Climate change poses a significant threat to Uganda's agricultural sector, which accounts for 24.8% of the country's GDP and employs 72% of its labor force. Changing rainfall patterns, prolonged dry spells, floods, and soil erosion are making farming increasingly unpredictable, affecting food security, household incomes, and national economic development. The World Bank warns that without stronger climate action, climate change could reduce Uganda's economic growth by up to 3.1% by 2050, push 613,000 people into poverty, and contribute to 12 million internal migrants.
The climate crisis disproportionately affects communities whose livelihoods depend on natural resources. In Uganda, land degradation compounds these challenges, with 41% of the country's land degraded, and land degradation and soil erosion costing approximately 17% of GDP. Climate finance often fails to reach those best placed to deliver local solutions, with less than a third of international climate finance supporting local action, and less than 0.2% specifically targeting locally led outcomes.
The Environmental Conservation Trust of Uganda (ECOTRUST) has promoted community-led landscape restoration through its Trees for Global Benefits (TGB) initiative, which connects smallholder farmers to carbon finance, enabling them to integrate trees into existing farming systems while sustaining agricultural production. Through Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) agreements, farmers receive payments for delivering environmental benefits, including carbon sequestration, creating incentives for long-term land stewardship.
The TGB initiative has paid over $8.78 million to 51,874 households across 26 districts, supporting sustainable agroforestry and landscape management across over 34,000 hectares. The trees planted through the program are projected to sequester over 7.5 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide over their growth cycles. This approach makes conservation more viable by linking environmental protection to household livelihoods, recognizing farmers as custodians of the land and providers of valuable ecosystem services.
Integrating trees into farming systems can diversify farmers' incomes, reduce soil erosion, support biodiversity, and improve land management. Payments for ecosystem services can also help households meet essential expenses and reinvest in their farms, making conservation both an environmental and an economic opportunity. However, these benefits depend on selecting appropriate tree species, securing land rights, providing technical support, and ensuring fair and transparent payments.
To strengthen community-led climate action, three major shifts are needed. First, climate finance must reach local communities through accessible funding mechanisms and transparent benefit-sharing. Second, communities must participate in decision-making, receive fair benefits, and have the resources to sustain conservation beyond a project's lifetime. Third, conservation efforts must be designed, financed, and implemented in a way that prioritizes community-led solutions and recognizes the value of indigenous knowledge and participation.
Lydia Kuganyirwa, the Head of the TGB Programme at ECOTRUST, has been engaging with key stakeholders of the project to promote community-led climate action. By putting smallholder farmers at the center of climate finance and landscape restoration, Uganda can turn conservation into a pathway to resilient livelihoods, healthier ecosystems, and sustainable economic growth.
Key points
- Community-led climate action is crucial for building climate resilience in Uganda.
- Climate finance must reach local communities through accessible funding mechanisms and transparent benefit-sharing.
- Conservation efforts must prioritize community-led solutions and recognize the value of indigenous knowledge and participation.
