Publications: About ISAAA

Multiplying Multipurpose Trees for Kenya's Small-Scale Farmers
From Petri Dish to Forest

Can Kenya's trees be grown fast enough to replace the country's galloping consumption of timber and firewood? In a country whose population growth rate nudges 3.5% a year and where nearly 90% of the demand for domestic fuel is met from wood, the question is, literally, a burning one. 

In a bid to answer this question positively, ISAAA has launched an ambitious project to increase the production of multipurpose trees through the use of tissue culture. Funded by the Gatsby Charitable Foundation, UK, the project brings together the Forest Health Management Center and other partners in Kenya with Mondi Forests of South Africa. It will address the needs of some of Kenya's poorest people, especially women, who at present spend much of their time and energy gathering firewood. It will also strengthen Kenya's national forestry R&D capacity by integrating biotechnology with the conventional tree propagation methods already in use.
 

Balancing discipline and indulgence

"Brevity is the soul of wit: be brief, to reduce my overtime," reads the notice on Joe Mwangi's office door. Appointed in 1994 to head Kenya's newly formed Forestry Health Management Center (FHMC), Mwangi, like all research managers, strives to make the best use of his own and others' time. But he is also keen to maintain an open-door policy, and he encourages local forest users and tree growers to meet with him to discuss their problems. "I don't want to appear like the remote, old-style boss, whose secretary is constantly turning people away," he declares.

It's an appropriate attitude for the head of an institution established to tackle the problems of technology transfer in forestry. When we were set up, we recognized that the technology that had been developed wasn't getting out to users; the old top-down styles of forestry management weren’t working," explains Mwangi.

From its offices next door to the Forestry Department, 6 km outside Nairobi, the FHMC operates a nationwide extension program to improve the health and management of the country's forests. Its staff also keep a watchful eye on the center's ‘home' forest of Karura—a 1000-ha area along the steeply sloping banks of the Karura River that is the largest surviving natural forest in such close proximity to Nairobi. Here as elsewhere, the FHMC team must strike a delicate balance between discipline and indulgence—discouraging those who pillage firewood or timber for profit without coming down too hard on the poorest scavengers, who have no alternative sources. The center also runs its own commercial nursery here, the first of a planned network of similar enterprises at different sites across the country.

Its emphasis on people-centered forestry and technology transfer made FHMC an ideal partner for the kinds of biotechnology projects that ISAAA hoped to stimulate when it opened its AfriCenter in late 1994. As the center’s Director, Florence Wambugu, points out, "In a continent where so much else has failed, we developed projects involving nearmarket technologies that would quickly make an impact on the lives of local, small-scale farmers."

Unmet demands

As the customer's pick-up truck splashes its way back up the muddy track from the nursery, Jony Mulwa, nursery assistant, can congratulate herself on a job well done. She has just sold two Terminalia seedlings—but only just! Terminalia is a favorite ornamental in Kenya, much loved for its elegant branching habit. But for the customer, a local small-scale farmer, the price asked, KSh. 180 per seedling (over US $3), seemed rather high. To persuade him to make the investment Mulwa promised him that if either of the seedlings failed to take, someone from the nursery would visit him and provide advice.

Jane Owula carrying her weekly firewood load 3 km back to her home.

Such scenes are repeated daily at nurseries across the country. Tree prices are high in Kenya for one simple reason: demand far outruns supply. The more utilitarian species grown for such uses as fuelwood and timber are in even greater demand than the ornamentals. A recent report by the World Bank and the Finish Ministry of Foreign Affairs states that, by the year 2000, 65% of Kenya's demand for wood will go unmet unless radical measures are taken to increase supplies or curb demands.

Already, many customers have to be turned away disappointed. Mwangi says that, in the planting period between February and April 1997, the nursery received requests for more than 300,000 Grevillea robusta, Kenya's most popular multipurpose tree. Only about a third of that amount could be supplied. The shortfalls are even greater further away from Nairobi in the rural areas.

With planting materials in such short supply, Kenya badly needs new technologies to boost multiplication rates, drive down prices, and improve technology dissemination to remote rural areas. That's where tissue culture comes in.

Why tissue culture ?

Tissue culture offers both qualitative and quantitative advantages over the conventional methods of multiplying trees from seed or cuttings.

On the quality side, superior genetic materials selected by breeders can be used to propagate genetically identical descendants with known characteristics. Tissue culture is thus a means of reliably and rapidly reproducing desirable traits, such as higher growth rates or resistance to key pests and diseases.

Grevillea robusta after 4 years grown from traditional cuttings. Right: Grevillea robusta after 4 years grown from tissue cultured plantlets.

