Water Ministry develops tool for accurate tree planting selection site

KAMPALA | TREE PLANTING | CRUCIAL

Commercial tree planting is crucial to the lives of many Ugandans, especially those who rely on it for employment and as an income-generating initiative.

This is achieved through the increased resilience of human-made and natural tree species for both wood and the provision of fuel energy, including other wood products.

However, of late, farmers continue to suffer losses associated with planting tree species in the wrong places.

To stop the losses, the Ministry of Water and Environment, through the National Forestry Resources Research Institute (NAFORRI), has developed a tool known as SSMT that will assist growers in selecting the most suitable commercial species for various sites.

“Although several initiatives involving the provision of millions of tree seedlings have supported the rapid expansion of commercial forest plantations in Uganda, little has been done in some parts of the country, such as the dryland areas. This has partly been attributed to insufficient information about suitable commercial plantation tree species for these areas, according to Alfred Okot Okidi, the Water and Environment Ministry's permanent secretary.

Okidi revealed that with the new tool, species will be matched to the growing conditions of different locations in Uganda.

“The tool is going to inform markets to be inclusive and engage with farm and plantation forestry to manage sustainable supplies of timber through accurate site matches targeting specific wood products even on the same parcel,”

Dr. Hillary Agaba, the director of NAFORRI, noted that after getting several reports that even in high-potential areas, farmers continue to suffer losses associated with planting tree species in the wrong places, they decided to come up with the app.

“Farmers are making losses due to factors such as low growth rates, pests, and diseases, which in turn affect productivity and profitability. With the new app, farmers will be helped to know which species to plant where,” Dr Agaba said.

To get the app, you go to the Google Play Store and download the one known as SSMT.

You will get to know

Commercial tree planting is one of Uganda's leading but little-acknowledged economic activities. It contributes 6.1 percent of the country's GDP while employing hundreds of thousands of people in planting, thinning (weeding), harvesting, and marketing.