Research in Brief 134

Effective forest management is required to reduce deforestation, protect local communities, tackle climate change, and restore biodiversity. Like other countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), Nigerian federal and decentralised governments have to find a balance between managing their forests sustainably, and other demands for the trees and land. Local actors use the forest for economic activities, such as harvesting trees for charcoal or timber, and others want to expand agricultural land. No single policy solution can guarantee to sustainably manage forests and halt deforestation. Land use regulations, stronger control of forestry industry practices, more public investment in forest management, and better tax and subsidy policies, must all play a role.

This paper assesses the current forestry tax regime in Ekiti State, one of eight Nigerian states where forests represent more than 50 per cent of land area, and where forest revenue has been historically relevant. Based on 16 interviews with government state officials, forest officers, and actors from the industry, and data from the Ekiti Forestry Commission, our analysis suggests that ongoing depletion of forest resources is partially connected to an excessive focus on their capacity to generate revenue. The conceptualisation of the Forestry Commission as a revenue-raising rather than management agency, a continuous drive to extract revenue from the sector through outdated tax rates, and a view of industry potential disconnected from the existing stock, all perversely led to a lower contribution from forestry to the state budget.

Summary of ICTD Working Paper 170 written by Giovanni Occhiali and Michael Falade.

Authors

Giovanni Occhiali

Dr Giovanni Occhiali is a Development Economist based at the Institute of Development Studies, where he works on a number of projects related to Tax Administration and Compliance, Tax and Governance and co-leads ICTD’s capacity building programme together with Dr Max Gallien. His research focuses on Sub-Saharan Africa, and outside of the field of taxation his main interests are energy economics and industrial policies. He holds a PhD from the University of Birmingham and prior to joining ICTD, he was a Researcher at the Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei and an Overseas Development Institute Fellow at the National Revenue Authority of Sierra Leone.

Michael Falade

Michael Falade is an international development researcher and evaluation professional based in Lagos, Nigeria with more than a decade of work experience on various FCDO and other international organisations funded research projects. He is interested in policy-centered interventions focusing on governance, agriculture, public health, and other social issues as well as in development intervention evaluations. Michael holds a Master’s degree in public health. Prior to his work as consultant with ICTD as the Executive Secretary of the NTRN, Michael worked as a public policy analyst and research associate at a Lagos Policy Think Tank.

Evert-jan Quak

Evert-jan Quak is a Research Officer at the Institute of Development Studies, where he investigates how and under what conditions businesses and market systems enable or constrain pathways for positive development.
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