By Leonidas Hitimana, Forestry Program Team Lead, FAO Uganda
FAO Uganda, March 21st, is the International Day of Forests. We have commemorated this important day since 2012, after the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution to acknowledge the significant role forests play in sustaining our lives and the natural environment that supports our existence.
This year’s theme: “Forests and Foods”, cannot be overemphasized. More than five billion people around the world use forest and non-timber forest products for food, medicine and livelihoods.
Forests and trees are a rich source of nuts, fruits, seeds, roots, tubers, leaves, mushrooms, honey, wild meat and insects, providing essential nutrients to people’s dietary intake.
At Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), we are conscious of the vital role forests play in our agrifood systems. Food systems, forestry, and the environment are intrinsically intertwined. Without forests, water, which we all know is the source of life, is jeopardized. Without water, modern agricultural productivity as we know it would cease to exist.
Without forests, our food sources and choices would be less diverse and less nutritious. Honey, mushrooms, tamarinds, bamboo shoots and vegetables are some of the non-timber forest products that come from forests and greatly enhance our diets.
Many of the fruits we enjoy in Uganda originate from forests. Jackfruit and mango, for example, were born out of rainforests in Southeast Asia. From these leafy habitats, ancient people started planting them in gardens and backyards. Gradually, the fruits made their way to other tropical countries, near and far, like Uganda.
A rich source of foods, forests can be leveraged to transform our food sources as we look to improve food security and create more sustainable livelihoods.
According to the 2024 Global Report on Food Crises, published by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), in collaboration with several partners including FAO, two million Ugandans face high levels of acute food insecurity.
The report makes note of severe malnutrition rates among children and women in IGAD countries, including Uganda.FAO is at the forefront of promoting productive forestry in Uganda. Be it through advancing grants to woo businesses into commercial forestry, or through the distribution of tree seedlings at grassroots, to the establishment of pilot woodlots, FAO is committed to a sustainable green based transformation of livelihoods.
We strongly believe that commercial forestry can be a catalyst for improving livelihoods in Uganda. Better livelihoods are a platform for better nutrition.
We have also done extensive work on non-timber forest products value chains in Uganda, for example, in West Nile. We have analysed the potential of honey, shea oil/butter and balanitis oil, identified bottlenecks and proposed pathways to fully exploit these products.
To relieve pressure on forests, FAO is promoting clean cooking solutions such as biogas systems, improved cookstoves and briquettes to reduce heavy dependence on forests for firewood and charcoal.
As we commemorate the International Day of Forests, I call upon all stakeholders in Uganda, to exploit the full potential of forests and trees to achieve food security and improve livelihoods.
Do you want to establish a forest? Why don’t you consider fruit trees? Even if you want to plant a few trees in your backyard, why not plant mangoes, jackfruit or any other fruit tree? We should look at forests beyond the narrow prism of timber products.
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