The Lustrum Performance on Government Revenue Collection for Eastern Zone Forestry Stations in Malawi (2019-2023)

Effective revenue collection in forestry and government institutions offers various benefits to economic growth. A study was conducted to investigate the performance of Eastern Zone Forestry Stations (EZFS) in Malawi on government revenue collection from 2019 to 2023. Specifically, the study addressed the following questions: (1) what are the main sources of revenue collection at EZFS? (2) what is the level of performance in revenue collection at EZFS? (3) what challenges are encountered in revenue collection at EZFS? and (4) what strategies can be implemented for effective revenue collection at EZFS? The study collected both primary and secondary data. A structured questionnaire administered through Google Forms was used to collect primary data. The secondary data was subjected to a three-factor analysis of variance (ANOVA) in GenStat 18, while the primary data was subjected to a Chi-square test in SPSS 25. The results indicate that there are seven main sources of revenue in Eastern Zone Forestry Stations. The main sources of revenue collection identified are charcoal sales, firewood sales, shares from the co-management block, licence fees, log sales, pole sales, and transfer conveyance certificates. However, the main sources of revenue significantly (P<0.001) differed. Log sales contributed the highest (79.3%) to the total revenue for the past five years followed by licences fees (6.3%), then firewood sales (5.9%). Transfer conveyance certificates contributed about 5.8% to the total revenue collected. On the other hand, pole sales and shares from co-management were the least, contributing 0.9% and 0.8%, respectively. Furthermore, the study revealed that Zomba Mountain plantation contributed the highest (90.2%) to the total revenue collected among the forestry stations, while Balaka District Forestry Office contributed the least (0.2%). The study further revealed a decline in revenue collection for a period of the past five years from all the stations, except Dzonzi-Mvai Plantation, which registered an annual increase of 22.5%. Overall, the revenue for Eastern Zone Forestry Stations decreased annually by 18.3% over the past five years. Insufficient staff and poorly skilled revenue staff, inadequate supervision and monitoring of revenue generation, and lack of capacity to enforce compliance were identified as the major challenges encountered in revenue collection. The study further revealed the following as strategies for effective revenue collection: capacity building of those handling revenue, robust supervision and monitoring of revenue generation, development and implementation of revenue enhancement plan, and effective enforcement.