Managing the Miombo Woodlands of Southern Africa Policies, incentives and options
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5Contribution of forests to the national economy5.1Forest products contributing to the national economyPerhaps most important in Zambia is the contribution of forests to the nations energy needs, with dry forests providing about 70 percent of the energy needs (Ministry of Finance and Planning, 2002). Woodfuels (firewood and charcoal) are by far the largest energy source in Zambia and the major commercial forest product from indigenous forests. Annual consumption of woodfuel was more than 7.2 million tons in 2002 (FAO, 2005). Two thirds of this woodfuel is consumed in rural areas where almost all households depend on firewood for domestic use. Chongwe district alone, for example, supplied an estimated 61,000 tons of charcoal to Lusaka markets in 2000, with a total value of US$ 2.1 million (Chidumayo, 2001). Approximately 72 percent of households in Lusaka use charcoal for cooking and heating while 10 percent use firewood (Kalumiana, 1997). Charcoal consumption increased from 174,000 tons in 1990 to 245,000 tons in 2000 and is projected to reach more than 500,000 tons by 2020 (Chidumayo, 2001; Frey and Neubauer, 2001). Most charcoal comes from Lusaka, Central and Copperbelt Provinces and is sold at municipal markets, by the roadside or at homesteads (Kalumiana, 1997). Another important product is honey. Beekeeping first became a commercial activity in Zambia when Portuguese traders from Angola came searching for beeswax in the 1890s (Clauss, 1992). The beekeeping sector was recorded as the third largest employer in Kabompo district, Northwestern Province, in 2004 (Kaitisha, 2007). Two large companies export approximately 400 metric tons of certified organic honey per year, mainly to the UK (55%) and Germany (35%) (ITC/DTCC, 2007). Official export earnings from honey and beeswax have increased significantly since 2001, as more players become involved in the sector with the growing global demand for organic honey (Figure 2). 
Figure 2: Export earnings from honey and beeswax, in US$ (Kaitisha, 2007) A significant amount of the beeswax is bought by informal Tanzanian traders to supply the cosmetics industry in Eastern Africa (Mickels-Kokwe, 2006). The local market is dominated by informal traders. Mulenga and Chizuka (in Mickels-Kokwe, 2006) estimate that each year 600-700 metric tons of the honey is transformed into honey beer and sold by homestead traders in rural and urban areas. Two other large companies target the national market and process and pack honey to supply retailers in urban areas. Additionally, the number of registered and unregistered smaller companies and individuals processing and packaging honey is increasing. Value addition for table honey is significant: farm gate prices range between US$0.5 and US$0.8 per kg (depending on the buyer) and retail prices in urban areas are approximately US$3.80 and US$5 per kg, for hawkers and shops, respectively (Husselman, unpublished data 2007). Production and processing technologies for honey and beeswax are still very basic in Zambia and there is a huge potential for improving production levels and value addition. Moreover, honey has the reputation of being a health food both locally and abroad and the demand is expected to continue growing in both markets (SNV, 2005; ITC/DTCC, 2007). The total volumes of different forest foods collected and traded in Zambia are unknown, but the literature suggests that the size and impact on the natural resource, and the contribution to the national economy could be significant. The Zambian market also influences neighbouring countries. For example, Davenport and Ndangalasi (2003) estimated that between 2.2 and 4.1 million orchid plants consumed in Zambia come from Tanzania. The roots of orchids from the genera Disa, Habenaria and Satyrium form the main ingredient for a favourite snack called chikanda. The pounded roots are mixed with peanuts and boiled to represent a meat-like cake, which is eaten in a sandwich or as a relish with maize, sorghum or cassava (Bingham, 2004). Based on a survey at the Soweto wholesale market in Lusaka in 2000, Puustjärvy et al. (2005) estimate that the total volume of chikanda traded in urban markets across the country exceeded 214 tons. The added value from chikanda trade at retail level was estimated at about ZMK1 billion. Further, taking into account the processing of chikanda tubers into “polony” (assuming at least 50% is sold as “polony”), the added value from chikanda trading would be in the range of ZMK1.36 billion or US$375,000 per annum (at 2001 prices) (Puustjärvy et al. 2005). The large urban demand and declining wild stocks