Trees and Livelihoods in Karamoja, Uganda
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Date
2014
Authors
Egeru, Anthony
Okia, Clement
Leeuw, Jan de
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
ResearchGate
Abstract
This report presents results of a rapid desk review of academic and grey literature on the
evidence relating to trees and livelihoods in Karamoja a region in north eastern Uganda. The
review identified the range of problems in the Karamoja sub-region; benefits of trees to
people and communities living in Karamoja; the role of trees in resilience building; role of
trees in agricultural production, traditional knowledge of trees in Karamoja; threats to trees,
drivers of development in Karamoja; tree-based initiatives in the sub-region; and
opportunities for action research in Karamoja. Using their experiences in the Karamoja subregion
and other similar ecosystems in Africa, the authors provide insights of the contribution
of trees to livelihoods in Karamoja.
Karamoja sub-region is a semi-humid to semi-arid sub-region in north eastern Uganda
covering approximately 27,200 km2. It has a complex range of problems including: historical
injustices, misconceptions of the sub-region and its people, poor infrastructure climate
variability and change, existence of several agricultural risks, weather based vagaries, low
agricultural productivity, a declining pastoral production system, increasing environmental
degradation orchestrated by a number of mal-adaptations, and poor performance of the
region with respect to development indicators as compared to other parts of Uganda.
The climate in Karamoja sub-region is generally harsh with high rainfall variability and high
evapotranspiration. The sub-region’s rainfall regime ranges between 350-1000 mm per
annum. This precipitation is usually sporadic and falls in one rainy season. The sub-region
generally suffers from poor rainfall distribution rather than from low rainfall totals. However, it
is the intensity and the variability, particularly the existence of sporadic intense wet periods
followed by drought events that has always had debilitating impacts on the sub-region.
There is wide evidence to suggest that trees provide a range of services and benefits to the
people and communities living in Karamoja. Following the Millennium Ecosystem
Assessment (http://www.millenniumassessment.org) analysis, these are categorised into
four sub-groups: provisioning, regulating, supporting and cultural services.
This review reveals that the Karamojong1 derive a wide number of herbs and medicinal
products for humans and livestock from trees. Consequently, the Karamojong have high
levels of ethnopharmacological and enthanoveterinary knowledge. Firewood, charcoal,
building materials, gums, resins and extractives are also harvested from different tree
species within the sub-region. Further, trees provide forage and browse to livestock during
both dry and rainy seasons. Browse is particularly important during the dry seasons when
acacia pods are utilised.
The trees in the sub-region act as wind breaks against the strong winds that emerge from
the Turkana plains in Kenya; trees also help to control soil and water erosion. In places
where trees have been cleared, soil erosion is strongly evident, developing into gullies.
Description
Keywords
Trees, Livelihoods, Uganda
Citation
Egeru, A., Okia, C., & De Leeuw, J. (2014). Trees and livelihoods in Karamoja, Uganda. Evidence on Demand, UK. http://dx.doi.org/10.12774/eod_hd.december2014.egeruaetal