08/07/2020
WHY FARMERS IN KALIRO DISTRICT CHOOSE (NOT) TO GROW TREES
John R.S. Tabuti, Derick Kisegu, David Kagaha, Vincent Muwanika, Dorothy Nampanzira, Josephine Esaete and Cory Whitney
Background
In Uganda, the rate at which trees on which people depend for their livelihoods and wellbeing are disappearing is alarming. Between 1990 and 2005 tree cover declined by 26 percent. This loss was fastest and greatest in human inhabited landscapes . This extensive loss negatively impacts the livelihood of local people since they can no longer access valuable tree products like edible fruits or firewood. It also denies them opportunities to earn incomes from sale of forest products.
Besides subsistence use, commercial demand for tree products, especially firewood and poles for electricity transmission, is large and growing. Jacovelli (2009) estimated that, to satisfy this demand, Uganda will require 150,000 hectares of well-managed timber plantations by 2020.
Tree loss is also one of the leading causes of global warming. Globally, it comes third after industry and transportation. It is estimated that the loss of trees is responsible for 17 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. However, according to the Ministry of Water and Environment (2014), in Uganda, it is the single most important source of greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, the need to grow trees in Uganda is great and is growing.
It is important that Uganda as a country conserves the trees it has and that it also increases tree cover through growing more trees. This will enable the country to have adequate stocks of valuable tree products, reduce greenhouse gases to mitigate climate change, and also enrich its soils.
As stakeholders, farmers play an important role in tree growing. They should thus be involved in interventions aimed at increasing tree cover. In order to efficiently involve farmers, we need to understand what influences their decision to participate, or what hinders them from participating in tree growing or maintaining trees on their land. In this brief, we report the findings of a study we undertook with the aim of understanding the factors that influence farmers who choose to grow and maintain trees on their land.
Approach
We undertook this study in Kaliro District which is located in Eastern Uganda (N 00° 54.694′ and E 033° 28.043′). The climate is hot and dry, and rainfall averages 1430 mm per annum. Kaliro soils are considered to be of low productivity. Kaliro District Local Government (2012) records show that it is an agricultural community with 76 percent of the people practicing subsistence agriculture as their main source of livelihood. They practice fallow-cultivation and permanent cultivation as the main farming systems. Average landholdings are approximately two hectares per homestead.
The district has about 42,000 homesteads and a total population of 236,199 people. At 303 people per square kilometer, the population density is high. And with about 64 percent of the population under the age of 20 years, the majority of the population is fairly young. As the UNDP Uganda Human Development Report (2007) indicates, the people of eastern Uganda, including Kaliro District, are among the poorest in the country.
The residents and institutions of Kaliro heavily depend on wood products for fuel, construction, and other livelihood needs. Firewood is the principal fuel used for cooking in 97 percent of the homesteads and institutions such as prisons, police stations and schools. Kaliro District is urbanizing at a fast pace; this too is creating new and acute pressure on tree products.
Trees have been destroyed mainly because of over-exploitation and land-use conversion. According to the National Forestry Authority (2009), between 1990 and 2005, Kaliro District lost more than 86 percent of its trees. Factors driving this tree loss include the rapidly growing human population and the accompanying high levels of poverty. Space for commercial sugarcane production is an added risk to trees in Kaliro.
We undertook this study between January and June 2017. We conducted interviews with 206 tree growers; this number includes 16 institutions. We restricted our survey to a 20 year time period; that is, from 1997 to 2016. In our inquiry we focused on: what tree species farmers prefer to grow, what farmer-attributes characterize an interested tree planter, what benefits farmers get from growing trees, and the challenges that hamper tree growing.
Findings
Our findings indicate that tree growing by Kaliro farmers is relatively low. There are few tree planters and those who do so, plant few trees averaging 175 trees per farmer. However, the range is very wide from a low of 10 to 15,000 trees per farmer.
Considering the number of farmers growing particular species and the number of trees grown, the trees that are preferred by most farmers are Pine, Eucalyptus, Grivellia, and Musizi (see Table 1 below). These preferred species are fast-growing trees for timber and poles. With the exception of Musizi, all these other tree species are recent introductions.
Table 1. Preferred tree species and numbers planted by smallholder farmers in Kaliro district.
Species Total
Pinus caribaea (Pine) 208,374
Eucalyptus grandis (Eucalyptus) 90,968
Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus hybrid) 61,604
Eucalyptus camaldulensis (Eucalyptus) 26,287
Grevillea robusta (Grevillia) 26,101
Maesopsis eminii (Musizi) 15,349
The distinguishing characteristics of farmers that grow the most trees are that these farmers have attained university education, are men, and are employed as traders.
The key benefits that farmers get from these grown trees are firewood, shade for crops, and income. It is clear that income generation has motivated farmers in Kaliro to grow trees.
The key challenges they face when growing trees include pests, livestock damage, malicious damage by community members, and drought.
Implications from this study
The key findings from this study are that farmers are interested in planting fast-growing tree species that mature fast and can be sold for cash income or act as a safety net during financial crises. Therefore, tree future planting interventions in Kaliro and similar settings must select from this list when promoting trees to grow on farms.
Although it is very important to plant and grow indigenous species, this is not the wish of the farmers. Interventions aimed at growing indigenous species must therefore be implemented by the government, civil society organizations or non-governmental organizations if they are to succeed.
Another important finding is that the uptake of tree growing in Kaliro is low. It is not very clear why. This may be as a result of a cultural hangover since tree planting has not been culturally important. After all, most indigenous tree species grew naturally with minimal human intervention. Alternatively, the slow rate of uptake may be because awareness about the value of tree planting is still low. Nonetheless, from the available results we may speculate that this low rate of tree growing may be explained by the existing challenges key among which are pests, livestock damage and drought. Additionally, the identity of the tree planters provide another pointer. The people that plant the most trees are men who have a good education and have off-farm employment. According to Oeba and his colleagues (2012), a good education appears to empower recipients with awareness about the value of growing and maintaining trees.
Recommendations
This work has identified the preferred tree species, benefits, and challenges that farmers must overcome to efficiently grow and maintain trees on their land. If Kaliro farmers are to grow many more trees, the challenges identified here must be addressed and benefits enhanced. One way to enhance the benefits will be to raise awareness about the commercial value of trees and link farmers to markets.
References
Jacovelli, P.A., 2009. Uganda's Sawlog Production Grant Scheme: A Success Story from Africa. International Forestry Review 11, 119-125.
KDLG (Kaliro District Local Government, 2012). Kaliro Local Government: Statistical Abstract. The Republic Of Uganda
MWE (Ministry of Water and Environment). 2014. Uganda Second National Communication to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Ministry of Water and Environment, Climate Change Department.
NFA (National Forestry Authority), 2009. National Biomass Study: Technical Report 2005. National Forestry Authority.
Oeba, V.O., Otor, S.C.J., Kung’u, J.B., and Muchiri, M. N. 2012. Modelling Determinants of Tree Planting and Retention on Farm for Improvement of Forest Cover in Central Kenya. International Scholarly Research Network. doi:10.5402/2012/867249
UNDP, 2007. Uganda Human Development Report 2007: Rediscovering Agriculture for Human Development. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Uganda.
