East Africa Sustainable Timber Construction Supply and Demand Study
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This study explores the potential for sustainable timber and mass engineered timber (MET) to support the decarbonisation of East Africa’s rapidly growing construction sector, with a particular focus on Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Developed by Arup, Fractal Forest and commissioned by the Climate Smart Forest Economy Program (CSFEP).
What’s Inside this Study
- It sets the context for East Africa’s rapid urbanisation and explores the role sustainable timber can play in reducing embodied carbon emissions within the built environment.
- It presents the research framework and the three future pathways modelled to 2040: Business as Usual, Timber Transition and Timber Renaissance. These scenarios illustrate differing levels of policy support, investment and market maturity.
- It projects timber availability and construction demand under each scenario through to 2040, quantifying required plantation expansion, manufacturing capacity and potential market uptake.
- It provides recommendations focused on governance, carbon policy, standards development, supply chain investment, education, awareness raising and demonstration projects needed to accelerate adoption.
How It Can Help You
This long report helps stakeholders working to develop sustainable timber construction markets in East Africa understand what will be required to grow a sustainable timber construction sector capable of supporting the region’s rapidly expanding housing and urban development needs. It identifies the key bottlenecks currently limiting uptake, including certification, kiln capacity, manufacturing infrastructure, skills, regulation and market awareness, while quantifying the scale of opportunity under different future scenarios.
