Abstract

This report presents proceedings of “AfricanYouth4Forests” project workshop held in Voi, Taita Taveta county, Kenya from 7 to 9 November 2022. The workshop was jointly organised by African Forest Forum (AFF), Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), and Kenya Forestry Research Institute (KEFRI). It brought together 19 youths from Taita Taveta and Nairobi counties between 18-25 years of age to engage with researchers and policymakers in conversations about young people's views, visions, goals, and ideas in shaping the future governance of Kenya’s and the continent's forests.  The participants identified niches for youths' engagement in forests to improve forest cover, curb climate change effects and improve livelihoods. The youth participants envisioned 'a world where young people are more involved in sustainable development by participating in the green economy.' To achieve the youths’ vision, several actions were recommended; training the youth on sustainable forest management and green entrepreneurship, developing markets for green products, establishing innovative knowledge-sharing platforms, and actively involving the youths in national and international policy processes on forests and climate change. The outcome reflected a wide range of views and ideas among the youth, and that they have the capacity and readiness to tackle the forest-related challenges towards 2030 and beyond. It is recommended that the dialogue between African forestry researchers and the youth should continue.

Keywords

African forestry; bioeconomy; green entrepreneurship; sustainable development

Published in

eISBN: 978-91-8046-863-3
Publisher: SLU Global, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences

SLU Authors

• Roos, Anders

  • Department of Forest Economics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

Sustainable Development Goals

Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all


UKÄ Subject classification

Environmental Sciences
Forest Science


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.54612/a.3n821idolh

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/122336