The forest sector plays a central role in Ethiopia’s ambitious green development strategy of becoming a middle income country while achieving climate neutrality. Numerous forest products contribute significantly to the economy, including timber and wood fuel for energy. Forests also provide employment benefits and environmental services such as climate mitigation, adaptation and water regulation. The objective of this assignment was to comprehensively review the forest sector’s contribution to development and identify opportunities for enhancing this contribution. Given our knowledge of the sector, UNIQUE was chosen to conduct this review and identify key investment barriers and opportunities to provide strategy advice for national development plans moving forward.

• Comprehensive demand / supply analysis of forest products, goods and services.
• Model alternative future scenarios to identify opportunities in forests’ contribution to green economy.
• Analysis of investment climate.
• Provide recommendations for enhancing private sector investment in forests.
• Prioritize strategic interventions to increase forest contribution to economy in terms of livelihoods.
• Engage private sector stakeholders in dialogue with policy makers to inform developing planning.