Stakeholder’s Meeting Held on 21st/April/2022

Today, 21^st/April/2022 we had a fruitful discussion with district leaders from Masindi District local government,

Some of the issues discussed with District leaders include;

Using a right based approach to promote gender Just climate solutions,
The role of district authority to control sugarcane field expansion in favor of food security, tree planting and above all poverty alleviation in the community
Opportunity for partnership as a way forward to achieve climate just society.

Present were;

I. The district speaker Masindi district local government

II. The district forestry officer and Sector Manager National Forestry Authority

III. Division chairpersons, Karujubi Division and councilors

IV. Civil society representatives CODNET, RDP, Bunyoro choice, One citizen Coalition and others.

Brief background Story

Masindi district located in mid western Uganda 200Km away from Kampala city is becoming the leading producer of sugar in Uganda, almost moving to the first position after Kinyara sugar factory, with now more than three sugar factories within an area of less than 200Km squared in Bunyoro region.

Sugarcane brings in revenue and jobs to the people and government, however uncontrolled sugarcane growing impedes into other sectors which benefit most of the common man, it takes land for agriculture, it clears the existing trees to give way to large sugarcane fields, only a few individuals benefit from from the proceeds of sugarcane growing.

Moe than 80% of the workers comprise of youths, however these youths fill most of the low paying jobs coupled with lack of required qualification for high paying jobs, recruitment is also selective on technical know who, these with other factors curtail the development of the district and most importantly, large sugarcane fields is suppressing vegetation which are vital in addressing climate change.

Impact of Climate change in Masindi

Climate change is now affecting everyone in the society, there is unreliable rainfall, poor crop yields, pest and diseases among others, leading to endless poverty among rural an urban people, with other side effects among children of malnutrition, stunted growth, mental retardation and many other.

The time is now to act on adaptation and mitigation measures which are susceptible to the community such us use of energy saving and alternative source of energy, promoting smart agriculture, multiplying pest resistant seeds, planting trees and conserving available forest as a collective voice to address climate change in our societies.

What are the commitments and suggestions of leaders to address climate change in Masindi

Read these and more issues as outlined below to learn what stakeholders are saying, this project is proudly supported by WEDO and implemented by Safeplan Uganda.

Approach used to gather information

Three groups comprising of technical team, political leaders and civil society organization brain stormed way forward and this is what they had to say;

Civil society organization which included Community driven network, Recreation for peace and development and others.

Re-emphasized the use of laws to enforce full participation of all genders in address ing climate change.
Train more women leaders to speak and voice out concerns that limit their participation on gender just Climate interventions.
Use multi stakeholder approach to address climate change adaptation and mitigations
Regulate sugarcane growing and restrain the would-be small holder farmers from engaging in sugarcane plantation activities.

The law makers suggested;

The need of bye laws to manage sugarcane growing in the community, household with less than 10 acres should not go for sugarcane growing.
The laws enacted which support food security should include, post-harvest handling, free storage facilities and promoting Income generating activities at household levels.
It may be a good idea to zone agricultural activities so subsistence farmers can be tracked and monitored for proper service delivery.
Revitalization of demonstration gardens for agricultural research at regional levels to provide an ongoing farmer training in the region.
Provide incentives to farmers in form of inputs and low interest loans.
Ensure transparency among leaders so as to ease monitoring of social projects.

Summary of the conclusive remarks by the District Speakers;

In response the district speaker, assured all stakeholders of continued support and good working relationship in the district, he added that the district, has a challenge of implementation of some of the bye laws and ordinances which he suggested there is need for collective effort to implement these laws.

He also mentioned that in the last financial year more women focused projects dominated the budget this was as a result of more women Councillors in the District chambers, he added that women are emerging even stronger than men in most of position in the district which is good for the nation.

He further applauded the efforts of civil society particularly mentioned recreation for peace and development organization for their remarkable role in monitoring government programmes and reporting to council which caused a lot of impact in improving service delivery, Safeplan Uganda skills programme where the trained youths are now employed and earning income from the skills acquired this is very important in supplementing government efforts and which are all in line with the district development plans.

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