The quantitative advantages are twofold. First, because they are derived from juvenile plant material, tissue-cultured trees are more likely to survive when transplanted into the field. There they will grow more vigorously than trees raised from seedlings or conventional cuttings. They will reach a certain maturity earlier and produce higher yields. Each tree produces more in a shorter period of time. Secondly, tissue culture vastly increases the number of trees produced: a single shoot from a superior tree can furnish enough material to fill a whole nursery. This numerical advantage over conventional multiplication methods and faster growth are what make tissue culture such a powerful tool in technology dissemination.

By the time ISAAA's AfriCenter was established, Mwangi had already explored the potential of tissue culture for tree multiplication in Kenya. In the early 1990s he began applying the technique to Grevillea robusta. He found that tissue cultured trees grew nearly twice as fast as trees raised from seed and around 30% faster than those propagated from cuttings. Poles made from tissue-cultured trees had double the thickness, making them worth more in the market place. What's more, the benefits of rapid growth and improved wood quality made the cost of tissue-cultured trees around 30% lower.

Despite these proven advantages, Mwangi's work remained at the experimental stage. The FHMC did not have the laboratory facilities and qualified staff needed to scale-up production and enter the development phase. It also lacked experience in running a large-scale nursery operation. Finally, the FHMC had no distribution channels to reach millions of small-scale farmers.

A project is born

Mwangi's first contact with ISAAA came in early 1995, when Wambugu, as director of the new AfriCenter, organized a workshop on biotechnology and biosafety for the region. At the workshop, Mwangi reminded participants of the importance of firewood for domestic cooking and heating in Kenya. The result, after discussion with potential stakeholders and end users, was an invitation from ISAAA to develop a project proposal.

Like most of ISAAA's projects, the process leading to a full-fledged proposal is part of the project itself. Wambugu and her colleagues do not believe in rushing into new activities. "There are no quick fixes," she says. "Hastily conceived and executed projects rarely succeed. You have to assemble the right combination of partners and technical inputs, and you have to ensure that socio-economic factors are properly taken into account. It's all part of institution building to deliver improved products."

After a detailed search in Canada, Finland, Brazil, Australia and South Africa, ISAAA identified the right partner to assist the FHMC: the South African company Mondi Forests. This company, a division of the pulp and paper manufacturer Mondi Ltd, was responsible for the sustainable management of its own 320,000-hectare eucalyptus forest in Natal Province. It had successfully developed and implemented tissue culture for the large-scale production of tree plantlets, had a comprehensive breeding and testing program, dealt with species relevant to Kenya, and—above all—operated in an African context. Involving a South African company seemed perfect, for it gave to South Africa a leadership role in working with other countries in the region, a role long denied to her in the past.

Meanwhile, ISAAA had also been searching for a donor. They approached the UK's Gatsby Charitable Foundation, which they knew had an impressive record in transferring the benefits of advanced agricultural research to developing countries. One of the foundation's special strengths is in fomenting small business development as a means of sustaining activities and spreading project benefits after the project has ended (see also p. 17). The fact that Mondi Forests had originally accessed the tissue culture technology from a British company, Advanced Technologies of Cambridge, made it a perfect match for a British sponsor. One of ISAAA's advantages as a broker is the permanency of its contacts with the donor community, contacts that enable it to match projects to the varied interests and comparative advantages of specific donors.

After discussions and negotiations with potential participants, a project document was drafted. Mwangi was given the go-ahead to arrange a preliminary visit to South Africa so that he could satisfy himself that Mondi's facilities and expertise were indeed relevant to FHMC's needs. On return, he gave the thumbs up for the project to begin.

Looking back on the project preparation process, Mwangi observes: "ISAAA did what I could never have done". He refers not only to the in-depth search for partners and donors and the honing of project details, but also to ISAAA's role as an honest broker. "lSAAA's strength in seeking the participation of private-sector partners is that it asks on behalf of others, not for itself," he points out. "That makes them much more persuasive than I could have been if I had gone there myself."

It's all part of advancing altruism in Africa.  

Multiplying Activities 

At this stage, the project is concentrating on upscaling the production of a few key species known to be popular with farmers. Other species will be included in the longer term.

First on the list of priorities is Grevillea robusta, known as mukima in Kenya. Next come three fast-growing eucalyptus species widely grown for firewood, E. tereticornis, E. saligna and E. grandis. Added to these will be a most promising eucalyptus hybrid bred from Mondi Forests that the company has agreed to donate to Kenya. The hybrid is drought- and cold-tolerant and has a high calorific value—useful in a fuelwood tree but not for papermaking. Also on the priority list is Acacia melanoxylon (Australian blackwood), a hardwood that can replace two endangered native species commonly used for carving, Brachylacna huillensis (marketed as a khaya) and Dalbergia malanoxylon (ebony). In addition, the project will collaborate with the International Centre for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF) in Kenya and include germplasm, particularly that of Grevillea robusta, which ICRAF is currently testing.

