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As Uganda’s forestry sector continues to grow; with Government, private sector players and communities involved in commercial tree planting, it has become increasingly important to focus on skills development as a mechanism to promote sustainable forest management. Forest engineering is one of...
Uganda has become the first African country to submit REDD+ results to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), paving the way to potential results-based payments. In its recent submission of the REDD+ Technical Annex to the biennial update report (BUR), a reporting...
Since 2004, the European Union has sustained funding for the Sawlog Production Grant Scheme (SPGS) - a unique project to encourage tree planting by the private sector, rural communities and institutions in Uganda. With support from the Ministry of Water and Environment as a partner in the...
In an effort to enhance food and nutrition, uplift incomes of rural households and contribute to growth of the national economy, the Government of Uganda, together with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Agroforestry (ICRAF), have called for...
Forestry investment is capital intensive and longterm, making it difficult for private sector players to access finance from financial institutions. Forests are often not acceptable collateral for credit and most financial institutions favor short-term projects with low risks. Furthermore,...
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), through the SPGS Phase III Project, has supported 30 key players in Uganda’s forestry sector- including timber traders, forest owners, managers, supervisors and trainers- to hone their skills in timber grading, pursuant of the...
Forests contribute to Uganda’s economic growth and development; making them catalysts for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and contributing to a green economy. Development of the forestry value chain, right from preparation of seedlings to harvesting and marketing of timber, is thus...
The FAO/SPGS III project started operations in 2016 and is currently in its fourth of the five years of implementation. Originally scheduled to end in June 2020, the project secured an additional one year of a no-cost extension period- meaning that SPGS III will end in 2021 instead of 2020....
Education institutions such as schools and commercial establishments like hotels and factories are among major consumers of fuel wood energy in Uganda; a situation that has contributed to deforestation. Moreover, forests provide more than 90 percent of Uganda’s energy requirements, in the form...
Members of the Steering Committee of the Sawlog Production Grant Scheme (SPGS) Phase III Project have proposed some recommendations to promote sustainability of the commercial forestry sector in Uganda, while at the same time improving the environment and fostering economic growth. SPGS III is a...
