Trees and watershed management in Karamoja, Uganda

Karamoja is a dryland sub-region in north-east Uganda. Having suffered historical injustices, it now faces many difficulties, including civil and administrative challenges. Karamoja performs poorly on development indicators compared to other parts of Uganda: 82% of its population lives under the poverty line. Its infrastructure is underdeveloped, and the sub-region is troubled by climate variability and climate change. Drought and shifts in weather result in low agricultural productivity and declining rural production systems. Floods and droughts have had a particularly detrimental effect.Moreover, Karamoja faces increasing environmental degradation, further threatening crop and livestock production. Trees are at the heart of Karamoja’s ecology, providing livelihoods and nutrition for livestock and people when all else fails; trees also provide Karamoja with fundamental ecosystem services. Thus there is a need for evidence about the role that trees play in Karamoja. This document looks at trees in watershed management in the sub-region. Efficient water management may provide a large part of the solution to the current poor livelihood prospects in Karamoja.This report has been produced by the World Agroforestry Centre for Evidence on Demand with the assistance of the UK Department for International Development (DFID) contracted through the Climate, Environment, Infrastructure and Livelihoods Professional Evidence and Applied Knowledge Services (CEIL PEAKS) programme, jointly managed by DAI (which incorporates HTSPE Limited) and IMC Worldwide Limited.

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DOI:

https://doi.org/10.12774/eod_hd.december2014.mboggametal

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