in Zambia, related increase in market prices and lack of institutional capacity to manage the resource, have all caused the quantities harvested in Tanzania, where the use of chikanda is minimal, to reach unsustainable levels (Davenport and Ndangalasi, 2003). Fresh mushrooms are another forest product for which urban demand exceeds local supplies, particularly during the dry season. In 2001 25.5 tons were imported from South Africa (Puustjärvy et al. 2005). There have been several attempts at exporting wild harvested mushrooms. In 1995, Amanita Zambiana Ltd. exported 31.5 tons of chantarelles to Europe. The company has since closed its mushroom operations. More recent figures are from The Miombo Project in Mpongwe, which exported 1.5 tons of dried wild mushroom in 2002 from an organically certified forest of 185,000 ha (Puustjärvy et al. 2005). It is expected that medicinal plants make a major contribution to the Zambian economy, but data is generally lacking. Approximately 40,000 traditional healers, known as n’ganga in most Zambian languages, are active in Zambia. They may account for 35 to 60 percent of total household expenditure on healthcare (Phiri and Tien, 2004). Due to the holistic belief system on which healthcare is based in African cultures, traditional medicines are often considered to be irreplaceable by modern medicine. Certain types of epilepsy, for example, are believed to be caused by witchcraft and can only be cured by a n’ganga who is able to divine the ingredients used to inflict this witchcraft. The same ingredients are thereafter used as an antidote. This concoction consists of parts of insects or animals which have conversions themselves, mixed with plant parts (Baskind and Birbeck, 2005). Traditional treatments are also believed necessary for problems related to fertility and potency (Spring 1980). Commercial markets for medicinal plants are dominated by herbal material that is dried (roots and bark) or has a long shelf-life (bulbs and seeds). Aphrodisiacs derived from plants are sold as bottled preparations and a common sight in urban markets (Cunningham, 1993). Nevertheless, the trade in medicinal plants and animals in Zambia is small compared to those of other countries with larger urban centres, e.g. South Africa (Williams, 2000; Dold and Cocks, 2001). As a result, overexploitation due to commercial harvesting is rare. Other activities, such as logging, however, have been reported to threaten populations of medicinal plant species such as Pericopsis angolensis (Cunningham, 1993). Conversion to Christianity seems to influence people’s perceptions on modern medicine, but, due to the HIV pandemic and lack of available, affordable modern pharmaceuticals, it is likely that traditional plant and animal-based medicine will continue to play a significant, and perhaps even increasing, role in Zambian healthcare (Ngubane and Höjer, 1999; Baskind and Birbeck, 2005). Forests can contribute directly to income generation by providing formal and informal employment. The timber industry is a prime example of this: in the late nineties, roughly 2000 people found employment harvesting, transporting or processing saw-logs for timber (Puustjärvy et al. 2005). Between 1993 and 2003 the Zambia Investment Centre recorded 63 companies trading wood and wood products during the period (FSP, 2004). Most of the sawn-timber traded in Zambia is sold the furniture and mining industries, which consume approximately 15,000 m3 and 6000 m3 per year, respectively (Puustjärvy et al. 2005). Export earnings for wood and wood-based products increased from U$ 0.9 million in 1994 to U$3.3 million in 1997. However it has been estimated that the recorded commercial timber harvest from native hardwood forests (0.2 million m3/annum) and from plantation forests (1 million m3/annum) accounts for only 14% of Zambia’s total wood harvest (9 million m3/annum). 86% of wood harvested is unrecorded fuel-wood and commercial wood (Kokwe 2004). According to the official figures for Zambia, the forestry sector as a whole contributed 5.2% to total GDP in 2005 (Table 10). This is close to the estimated contribution of 6 percent for Africa (Oksanen and Mersmann, 2003).
Similar to agriculture, the contribution of forestry to GDP is low compared to mining and manufacturing. Given that GDP estimates capture traded products and not subsistence products, forests may be under-appreciated in national planning. Our household data shows that forest product use and sale contribute significantly to household economies and these may even exceed those derived from agriculture, which is commonly considered the most important livelihood strategy for rural households (Figure 1). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||