A survey conducted in the late 1980’s of forestry research in Africa showed that research capacity and facilities were grossly insufficient in relation to the needs. SAREC and the African Academy of Sciences (AAS) together initiated a capacity building program including competitive grants for young scientists. As the program evolved, the requirement to maintain and develop existing capacity emerged. Consequently, preparations for the launching of the AFORNET were initiated. The third phase of Sida support to forestry research in Africa (1998-2001) coincided with the first phase of AFORNET.

The African Forest Research Network (AFORNET) is a network of African forest research scientists. One of AFORNET’s main activities is to operate a research grants scheme with the aim of promoting and strengthening individual scientists’ research capacity in order to retain outstanding scholars for generating and disseminating knowledge that is relevant to development. The appraisal of the applications by peer reviewers and the Technical Committee are stringent and competition among applicants is stiff. Grantees submit progress reports and their findings are presented at a final workshop.

Since the start of the capacity building program, over 140 research grants have been awarded to individuals and groups of scientists of which 51 grants were distributed during the program period 1998-2001. The subjects include forest management, timber and fuel production, forest genetics, agroforestry, biodiversity and socio-economic studies of utilization of forest resources. Some of the grantees now hold positions of high responsibility in forestry research in their countries and a number of them are presently involved in the AFORNET.

AFORNET has a Board, a Technical Committee, and three regional “nodes”. The nodes have a regional steering committee, a nodal coordinator and national contact persons. These are research officers or university lecturers who engage in the AFORNET network as an integral part of their regular duties.

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