Deforestation has had devastating effects on the environment. One notable impact is climate change. Temperatures are rising, becoming less predictable and the rain cycle has also been negatively affected. In countries like Uganda where agriculture is important for a significant share of the population, climate change continues to cause food insecurity as well as to cut profits for farmers. Environmentalists continue to explore various solutions to these problems.
Agroforestry is seen as a possible solution to mitigate the effects of climate change and involves combining agriculture and tree planting. By promoting the conservation and plantation of trees, farmers and the country in general, will benefit greatly. While many programs focus on commercial tree planting and existing forests only, it is important that local communities are involved in conservation practices as well. International movements such as REDD+ offer payments for reducing emissions and forest degradation, which has proved successful in the areas where it is implemented. If implemented in local communities, there would be more of an incentive for poor farmers to get involved in saving the environment.
As part of our Common Matters program, TRAC FM and Environmental Alert are running an advocacy campaign to improve and reinforce the REDD+ Strategy and the Annual Sector Review which in turn will benefit Ugandan farmers by using agroforestry to fight deforestation. Over the course of two months,TRAC FM will broadcast three poll questions on 8 radio stations across Uganda to gather the public’s perception on trees, barriers of agroforestry and the restoration of forests.
Progress of Campaign
Our campaign kicked off on July 27th of this year and has already garnered multiple responses. The poll questions are running on the following radio stations: Mega FM in Gulu, Radio Wa in Lira, Hunter FM in Bushenyi, Radio Simba in Kampala, Radio Pacis in Arua, Hits FM in Fort Portal, Delta FM in Soroti, and Nenah FM in Moroto. You can find the links to the poll questions here.
