SUBSISTENCE FARMING employs most of the labor force in Uganda and provides livelihoods for 68% of households. The country also experiences high rates of poverty and population growth and experiences a number of climate change impacts such as landslides and floods.
Growing pressure and demand on natural resources for agriculture is exacerbating ecosystem degradation and weakening the resilience of agricultural lands, as well as sources of income.
People in rural areas were having a hard time due to the effects of climate change. For example, Scolastica, a woman from the Rubanda neighborhood, spent a lot of time and effort collecting firewood to prepare food. She inhaled firewood fumes, ate cold meals and could have had serious health issues. Fortunately, her life changed after participating in the training of the Mukirwa women’s group on the manufacture and use of clean stoves.
Today, Scolastica enjoys hot meals whenever she wants and makes less effort collecting less wood and her life is no longer in danger. In addition, these stoves help reduce human pressure on forests and improve the resilience of forests to climate change, in addition to reducing emissions.
ENHANCED LIFE
“If I start talking about the improved energy-saving stove, I may not finish because I only got benefits from it. It relieved me of smoke inhalation which could have caused me cancer or eye disease. When I cook millet, I relieve myself by pouring it on the fire. Every time I prepare it, I no longer eat cold food. I eat when I feel like it because the food is always hot, I prepare the food and the sauce at the same time,” Scolastica said.
These trainings are part of a climate adaptation project entitled “Improving community resilience to climate change through integrated catchment-based management of water and related resources in Uganda”, which is funded by the Fund. adaptation and implemented by the Sahara and Sahel Observatory.
This US$7.75 million project aims to increase community resilience to the risks of floods and landslides in the Awoja, Maziba and Aswa watersheds by promoting integrated, equitable and sustainability of water and related resources.
