Seeds, stories and change: A community in focus.
This is an aerial view of Ivukula sub-county in the Namutumba district of Uganda. This image was captured through Restor, showcasing one of our project sites. The view clearly illustrates the massive effects of deforestation in Eastern Uganda, which peaked during the expansion of sugarcane farming in 2019. This led to widespread loss of forest cover, desertification, rising temperatures and food insecurity, severely impacting local communities.
In 2020, during our community visits, we met Eve Nabirye, a 10-year-old girl from Numusita, a village in Ivukula sub-county. She suffers from physical and mental disabilities caused by hunger and malnourishment, leaving her unable to attend school.
It is Eve’s painful story that reminds me and my fellow youth of how environmental degradation affects human life, thus fueling our determination to start the School Food Forest Initiative. We want to ensure future generations won’t go hungry and have a good, healthy life.
Our first community engagement meeting in Namutumba District. Photo by Mukyaala Mary.
To transform the region’s trajectory, we knew a unified community effort was essential. We started with a massive mobilization of community members, parents, community leaders, school leaders and all stakeholders to focus on understanding the interconnected problems of hunger and deforestation.
Together we realized we must protect our remaining forests while also planting fruit trees to restore the land and feed the children and the community at large.
Fruit Tree seedlings at one of our Fruit Tree Nursery in Kiboga District. Photo by Ngobi Joel.
Through our School Food Forest Initiative we built fruit tree nurseries to grow a variety of fruit tree seedlings and saplings. We will then plant these trees in different school sites in Namutumba, Kamuli and Kiboga districts to create school food forests.
Green literacy school camp at Huuda Islamic Primary School, Ivukula, Namutumba, Uganda. Photo: Kitimbo Elizabeth.
To ensure the long-term success of our initiative, we implemented educational programs alongside our tree-planting efforts. We launched a school Food Forest Green literacy camp at Huuda Islamic Primary School in the Namutumba district where young students are engaged in environmental literacy climate protection, conservation and environmental sustainability through edutainment games.
Green Community literacy camp at Namusita A village. Photo by Mutungi Trevor.
Recognizing that not all children have access to formal education, we extended the green literacy camps out into our communities. The picture above shows a green school camp carried out in 2021 by our community volunteer Ms.Baako Doreen in her home, Namusita.
Teacher Training at Namutumba modern primary school in Namutumba Town council. Photo by Kayera Aisha.
We also invited teachers to join our initiative by conducting teacher training sessions at Namutumba Primary School. These sessions focused on encouraging schools to include environmental conservation topics in their day-to-day classes, instilling environmental responsibility among students. Teachers also learned about the practical aspects of the initiative, including how to protect the planted trees and understand their positive impacts on the children and the community at large.
Model Food Forest and dry coffee tree seeds at Kiboga primary school. Photo by Nakiikyo Leah.
Look at the growing trees! This photo, taken in Kamudooke Primary School in Namutumba District in 2022, showcases some of the fruit trees planted as part of our initiative.
Aerial view of Namutumba site area after intervention in 2024. Photo by Restor
Our project in the Ivukula sub-county is visibly transforming the landscape, as shown by the significant improvement of trees and green cover in the latest satellite images from Restor. With continued support, we believe over 2,000 hectares of forest cover will be recovered in Eastern Uganda by the end of 2025.
Our dedicated team at St Francis Nabitula Primary School. Photo: Kayera Aisha
Meet the beautiful team behind all this work! From left to right: Mutungi Trevor, operations team lead; Aisha Kayera, our volunteer team leader; Mukyaala Mary, our storyteller; Ngobi Joel, our founder; Kitimbo Elizabeth, our partnerships leader; and our regional coordinator for Eastern Uganda.
