After got introduced to the palm oil production potential in Tanzania by Anna Segerstedt from the
Institut for Environetal Economics and World Trade at the
Leibnitz University Hannover with respect to sustainability standards the point was clear: there is no chance under the assumed conditions to produce palm oil for the export market as well as for label production due to export barriers and costs linked to certification respectively. Ms Segerstedt found however, that according to her results the palm oil production for the local market is competitive.
Zora Lea Urech from the
Department of Environmental Sciences at
ETH Zurich outlined in her interesting presentation possible drivers leading to further deforestation in the eastern part of Madagascar taking into consideration the main components of the livelihood strategies of small farm-households. The complex land tenure system, next to other factors, hinders a sustainable use of the forest ecosystems and need to be further investigated.
The Audience was then brought to the Kakamega forest in Kenya. Mercelyne Khalumba from the
Centre for Development Research > Economic and Trade at
University of Bonn investigated the performances of two forest conservation schemes respectively: First a conservation performance payment (auction) and second a fixed rate system. Mercelyne Khalumba came to the conclusion that the more market based conservation performance based scheme was more (cost-) effective. An attendee from Kenya, present in the audience, confirmed that parts of Mercelyne Khalumba’s study outcomes have already been integrated in the national policies.