SOME DEFINITIONS 

Tree Commodities refer to crops and products emanating from growing trees and/or harvesting from trees in the wild, largely for direct economic purposes. These include fruits, oils, nuts, leaves, barks, raisins, gum, wood and other fibre. Examples of tree crops include avocado, cashew, cocoa, coconut, coffee, gum arabica, mango, rubber, oil palm and others. 

Green Tree Commodities mean climate-smart, biodiversity-friendly, deforestation-free, inclusive, equitable, food and nutrition security compatible production, value addition and trading systems. 

Greening Tree Commodities imply approaches, tools, methods and processes that seek to make tree commodity systems climate-smart, biodiversity-friendly, deforestation-free, inclusive and equitable, food and nutrition security compatible while contributing to economic growth.  

Green poverty can be defined as the condition wherein riverine communities, actors and or supposed beneficiaries remain below the poverty line and or unable to make a living following following “green” environment and development actions (such as conservation, land restoration, ecosystem services enhancement, green energy, zero deforestation commodities, etc.).  

WHY TREE COMMODITIES? 

Tree commodities are present in half of the countries in Africa and, in total, represent between 15 and 20% of the GDP in these countries. Four countries in Africa can be classified as single tree commodity-dependent economies- i.e., countries where a single tree commodity is the main major export earner. For these countries, price fluctuations have meant huge vulnerabilities in the balance of payments and foreign currency availability for servicing and debt management. A further 6 agriculture-based economies derive 50% of all agricultural export value from at least two tree crop commodities. Additionally, tree commodities are directly linked to 150 million smallholder farmers involved in various tree commodity production schemes, while another 600 Million indirectly depend on tree commodity value chains.  

Furthermore, the top ten commodities in Africa occupy between 80 – 100 Million ha of land on the continent. In addition, many of these commodities, such as cocoa, coffee, oil palm, rubber, rubber, timber and cashew, have been among the fastest-growing land uses over the past 30 years, and they continue to grow at significant rates. In many instances, tree commodities are competing with valuable and limited arable land suitable for food crops, thereby potentially compromising food security. There is evidence that this growth has, for a greater part, come at the expense of forests and other ecologically sensitive lands. 

Given the huge and growing swats of land going under tree commodities in the last decades, it is time to proactively recognize that a good part of Africa’s future ecosystem services would depend on how these lands are managed.  With the livelihoods of close to half of Sub-Saharan Africa’s population impacted by tree commodities, it is imperative to address the sustainability of tree commodity systems as an important pathway to achieving the SDGs.  

WHY GREENING OF TREE COMMODITIES?  

Farmers and populations dependent on and impacted by tree commodities remain poor and unable to make a living income from engagement in tree commodity activities. The reasons for this are several. Productivity is largely low due to low inputs, labour constraints, and aging plantations. Product quality is also low and most of the products are sold in the primary state, therefore fetching the lowest possible prices. Declining prices and largely unstable prices on the international market (with the exception of wood) have also contributed. The price dynamics have also exposed countries for which tree commodities are major income earners by impacting the balance of payments. As a result, Africa does not capture more than 10% of the global value of any of the tree commodities for which she is a leading producer- namely cocoa, cashew, shea and gum arabic. These challenges warrant more attention in the fight to reduce poverty in particular.  

There is evidence that results from current approaches and attempts at stopping the environmental impacts of tree commodities, such as deforestation, biodiversity loss, emission reductions and soil and water pollution from pesticides, have been mixed.  CIFOR-ICRAF researchers and partners suggest that certification of various tree commodities and forests have not significantly impacted benefits for the 3 Billion people directly and indirectly connected to tree commodities and or environmental gains in the last few decades. Other instruments and mechanisms such as PES, Deforestation-free commodities, EbA, REDD+ and NBS are still wanting in evidence on options for enhancing effectiveness, efficiencies and equity in tree commodity systems. In most cases where they have succeeded in enhancing ecosystem services, green poverty persists. 

In addition, tree commodities have been linked to land conflicts on the continent. Particularly land grabbing and the accompanying social unrest. Child labour deployment in many of these systems remains a big menace. Women and youth are largely left out in tree commodity activities and do not benefit from the sub-sectors. While monoculture systems expose families in times of pests and disease breakouts as well as when prices crash periodically. These vulnerabilities, inequalities and social challenges need to be urgently addressed. 

Lastly, tree commodities present many more opportunities that can be tapped into. Industrialization through tree commodities through processing and value addition can create jobs. Diversification in value addition could enable huge bioenergy benefits for Africa, wherein energy needs continue to grow. 

Therefore, the GTCI will seek to drive change towards more productive, profitable and sustainable tree commodities. 

AIM:  

To catalyze green growth in African economies through green tree commodity pathways.  

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES  

The GTCI seeks to achieve the following specific objectives: 

1. To generate, synthesize and distribute knowledge and information on all aspects of tree commodities and to facilitate learning among stakeholders from public and private sectors and civil society based on it  
2. To support evidence-based innovations in science, practice and policies relevant to transformative change in tree commodities and farm, landscape, sub-national/jurisdictional, national, sub-regional and continental levels; 
3. To convene actors, including farmers, civil society, public and private to discuss, negotiate and collaborate on issues of common interest; 
4. To support farmers and other land users engaged in tree commodities to become organized into SMEs and their integration in forest-and-tree-product value chains 
5. To increase in-country value adding to tree commodities in support of livelihoods, state revenues, and foreign exchange earnings 
6. To enable and facilitate responsible investments in the tree commodity and green growth arena in Africa; 
7. To grow the capacity for a transformative critical mass at individual and institutional levels necessary for green growth on the continent; 
8. To provide new platforms for exchange and cooperation between African, Asian and Latin American segments of tropical commodity markets and innovation pathways