The Zambia Forestry and Forest Industries Corporation PLC (ZAFFICO PLC) is a subsidiary of the Industrial Development Corporation Zambia Limited (IDC). The Corporation was incorporated in September 1982 under the Companies Act of the Laws of Zambia following commercialisation of the Industrial Plantations Division (IPD) of the Forestry Department of the Government of Zambia.

On 12th February 2020, the Corporation was listed on the Lusaka Securities Exchange (LuSE) and is now operates as a Public Limited Company (PLC) with 62.8% of the shareholding being held by the IDC and the remaining 37.1% by institutional investors, the general public and ZAFFICO employees.

The history of industrial plantations dates back to the early 1930s when trial plots of various species, mainly pine and later eucalyptus, were established in many parts of the country, as it was realised that in the long term, the indigenous forest resources would not meet the country’s timber requirements because of poor regeneration, slow growth rates, long gestation periods and lower productivity per unit area. Encouraged by the results from the species trials, large-scale planting of pine started at Chichele, near Ndola, and was, in subsequent years, extended to Chati. In addition
to the Government’s own funds, two World Bank loans (in 1968 and 1978), supplemented by a grant from the Commonwealth Development Corporation, helped develop plantations of pine and eucalyptus covering an area of over 50,000 hectares spread over the Copperbelt Province in Ndola, Kalulushi, Chingola, Lufwanyama, Mufulira and Kitwe.

In order to meet the growing demand for timber, the Corporation embarked on a plantation expansion programme in Kasama, Kawambwa, Lupososhi, Nakonde and Shiwangandu districts of Luapula and Muchinga Provinces. Currently, ZAFFICO now has over 50,000 hectares of pine and eucalyptus plantations located on the Copperbelt, Luapula, Muchinga, Northern and North-Western Provinces.

In addition to establishing and managing exotic forest plantations, ZAFFICO also operates a Pole Treatment Plant which was commissioned in February, 2018 as part of business diversification. Located in Kalulushi, the plant has the capacity to treat between 4,000 and 6,000 poles per month. 

The Corporation is able to treat different sizes of poles to international standard. Treating wood with the appropriate preservative increases its service life to approximately 30 to 40 years on average and helps to conserve our trees against deforestation due to accelerated indiscriminate logging.

The poles can be used for fencing and construction of farms, residences and commercial structures. They can also be used to support overhead power lines, fibre optical and other utility purposes.