ensure the 16 billion tree target is achieved is achieved by 2032,” he said.