Over 90% of Uganda’s households and industries rely on wood as a major source of domestic and industrial energy. This has put an exponential demand and pressure on wood and conflicts with the environment. Research indicates that the charcoal demand in Uganda increases at 6% per year, leading to the clearing of 80,000 hectares of forest cover annually. Uganda is the third country in the contributing to forest cover loss following Cambodia and Nicaragua (Global Forests Watch 2023). Of this, over 40% of Uganda’s supply of charcoal to urban areas comes from the Acoli sub-region where the poverty rate is at 68% making charcoal production the major source of livelihood. There are alternative sources of energy like gas and electricity. But they cost more than what ordinary and majority of middle-income earners can depend on for cooking. At over 8,000 Uganda shillings per kilogram of gas and over 700 Uganda shillings per KWh for domestic units of electricity, these alternative sources of energy are inaccessible to most of the populace. Over the next five years, BOSCO-Uganda will implement strategies to protect and conserve the environment and promote the use of renewable energy to minimise adverse climatic effects and ensure a safe environment for the future.
According to National Budget Framework Paper 2024/2025, Natural Resources, Environment, Climate Change, Land and Water management programme’s goal is to reduce the environmental degradation and adverse effect of Climate change as well as improve utilization of natural resources for sustainable growth and livelihood security. One of the objectives of this programme is to increase forest, tree and wetland coverage, restore bare hills and protect mountainous areas and rangelands from12.2% in 2024 to 12.7% by 2029. The intervention also wants to promote inclusive climate resilient and low emissions development at all levels.