By Cathy Watson | Senior Advisor
Beida, 30, has been a community-based facilitator for our project since 2020. So, it is not suprising that her plot is green. Nevertheless, we were beyond impressed to find 67 trees of 16 different species growing on her land measuring 80 x 80m in Imvepi Refugee Settlement -- all from seedlings from our nursery.
The mother of three, who lost her husband as they fled South Sudan, has not stopped there. Her immediate neighbour, Betti, has 57 trees. Beida is an influencer whose impact can be felt across the hill where she lives and beyond. As we drove through the settlement, she kept pointing out the window and saying: "We planted those. That's one of our households." It was bliss to our ears.
Even her other neighbour, Alice, 45, who suffers from elephantiasis, has 37 trees. "When my leg feels OK, I can plant them. Bring me 5-10 more, please," she said bravely. We said we would and gave her a moringa sapling, with its edible leaves, from our nursery. But we were shocked by her large, heavy, swollen leg and linked her with an NGO that will transport her to Kampala for treatment. The oedema is caused by a mosquito-borne parasite which blocks the lymph vessels. It is curable but in longstanding cases like hers where skin has thickened requires surgery.
Last month I spent five nights sleeping in the refugee settlement in what is called the base camp, which is where local NGO workers live. It was a big deal that required special permission of the Office of the Prime Minister, which administers all refugee matters. And it was a big deal for me. I gained much greater insight into the extent of the suffering and loss the refugees have experienced but also witnessed their fortitude and ingenuity as they live out their time in Uganda. They plant flowers. They like the opportunity presented by Ugandan schools.
I grasped better the work of our team too. I spent a day with Tiko, who works for us in Rhino Camp Refugee Settlement, and saw a spendidly planted school and also a homestead belonging to a Ugandan national in our programme, whose sesame was growing with trees. I spent a further four days with Joel who works in Imvepi, and met our nursery team, and local officials.
Assistant Settlement Commandant Martin welcomed us to the base camp and said our project has been "quite very useful. The community has benefited a lot." He affirmed our agroforestry approach, saying "trees can occur concurrently with crops".
I also met with Gordon Eneku, the forester who has been on the job for the UN refugee agency in the area since we arrived in 2017. He has the long view. Speaking generally about environmental efforts in the "displacement setting", he said "We have invested a lot in seedlings and distribution. A lot do not survive. So today we are advocating for 'tree growing' not just 'tree planting'. Tree growing means supporting the tree for at least a year".
I was pleased because that is what we have always done, and indeed he had good words for us.
"I appreciate ICRAF and the component of using community-based facilitators," the UN forester said. "We think that everyone knows how to grow trees. We don't guide them. That is why we have a lot of failed projects. You need someone to monitor the households and get to understand the challenges."
Referring to one zone of the settlements called Ofua 6, Eneku said that the ICRAF trees were visible for all to see. "You can see the papayas, the jackfruit. Besides giving fruit, those trees are part of environmental restoration.”
To my question about whether we achieved the right balance between exotic and indigenous trees, Eneku said: “The indigenous species may not have been taken up as much (as the exotic) but it showed that they could be raised.”
Indeed, many of the native trees that we raised are rarely seen in nurseries and are perceived as simply occurring in the wild.
Gratifyingly, Eneku added that “The model that ICRAF brought was unique and showcased to people the different ways of tree planting.”
So what was our model? Putting together material for the project “close out” meeting in early December, I found notes from 2017-18. Each plot of 50 x 50 m, I had written, should receive 50 seedlings consisting of 15 species, 33 exotic seedlings of seven species and 17 seedlings of indigenous trees of eight species. These were further broken down into: three seedlings of three indigenous fruit species, 15 seedlings of five exotic fruit species, 12 seedlings of 2-3 indigenous firewood/building/poles species, and two seedlings of ecological/medicinal/shade species.
In reality, it was never that neat or prescriptive and evolved over the seven years. Refugees had strong ideas about what they wanted as did the team members. New species came into the original mix, and some that had seemed a good idea were hard to grow, like Borassus palm.
But Beida’s tree growing shows that we did manage to achieve good tree diversity even if species “eveness” was low. Out of her 67 trees of 16 species, seven were Gmelina arborea, ten were Senna siamea and 30 were Neem, all exotics. Nevertheless, her plot held indigenous pole and timber trees Albizia gummifera (3) and Markhamia lutea (4) and naturalised fruit/food trees Tamarind (1), Soursop (1) Papaya (2) and Moringa (2). There was even oneMvule, Uganda’s precious hardwood, Milicia excelsa.
And our motivations for working with refugees ring true to this day. Beida’s neighbour Betti likes her trees because they prevent wind and provide firewood, fruit and medicine. “Neem are good for building and are not eaten by termites and can even chase them away. Senna has a lot of branches for shade. Papaya strengthens the blood.” Her list goes on with something specific for tree.
An uptake survey we are just finalizing shows, however, that refugee households can rarely, if ever, obtain all their household energy needs (firewood) from trees on their plot: 41 out of 51 refugees in Imvepi Refugee Settlement answered “No” to the question “are you using more firewood from trees you planted than from natural woodland?”
We are proud of being pioneers in the environment sector in humanitarian crises. When we started in 2017, it was simply not on the agenda. It is now, and we have influenced it. We thank you enormously for all your support. The uptake survey shows a major uptick in our work in 2022, which is when our GlobalGiving income really kicked in.
Above I mentioned a “close out meeting”. Indeed. It breaks our hearts to say that we are closing this project. We anticipate new funding for districts with a large presence of refugees but it will focus on areas outside the settlements.
We will continue to fundraise through 31 December 2024, and I will write a further report this year. It has been an incredible journey with you.
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By Cathy Watson | Senior Advisor
By Cathy Watson | Chief of Partnerships
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