12.01.2024
The Cité du Développement Durable's Agroforestry & Plantations Commission was held by videoconference on December 13, bringing together some twenty participants.
Created informally in 2018 and consolidated as a commission in 2021, this commission aims to converge research and work on agroforestry. It brings together the various players at the Cité du Développement Durable in Nogent sur Marne who are working on this topic (ATIBT, Kinomé, Commerce Equitable France, CIRAD, AVSF) and around fifteen structures, most of which are members of ATIBT: Athys, Bureau Véritas, CFT, ERAIFT, Eticwood, Fayswood, Kinomé, Centre de valorisation des produits forestier non ligneux du Ministère de l'Economie Forestières du Congo (MEF), Pronar (MEF program), Nature +, PEFC, SOLICAZ, and Tranchivoire.
The meeting opened with a reminder of the commission's priority actions, with the aim of consolidating these actions and developing their activities in 2024:
Monitoring and communication to share technical information, publications and events of interest to members. This also includes articles for the newsletter.
The "cocoa and timber" association, and other orientations such as hevea or coffee-based associations.
Enhancing the value of agroforestry products through labels, certification or simply voluntary initiatives.
The round table validated the continuation of the current presidency and the principle of a shared secretariat rotating annually, currently occupied by Kinomé. It was also decided that, in addition to the commission's two annual meetings, a technical committee would meet monthly (the first meeting took place on January 9), and that a quarterly newsletter would be produced and shared.
Following on from the discussions initiated in 2022, a research project was also defined during this exchange. The aim is to produce useful technical and economic data for training planters and providing them with information on possible future income, following two main lines of activity: a survey in several agroforestry timber-producing countries to understand farmers' income according to species type and felling practices, and an analysis of the agroforestry timber value chain. The next step is to identify potential promoters of this project.
Finally, the commission took stock of forestry policy in Côte d'Ivoire, where farmers now own the trees planted in their cocoa plantations. Côte d'Ivoire has recognized agroforestry as a specific system at the interface of agriculture and forestry, and three agroforestry plans have been drawn up. In addition, the new 2019 forest law and the "Politique de préservation, de réhabilitation et d'extension des forêts" define three types of classified forest.
The commission will meet again in mid-2024, and the first newsletter should be shared in a few weeks' time.
