Forest management decentralization in Kenya: Effects on household farm forestry decisions in Kakamega

This study investigates the effects of forest decentralization through the Kenya Forest Act of 2005, on farm forestry investment decisions. The study uses household-level data collected from Kakamega forest communities in March, 2010, and controls for selection bias arising from incidental truncation by means of Heckman two-step approach. Our results reveal that participatory forest management, among other factors, significantly reduces the level of farm forestry investment among the poor rural households. This indicates that, although co-management is useful in protecting the existing government forests, a cocktail of other measures must accompany it for increased forest cover to be realized. These measures could include: increased farmer education, introduction of high-value fast-maturing farm trees and farm forestry incentive schemes

Can strategic environmental and social assessment of REDD+ improve forest governance?

The Forest Carbon Partnership Facility has recently proposed the application of strategic environmental social assessment (SESA) for incorporating environmental and social considerations in the preparation of REDD+ initiatives. This paper discusses the potential contribution of SESA to REDD+ initiatives drawing on experiences from earlier attempts to large scale forestry sector reforms and a recent World Bank pilot program on strategic environmental assessment. The paper suggests that SESA can be a useful approach for strengthening institutions and governance needed for managing diverse environmental and social impacts related to REDD+. More specifically, SESA can enhance policy making and governance through raising attention to environmental and social priorities, strengthening constituencies for policy change and improving social accountability. In order for SESA to contribute to these outcomes it needs to be assured that broad national “ownership” is achieved and that it becomes part of a long-term policy learning process with repeated and sustained stakeholder interaction. Through strengthening constituencies in policy reform SESA can potentially reduce the risk of regulatory capture of REDD+ by vested interests and make institutional checks and balances more effective. An analysis of Kenya's process of preparing a national REDD+ strategy is used to illustrate our case in the paper