Tanzania and Finland are finalizing procedures for starting a new project to make Tanzania’s forestry sector commercially viable by drawing on Finland’s experience.
This statement was made on 7th October 2024 during a meeting in Dar es Salaam between Tanzania’s Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, Dr. Hassan Abbasi, and the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Finland, Pekka Pesonen.
Finland has been implementing various projects to support the forestry sector in Tanzania, including the recently completed Forestry and Value Chains (FORVAC) Development Project that created 500,000 jobs and is ready to support another new project in Tanzania.
Dr. Abbasi highlighted: “Based on our colleagues’ experience in the forestry business, we have already agreed and are finalizing procedures to start another project where Finland will assist Tanzania with EUR 20 million to further promote reforms to make the forestry sector beneficial for Tanzania.”
On his part, Pesonen emphasized: “I am pleased with the extensive experience that we have discussed and shared today. Finland will continue to collaborate with Tanzania, and we will also learn from your experiences in managing government forests, as our strong experience lies in private sector forests.”
Tanzania Forestry and Bilateral Relations With Finland
Tanzania’s diplomatic relations with Finland date back to June 1965. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Finland is the most heavily forested country in the world, with more than 4 hectares of forest per person.
The forestry sector has been an important source of employment and national income for Finland, with statistics from 2022 indicating that the forestry sector contributed EUR 20 billion to the Finnish economy.
According to the Tanzania Trade Development Authority (TanTrade), the export value from Tanzania to Finland has increased from an average of US$ 2 million in 2017 to US$ 8 million in 2021.
Tanzania’s main exports to Finland are precious metals, coffee, and avocado, with major imports from Finland including fertilizers, machinery and mechanical appliances, vehicle parts accessories, electronic equipment, and parts, articles of iron and sheet, and pharmaceutical products.
Furthermore, there is still the underutilized export potential of Tanzanian products to the Finland market, creating an opportunity for Tanzania to increase exports of existing products such as coffee, coffee husks and skins, avocados, fish cuts, fresh and black tea, clove and frozen fish fillet.
According to Tanzania’s Forest Services Agency, Tanzania has 48.1 million hectares of forests storing 5.8 gigatons of carbon, acting as a net sink of -0.3 gigatons CO2e annually.
However, 469,420 hectares are lost yearly, emitting 43.7 tCO2e, which could generate about TZS 1 trillion annually in the carbon market.
Mangroves (158,000 ha) sequester 5-10 times more carbon than terrestrial forests, with a net sink of -2.43 million tCO2e/year with Montane and lowland forests storing 66.90 tC/ha, closed woodlands 47.82 tC/ha, open woodlands 29.93 tC/ha, plantation forests 25.19 tC/ha, and thickets 12.40 tC/ha.
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