Tissue culture is a sensitive process in which much can go wrong. And it becomes even trickier when performed on a large scale rather than a small one. Slight variations in temperature or the formulation of the media may result in failure—without an obvious cause. Contamination of the media by unwanted bacteria is another problem that frequently occurs.

The successful introduction of tissue culture, like that of other biotechnologies, also depends on its integration with existing practices. Tree plantlets derived from tissue culture are managed differently in the nursery from those raised from seed or cuttings. They must be hardened—gradually acclimatized to life outside the lab by passing through an intermediate greenhouse stage— before being transplanted into the nursery in 'hedges', which are rows of identical, fast-growing clones that are managed intensively, with inputs of irrigation water and fertilizer where necessary. From these hedges, cuttings are taken and carefully rooted before being sold to farmers.

For these reasons, training is an essential component of the project. One FHMC staff member already in South Africa, Pauline Mbaabu, is pursuing an honours degree in tissue culture at the University of Natal in Durban, a school that Mondi Forests enjoys close links with. Mbaabu will also spend 3 months at Mondi Forests, obtaining practical experience in the mass production of plantlets. On her return to Kenya, she will use her new knowledge and skills to trouble-shoot in the FHMC lab. A second staff member, Muraya Minjire, will shortly be sent to Mondi Forests to study nursery management, especially clonal hedges.

Much of the endangered ebony can be replaced with other hardwood species multiplied through tissue culture.

Scaling-up also requires new laboratory equipment. Under the project, the FHMC will be supplied with a large autoclave— an appliance used to sterilize media. This will help avoid contamination, which is the most serious problem affecting large-scale tissue culture. The FMHC will also provide a laminar flow cabinet to facilitate the transfer of seedlings to media or to sterile soil, and light-controlling sheds, which are used for such tasks as storing clones and screening for disease resistance.

The Karura nursery must also be expanded and upgraded to cope with the increased volume of trees produced and sold. Three new sites are being cleared and prepared to accommodate the clonal hedges. They will be provided with irrigation water pumped from the Karura River.

Reaching end users

Disseminating the technology to farmers is an integral part of the project. During the project preparation, the experience of Gatsby Charitable Foundation proved particularly useful in developing a strategy for dissemination.

The project has adopted a two-tier approach. The first tier will consist of regional nurseries which will be established at five strategic locations across the country. The nurseries, each with its own clonal hedge, will sell directly to individual farmers and to institutions such as women's groups and schools, which are already an integral part of Kenya's agroforestry dissemination system. The regional nurseries will also relay technology to the second tier in the approach: the roadside nursery. Local roadside nurseries have become more common in Kenya over the past decade as demand for trees has risen, but there is still considerable room for expansion. By serving as centers for demonstration and training, the regional nurseries will promote interest in tissue-cultured trees as a business opportunity for small-scale entrepreneurs.

Mondi Forests' Tree Improvement Manager has already visited Kenya to work with Mwangi in drawing up detailed plans of the regional nurseries. The first nursery is scheduled to become operational in late 1997.

Towards sustainable rural development

ISAAA's first multipurpose tree project is unique in its wide range of benefits.

The largest group of beneficiaries will be resource-poor farming families, who are dependent on firewood and timber for their meals and shelter. Women, who at present must spend much of their time scavenging for firewood farther and farther from home, will experience the benefits most of all. In equity terms, then, the project should have considerable impact.

Through its focus on multipurpose trees, the project also allows a balanced range of objectives to be tackled simultaneously. By increasing income-earning opportunities for nurseries, commercial plantation growers and resource-poor farmers, it will boost economic growth. Large-scale growers will increase tree and wood supplies, thus reducing prices for small-scale growers and consumers. By offsetting deforestation, the project should also bring sizeable environmental benefits, including the prevention of erosion. Finally, it will ultimately aid the conservation of biodiversity by providing alternatives to ebony for carving.

Institutionally, the project contributes to capacity building within the Kenyan forestry sector, both public and private. During their stay in South Africa, Kenyan scientists will benefit from their exposure to the activities and attitudes characteristic of the private sector. The testing program at the FHMC will also be strengthened, possibly leading to the development of a breeding program.

Flic Blakeway of Mondi Forests and Florence Wambugu of ISAAA, at one of the nurseries of Mondi Forests in Hilton, South Africa.

The project also represents a model for strengthening South-South cooperation. In sharing proprietary technologies with other African countries for the benefit of resource-poor farmers, Mondi Forests is setting an example that other private sector companies can be encouraged to follow.

Finally, the project has considerable potential for spillover. If successful in Kenya, it should lead to similar projects in other African countries. The FHMC could become a training center for the region, spreading the benefits of Kenya's experience to these countries.

Critics of biotechnology often accuse its laboratory-based practitioners of being remote from the world of the rural poor. This project gives the lie to that accusation. Biotechnology can—and must—be placed in the hands of those who most need it. With this project, it will be.