The National Forestry Programme

This is the draft National Forestry Programme and as such is a working document and not a formal programme document. It should not be interpreted as an approved programme of the Government of Swaziland or the Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives until it has been finally agreed and adopted.

8 HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION

8.1 Human resource development and employment

8.1.1 General status of human resources development in forestry

There is currently a wide variety in skills and employment conditions in the various sub-sectors, such as commercial large-scale industrial forestry, small-scale forestry activities and community forestry. The industrial forestry is the only sector where there is an adequate human resource development with a skilled labour force and competent training facilities. Apart from the industrial sector, the Government is the only institution where formally trained people in forestry are found. The University of Swaziland and a few NGOs have some people with expertise in forestry, which is limited and not comprehensive of all forest management aspects. In general, the overall human resource is not sufficient to cope with the multiple functions of forestry.

In the other sub-sectors there is a general lack of skills and experience to deal with forestry issues, in particular in community forestry and management of the natural forest resources. Without appropriate knowledge and skills it is unrealistic to expect Government, communities and NGOs to be able to manage the forest resources in a sustainable manner. Training and education are necessary to empower all stakeholders, which requirements should be determined and prioritised by Government through a participatory process.

8.1.2 Employment opportunities and matching human resource development

There are indications that many Swazis have aspirations to develop their skills and competence in managing trees and forests for their own and the Nation’s benefit. These interests by different groups of people include a wide range of options and applications. The aspirations include employment in the formal industrial forestry sector, developing small-scale commercial activities, setting up entrepreneurial activities in trade and transportation of wood products, involvement in conservation and tourism, etc. An important group is that of rural women trying to improve their social and economic conditions by making use of forest resources.

It is important to evaluate the different sub-sectors with respect to their development outlook and future manpower requirements. Sectors such as the forestry plantations may keep the same demand for unskilled labour, but may reduce the overall labour force due to further mechanisation of forestry activities such as harvesting and transportation. Sectors such as small-scale processing may have promising prospects, but be in need of capital inputs and skills. Trade in non-timber forest products needs education and guidance in the environmental aspects of the activity.

Human resource development appears to be the most crucial factor in several of the forestry sectors currently recognised as economically most promising or environmentally most vulnerable. The wide range of skills required for activities from wood production and processing to conservation of natural resources needs to be translated in educational and training programmes at various levels, taking into account future trends in forestry development and the impact of HIV/AIDS. Government, with other stakeholders, needs to establish a strategy for human resource development, with the aim that education and training programmes meet the need for specific skills in the various forestry sub-sectors.

8.2 Training and education in forestry

8.2.1 Training in forestry

There is currently inadequate training of rural communities in the sustainable utilisation and management of trees and forests. One of the reasons is the shortage of resources in the Ministry responsible for forestry and other relevant agencies, including NGOs, and another is the lack of comprehensive training materials. These issues need to be addressed in the overall strategy of human resource development. In this respect, the following recommendations are made:

To strengthen both the formal and informal training institutions by making resources and training materials available.
To encourage forestry and forestry related subject courses be included as part of the training programmes offered by local training institutions, in particular NGOs.
To further enhance outreach programmes offered by industrial forestry companies, such as presently undertaken by e.g. Sappi-Usutu.
To promote forestry training as part of the National Environmental Education Programme (NEEP) and other environmental education programmes.

8.2.2 Formal education in forestry

In the present situation local tertiary training institutions do not offer any forestry courses to enable students to enter the active industrial and community forestry sector. The setting-up and running of tertiary education courses is a very expensive undertaking. In view of the modest requirements, it does not appear advisable that the University of Swaziland (UNISWA) introduces forestry diploma and degree courses.

However, the Department of Agriculture of UNISWA has drafted a curriculum for a module in agro-forestry for diploma level (3rd year) students. The implementation of such a module should be encouraged, as the integration of trees in agriculture is considered very beneficial in Swaziland. The module still has to be implemented, as available hours in the students study programme are scarce.

Another initiative is the drafting of a curriculum leading to a Masters degree in Environmental Management at UNISWA. This study programme is expected to commence in 2003 and will incorporate components on forestry in addition to courses from biology and geography.

The national primary and secondary school curricula comprise only few components related to forestry. There is a need to reconsider the position of the forestry education and training in general, including the relevance of currently used training materials. Recommendations to improve the present situation include the following.

To encourage the University of Swaziland to introduce selected forestry subjects within current diploma and degree courses. In addition to the already mentioned initiatives, it is recommended to include courses in silviculture, forest management and forest ecology.

To establish formal links with training institutions outside Swaziland to facilitate human resources development for the forestry sector.

To establish a panel composed of relevant stakeholders including the Ministry responsible for forestry and the Ministry responsible for education to redesign forestry courses for primary and secondary schools.

To consider allowing credits for relevant subjects that can be taken by distance learning on the internet from accredited institutions.

8.3 Human resource development plan for the proposed Department of Forestry

As part of the overall assessment of the current Forestry Section, performance gaps have been identified. These gaps include capability gaps in specialised fields, which may be a total or only a partial lack of competence. Critical capacity building is required for carrying out the forest action plans, necessitating the preparation of human resources development and training plans.

The performance gaps identified relate in brief to the following functions and skills:

Overall management and information management skills;
Technical and extension services, in particular competence in tourism development, forest inventories, geographic information systems (GIS), agro-forestry, environmental impact assessment (EIA), wattle management;
Technical management of the National Herbarium and the National Seed Centre.

Some of these gaps are currently in the process of being filled through ongoing training conducted as part of the Forest Policy and Legislation Project. This training, however, will not be sufficient to fill the gaps and hence capacity building will be required.

Recommendations on the human resource development plan for Forestry include elaboration of a plan for development and strengthening of the Forestry Extension Service as well as training curricula and other training details for the staff of the proposed Department of Forestry. The human resource development plan should find solutions to overcome general and specific problems and performance gaps. Training frameworks and identification of institutions, opportunities and recommendations regarding group training and individual staff members training are available but implementation of training programmes is subject to the available budget.

Human resource development and training will take place within the Institutional Framework as described in Chapter 9. Government will need to provide a budget for long term training to develop human resources for the proposed Department of Forestry in accordance with the personnel requirements described in Chapter 9 to fill the existing and envisaged gaps in professional expertise.

This page was last updated on 27 October 2004