Developing a model for Sustainable afforestation as an Alternative land use for economic development in Zimbabwe.

Abstract

Amidst the continued failure of agricultural production systems to meet policy targets in developing countries, there has been a gradual paradigm shift towards afforestation . As a result, several countries across the globe have actively sought to promote afforestation as an alternative land use for economic development through state policy and support. However, p olicy related challenges to markets, funding , extension service provision, and capacity building among others have remained hampering afforestation development. Current institutional and management regimes for afforestation have failed to meet policy expectations. A close analysis of the focus of many studies conducted to date on afforestation as an alternative land use option reveals the existence of a gap in the model for sustainable afforestation. As a result, afforestation has failed to proffer anticipated gains resulting in subsequent low uptake of afforestation as an alternative land use for economic development. Therefore, this study sought to develop a model for s ustainable afforestation as an alternative land use for economic development in Zimbabwe. The study was guided by five specific objectives which were to establish the state of afforestation in Mashonaland West Province, assess the extent of land utilisatio n in Mashonaland West, explore the perceptions of stakeholders towards afforestation as sustainable alternative land use for economic development, explore the institutional frameworks that may be adopted to promote sustainable afforestation as alternative land use for development in Mashonaland West and to develop a model for sustainable afforestation as alternative land use for economic development in Zimbabwe. To achieve a holistic approach to the development of a model, this study borrowed heavily from i nsights from a variety of theories, such as the Theory of Structuration, Land Rent Theory, The Stakeholder Theory, Sustainability of Livelihoods Framework, Forest Transition Theory and The Expectancy Theory . The theory of Structuration provided the overarching and dominant insights on most of the facets of this study. The study adopted the qualitative research methodology and used purposive sampling to select 30 respondents from among the Ministry of Lands, AGRITEX Officers, Environment al Management Authority officials, Forestry Commission, TIMB, and local farmers in the province. The data for this study were generated using semi-structured interviews, journal reflections and coincidental field day discussions and filed. The study had multiple findings. In the context of the state of afforestation in Mashonaland West Province, study findings highlighted that the land under afforestation is insignificant, only accounting for a mere 0.00095% of the lost forest cover and 0.61 of the nation’s tree cover gain which is approximately 48065.6 hectares over the period 2001 2021. Afforestation is being taken as a support venture not as the key land use amongst farming communities. The study findings highlighted that there is massive lan d underutilization in the province as a result of the limited adoption of afforestation initiatives. Generally , in the context of overall forest cover, the conversion of land from agriculture to forest is unusual amongst local farmers. Further, this translates into a lack of economic knowledge of the returns from afforestation and a lack of management expertise to appropriate management. Other challenges noted include among others lack of government support and inadequate extension servi ce amongst a host of other challenges. Further, the breadth of the varieties of tree species under afforestation in the province is narrow, with a bias towards the eucalyptus, favoured for its early maturity as compared to other varieties. The general perception amongst stakeholders towards afforestation as a sustainable alternative land use was scepticism . Issues of concern amongst the stakeholders included the fact that afforestation comes with huge opportunity cost, and they regarded it a s a preserve for farmers with huge sparse of land. Other issues of concern noted include the need for huge capital injection, inadequate government support to the initiative as compared to other forms of agriculture, no motivation given to farmers who take up the initiative as other crop farming options like food crops do, and the long period taken to get returns from the venture. The economic value of supporting and regulating such initiatives has not been well captured in the market and therefore has rema ined undervalued. Such a lack of knowledge and an apparent lack of economic value pose a challenge for determining land use allocation and modelling land use change. Regarding institutional frameworks that may be adopted to promote sustainable afforestation, the study found that strategies to optimise optimize afforestation uptake should be informed by research and development. Other strategies that may be adopted to promote afforestation include having a precise policy, and value addition am ong other strategies. These strategies should inform the model of sustainable afforestation as an alternative land use for economic development in Zimbabwe. Noteworthy is that on stakeholder views on best practices, the study captured a situation in which not all stakeholders were consulted in the design of the intervention program and not much was done by the authorities to reflect on and consider best practices as the y were envisaged by the stakeholders in their entirety. A sustainable afforestation model is therefore based on an ethical economic model, which is binding on the entire populace of stakeholders and its principles are; multi stakeholder engagement, develop ing key enablers and pro activeness in addressing challenges inhibiting the efficient operations in afforestation. However, there is a need to replicate a similar study to test the model in a different geographical area before results can be generalised.