Transforming Sustainable Forestry in East Africa

Digitalisation to improve environmental sustainability

The Sustainable Forestry Project, in partnership with Gatsby Africa, works to digitalise and strengthen East Africa's forestry sector. Operating in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, it aims to boost productivity, enhance environmental sustainability, and unlock economic opportunities across the value chain. Through technology, innovative business models, and public–private collaboration, the project is positioning forestry as a competitive and investment-ready sector.

Tackling Structural Challenges

East Africa's commercial forestry sector has strong potential but faces barriers such as low processing efficiency, limited quality genetics, underinvestment, and weak smallholder–industry links. The initiative partners with governments and industry to improve plantation management, attract responsible investment, and strengthen regional timber trade.

Increasing Value for Smallholder Growers

Smallholders are key to the forestry sector but face low payment transparency, weak market access, and pressure to harvest early. Better transparency and streamlined payments increase farmer returns and supply stability. Carbon credits offer an additional income stream, reducing premature harvesting and boosting the value of mature timber.

Building Digital Infrastructure for Growth

To enable a more efficient, transparent, and scalable sector, the project supports the development of three interconnected digital solutions:

• Integrated Payments Platform — a secure, scalable payments system that integrates with regional mobile money and banking services, supporting efficient individual and bulk transactions and improving speed, transparency, and accountability across the value chain.
• Farmer Management System (FMS) — a modular system that enables organisations to manage farmer data, track production, and coordinate operations more effectively, strengthening decision-making and value chain performance.
• Digital Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (dMRV) — digital tools that improve operational efficiency and support participation in carbon markets, helping forestry operators manage data more effectively and unlock access to new revenue streams linked to sustainable land use.

Driving Sustainable Economic Growth

The Sustainable Forestry Project aims to deliver higher smallholder incomes, more mature high-quality timber, stronger processing capacity, better value-chain transparency, and greater access to climate finance. By reinforcing the commercial foundations of forestry, it supports long-term economic growth and environmental sustainability across East Africa.