Review: Improving the enabling environment to strengthen Kenya’s tree seed and seedling systems

TI  - Review: Improving the enabling environment to strengthen Kenya’s tree seed and seedling systems 
AU  - Charbonnier, S. 
AU  - Lillesø, J.P-B. 
AU  - Graudal, L. 
AU  - Dawson, I.K. 
AU  - Friborg, K.G. 
AU  - Muchugi, A. 
AB  - Key Recommendations

Define and regulate tree seed quality by explicitly incorporating genetic, physical and physiological quality and climate adaptation to planting environments, recognizing that tree seed quality cannot be regulated in the same way as crop seed.
Formally define and register all tree seed sources, including natural vegetation, farmland, plantations, and seed orchards, using source-specific guidelines that ensure genetic quality.
Strengthen the use and conservation of native tree species by identifying and protecting seed sources for native species, and supporting incentives that encourage landowners, nurseries, and restoration projects to plant and use native trees.
Develop clearer and more appropriate rules for different tree species and planting purposes by reviewing and adapting regulations to better distinguish between native and exotic species, and between trees grown for commercial forestry and those planted for environmental restoration or ecosystem services.
Establish an inclusive certification and registration pathway by introducing an affordable Quality Declared Seed system for tree seed, allowing small-scale tree seed collectors to gradually enter the formal system while adhering to quality standards.
Clarify and align institutional roles and responsibilities, with Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service as the certifying authority, Kenya Forestry Research Institute (KEFRI) providing scientific research, technical leadership, training and seed source approval, and Kenya Forest Service (KFS) integrating seed source management into forest governance.
Recognize and operationalize seed source custodians including communities and Community Forest Associations to manage, protect and benefit from documented seed sources, supported through collaboration between KEFRI and KFS.
Improve tree planting and forest management outcomes by developing species-specific planting zones and site-matching guidelines, and by registering nurseries to strengthen links between seed supply, seedling production and planting demand.
Invest in sector-wide information and communication systems that connect seed collectors, nurseries and tree planters; disseminate seed source and planting zone information; and support informed participation across the seed–seedling–planting continuum.
Right tree, right place, right purpose: Increase knowledge and capacity building to ensure that quality tree seed is planted in the right place for the right purpose for improved livelihoods and climate resilient ecological restoration.
 
PY  - 2026 
PB  - CIFOR-ICRAF 
PP  - Bogor, Indonesia and Nairobi, Kenya 
UR  - https://www.cifor-icraf.org/knowledge/publication/46732/ 
KW  - agroforestry, certification, genetic resources, native species, restoration, seed quality, seed systems, tree seeds 
ER  -