Areas of expertise & Fields of activity:
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Economic and Social:
Biodiversity
Business and Industry
Climate Change
Energy
Environment
Private Sector
Sustainable Development
Youth
Financing for Development:
Mobilizing international resources for development
Gender Issues and Advancement of Women:
Capacity building
Women and the economy
Public Administration:
Socio-Economic Governance and Management
Social Development:
Poverty
Youth
Sustainable Development:
Biodiversity
Capacity-building
Climate change
Desertification and Drought
Energy
Forests
International cooperation for an enabling environment
Poverty
Protecting and managing the natural resources
Sustainable development for Africa
Trade and environment
Peace and Development in Africa:
Development in Africa
NEPAD:
Climate Change and Natural Resource Management
Crosscutting issues (Gender and Capacity Development)
Regional Integration and Infrastructure
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| Geographic scope: |
Regional
Africa
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| Millennium Development Goals: |
Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
Promote gender equality and empower women
Ensure environmental sustainability
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| Mission statement: |
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| Year established: |
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| Year of registration: |
2007 |
| Organizational structure: |
The Members’ Forum, the Governing Council, the Executive Committee, and the Secretariat are the key organs of the Forum. The Governing Council provides overall policy direction to AFF as well as taking key decisions to guide its work. This includes recruitment of staff, approval of guidelines for various activities, approval of work plans, budgets, and reports on them, financial audit; in addition to approving agreements, contracts and applications for membership. The GC meets once every year.The Executive Committee is a sub-committee of the Governing Council and, therefore, its role and activities are defined by the GC. It looks at the plans, budget, work and staff of AFF in more detail and make recommendations to the Governing Council on issues it cannot make final decisions on its own. The EC meets at least twice every year. The Secretariat is in charge of the day-to-day operations of AFF. All staff at the Secretariat have terms of reference that guide their work. Work sub-contracted to experts is supervised by Secretariat staff, and the experts are guided by terms of reference. Presently the Secretariat has two specialist units namely: Planning, Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting Unit, and Knowledge Management and Communications Unit. It also has a Finance and Administration Unit. There is also Programmes Management Unit (PMU), headed by a Senior Programme Officer. All projects are managed through the PMU. There are also committees of the Governing Council: the Technical Support Team (TST) to Raise the Profile of Forestry, the Working Group on Climate Change, the Task Force on Resources Mobilisation, the Finance Committee, and the Project Steering and Advisory Committee (PSAC). The Governing Council and its committees have been established with specific purposes and also have terms of reference to guide their work. The AFF works through its members and the Secretariat. Networking through electronic media is the main mechanism for exchanging information, ideas and views. The AFF has regular mechanisms for information exchange, decision-making and interactions. The Governing Council and its committees hold electronic and virtual meetings as the situation and agenda may require. In executing its projects, programmes and activities the AFF employs one or more of the following approaches: 1. Constitute permanent and ad hoc task forces, think tanks and committees from among its membership to analyse and give advice on specific issues, problems and potentials. 2. Commission experts and institutions to carry out studies and research tasks to generate knowledge in general or for specific institutions and organizations on request. 3. Organise workshops, seminars and conferences as and when appropriate. 4. Be represented at relevant international and regional meetings on forests. 5. Initiate and implement pilot projects, normally in collaboration with African and/or other partner institutions. 6. Issue reports, publications and other relevant material emanating from its work. 7. Provide a systematic information base on forests and trees in Africa, and a monitoring and evaluation mechanism for developments relevant to these resources. Currently AFF has a programmatic approach to its work: Programme Area 1:Better management of forests and trees outside forests Programme Area 2:Forests and trees in economic development and poverty eradication Programme Area 3:Contribution of forests and trees to environmental health Programme Area 4: Contribution of forests and trees to food and nutrition security Programme Area 5: Policies and Governance Programme Area 6: Capacity Building and Skills Development Programme Area 7: Information Management and Impact Assessment |
| Number and type of members: |
The African Forest Forum is an association of individuals who share the pursuit and commitment to the sustainable management, use and conservation of the forest and tree resources of Africa for the betterment of the socio-economic wellbeing of its people and for the stability and improvement of its environment. As of August 2019 AFF had 2,214 members.Members come from 84 countries worldwide; of these, 51 are African countries with 94% of the total members.Membership from outside Africa (8%), referred to as “Friends of African forestry”, is from 33 countries namely: Albania, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bhutan, Brazil, Cambodia, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Indonesia, Italy, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia (Slovak Republic), South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands, United Kingdom, United States, Vietnam, Falkland Islands. The region with the highest number of members is Western Africa (611), followed by Eastern Africa (470), Southern Africa (336), North Eastern Africa (331), Central Africa (184) and outside Africa (124). Over 71% of AFF members have either MSc or PhD level degree qualifications, 22% with a bachelor’s degree and 5% with a diploma. The remaining 2% have a certificate level training. Also 78% (1,600) of the members are male while 22% (456) of the members are female. Members are actively contributing their time and expertise towards advancing the mission of AFF by voluntarily availing their individual resources in a pool for sharing through the AFF members’ intranet. At their own volition, members exchanged, through the intranet, more than 546 full text journal articles which received 16,319 views and have been downloaded 8,178 times. All members have been individually vetted and approved by the Governing Council. They are actively and voluntarily contributing their time and expertise towards promoting the mission of the African Forest Forum. Categories of Memberships (a) Founding Members These are the members who established AFF. Their rights and obligations shall be the same as the rights and obligations of ordinary members. (b) Ordinary Members These are individuals who apply for membership and the application is accepted by the Governing Council after the date upon which the Constitution will have entered into force. (c) Associate Members This category of membership is open to students in forestry and related fields who apply for membership and the application is accepted by the Governing Council after the date upon which the Constitution will have entered into force. Associate members shall be entitled to the full rights and privileges as that of ordinary members. (d) Honorary Members These are individuals who are admitted as Honorary Members at the discretion of the Governing Council by reason of their relevant expertise. This category of members shall not have voting rights. The Forum may invite and grant observer status to any organisation or institution which promotes and supports the goal of AFF from within and outside Africa to specific meetings and activities. Presently such organisations include: African Union Commission, African Academy of Sciences, United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF), FAO, International Tropical Timber Organisation (ITTO), World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF)and Committee on Central African Forests (COMIFAC) |
| Affiliation with NGO networks: |
Collaborates with many NGOs including the Network for Gums and Resins in Africa (NGARA), Forestry Research Network for Sub-Saharan Africa (FORNESSA),African Women’s Network for Community Management of Forests (REFACOF) |
| Funding structure: |
Foreign and international grants
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| Funding structure other: |
Contracts and fees for services |
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