Sustainable timber production

The project aimed to generate enough revenue to cover the production costs/sale of FSC certified sawn timber, as well as the social needs (water, health, education) of the population in five villages (10,000 inhabitants) in the Kilwa district, in the southeast of the country. The villages were selling certified tree trunks at a much lower price than sawn timber. A portable sawmill was to be shared between the five villages and 100 elected community members trained in the production, certification process and sale of sawn timber. 50% of the revenues were to be used for social needs.

The portable sawmill was delivered and assembled in August 2017. Villages were supported in securing business licenses allowing them to trade timber. Governance and financial management training was provided to 225 members of the 5 Village Councils and Village Natural Resources Committees (VNRC) to prepare them to manage the income, prepare simple annual reports, budgets, work plans and Village timber business plans. Once timber sales began, the average return per cubic meter of hardwood increased by 75%. Communities tripled their communal development funds, enabling 69 different village development projects. Projects varied from construction of village offices, classrooms, housing for teachers, desks for school children to lunch for primary school kids, village health insurance and medicines for the dispensaries.

Founded in 2004 in Tanzania, MCDI (Mpingo Conservation & Development Initiative) aims to advance forest conservation and community development, in order to enable communities to sustainably use their forest resources.

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