Oromia Forested Landscape Program

Program Overview

The Oromia Forested Landscape Program (OFLP) seeks to reduce deforestation by improving sustainable forest management throughout Ethiopia's Oromia Regional State, and lowering GHG emissions from land use, including from the livestock sector, by encouraging better herd management.

Program name	Oromia Forested Landscape Program (OFLP)
Jurisdiction	Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia
Size of jurisdiction	32 million hectares, of which 9 million are forests
Population in jurisdiction	More than 30 million
Drivers of land use change	Small-scale land conversions for agricultural expansion, inefficient livestock production, extraction of fuelwood for charcoal
Accounting area	Entire forested landscape in Oromia, including livestock and agricultural areas
Implementing agency	Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (Represented by the Ministry of Finance)
ISFL Funding	- $18 million in grant financing through the government of Ethiopia - $750,000 in grant financing to cover the operational costs of the implementation agency between the end of the initial OFLP grant and the first ERPA payment. - Up to $15 million in results based payments for verified emission reductions for Phase 1 ERPA, with the potential for sales of emission reductions in excess of those contracted. Emission reductions for ERPA Phase 2 to be negotiated.
Co-financing	$3.2 million grant from IFC for investment services in the coffee sector and an additional $2.34 million Swiss grant for private sector-led coffee tree rejuvenation and climate-smart dairy, with possible additional matching funds of the same amount from private sector actors. $1.2 million grant from AccelREDD to help build capacity for livestock MRV

The OFLP had three components:

Enabling investment, which includes sub-basin land-use planning support, investment and extension services, and forest management investment in deforestation hotspots through participatory forest management and afforestation/reforestation;
Enhancing the enabling environment by financing complementary activities to increase the effectiveness and positive impact of institutions, policies, marketing, benefit sharing, strategic communication, measurement, reporting and verification, and safeguards management at the state and local levels; and
Delivering emission reductions payments once results have been achieved, verified by a third party, and formally reported to the World Bank.

The Oromia Forested Landscape Program for Emission Reductions (OFLP-ERP) builds on the five-year, $18 million OFLP grant program, which focused on participatory forest management and reforestation in areas most affected by deforestation. The program also strengthened statewide and local systems for safeguards, forest monitoring, and cross-sector coordination.

The OFLP-ERP is expected to generate results-based payments for verified emission reductions of up to $40 million between 2022 and 2029. The emission reductions will come from both the forestry and livestock sectors in Oromia.

A jurisdictional landscape-level initiative, the OFLP-ERP will minimize forest loss and GHG emissions, fostering economic, environmental, and social development in Ethiopia. It is expected to promote economic, environmental, and social development while addressing the major challenges that threaten the sustainability of Ethiopia’s major forested landscapes in relation to agriculture, livestock, and forest and land use changes.

The OFLP has two components:

Purchase of Emission Reduction Credits (ERC) coming from the sound management of landscape and the distribution of payments in accordance with the agreed Benefits Sharing Plan; and
Financing enabling environment activities such as the finalization of the MRV system development and capacity building training on ER monitoring for the livestock sector, and the operating costs related to program management until the Government receives the first ERC payment.

Recent Progress – December 2025:

Following the signing of an ERPA with ISFL in 2023, Ethiopia prepared is working towards a second ERPA phase by securing additional land use data on degradation and livestock emissions. The Emission Reductions Program Document for the second phase was developed with the inclusion of an updated baseline and new land use categories addressing degradation and livestock emissions. Following the validation by a third-party audit, negotiations for a second phase ERPA are set to begin.
The - First Monitoring Report for Phase 1 is currently undergoing final verification by an independent third-party. The initial payment for the verified emission reductions is anticipated in early 2026.
Work continues on two private sector activities, piloting new approaches—including coffee stumping and dairy sector hubs—to determine how sustainable practices in key agricultural sectors may be adopted at scale across Oromia and beyond. All these activities aim to reduce emissions while raising farmer productivity and incomes.

Country Context

Drivers of deforestation

Small-scale conversions for agricultural expansion, as subsistence agriculture is the main economic activity throughout Oromia.
Inefficient livestock production, resulting from limited access to livestock feed and fodder.
Extraction of fuelwood for charcoal—firewood is the primary source of energy for 94 percent of Ethiopia’s population and the most important forest product consumed in Ethiopia, its total consumption exceeding 116 million m3 in 2013. Most firewood is produced from natural forests, including woodlands and shrub lands, and current firewood demand is estimated to significantly exceed the sustainable yield potential of the remaining forest area.
Indirect drivers include inadequate development and implementation of land-use plans, weak cross-sectoral policy and investment coordination, population growth in and migration to forested areas, and road expansion.

Key commodities and sectors

Coffee; spices and honey
Livestock and dairy
Subsistence agriculture, based on cultivation of diverse crops such as barley, wheat, beans, potatoes, cabbage in highlands, and bananas, maize, and teff grains in lowlands

Policy interactions and green growth strategies

Ethiopia’s development agenda is governed by two key strategies: the Second Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP-2) and the Climate Resilient Green Economy (CRGE). Both strategies prioritize attainment of middle-income status by 2025 and, through the CRGE Strategy, achieving this by taking steps in support of low-carbon, resilient, green growth.
The CRGE Strategy reports that agriculture and forestry would “contribute around 45 and 25 percent, respectively, to projected greenhouse gas (GHG) emission levels by 2030 under business-as-usual assumptions, and together account for around 80 percent of the total abatement potential.”

NDC commitments

The country is committing to reducing economy-wide GHG emissions by 14 percent in 2030 from the recently revised business-as-usual scenario, using its domestic resources.
This would represent a 56.7 MtCO₂e reduction, limiting GHG emissions at 347.3 MtCO₂e in 2030 (compared to the revised business-as-usual scenario emission level of 404 MtCO₂e).

Program Results

# of partnerships established with the private sector

1 - Nespresso

# of partnerships established with not-for-profit organizations

2 - TechnoServe, Solidaridad

# of engagements established with private sector

1 - Nespresso

# of engagements established with not-for-profit organizations

8 - 1) Farm Africa, 2) Ethio Wetlands and Natural Resources Association (EWNRA), 3) World Vision Ethiopia, 4) JICA, 5) Action for development; 6) Mekane Eyesus Church and 7) Ethiopian Catholic church, and 8) the Japan International Cooperation Agency

# coordination platforms supported

12 - Two Regional Steering Committees, four REDD+ Technical Working Groups, three cluster-level coordination platforms (South-East, Central, and West Oromia), one MRV capacity building steering committee, and two advisory technical meetings

Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF) completed

Yes

Feedback Grievance Redress Mechanism (FGRM) completed

Yes

Strategic Environment and Social Assessment (SESA) completed

Yes

Number of people reached with benefits (assets and/or services) from ISFL grant programs (% women)

92,576(34%)

Number of people in private sector schemes adopting sustainable practices (% women)

27,939 (36%)

# of land users who have received training

108,932 (32% women)