Building Resilient Communities, Wetland Ecosystems and Associated Catchments in Uganda

Project details

Uganda, wetlands provide many important functions to the people, particularly in the context of food security. This is in addition to its role as a habitat for biodiversity that is also important for the economy. According to a recent 2013 study on the value of wetlands in Uganda, several market and non-market benefits are identified: “The market benefits include water for domestic use and watering of livestock, support to dry season agriculture, provision of handicrafts, building materials, and food resources such as fish, yams, vegetables, wild game, and medicine. The non-market benefits include flood control, purification of water, and maintenance of the water table, microclimate moderation, and storm protection. Wetlands also serve as habitats for important flora and fauna, have aesthetic and heritage values, and contain stocks of biodiversity of potentially high pharmaceutical value. Over 80% of the people living adjacent to wetland areas in Uganda directly use wetland resources for their household food security needs.” In addition to supporting food and water security, wetlands also support income generation and employment. “Of a total population of 34 million Ugandans, it is estimated that wetlands provide about 320,000 workers with direct employment and provide subsistence employment for over 2.4 million.”

Wetland health and resilience can easily be compromised by climate change impacts. Climate change models for Uganda predict that temperatures will continue to increase, and there will be changes in the seasonal distribution and amount of rainfalls, more frequent extreme weather events, and increases in the frequency of heavy rainfalls. Increases in temperature and erratic rainfall will result in more frequent and intense floods, droughts and heat waves, which will directly threaten wetlands and livelihoods that rely on its healthy ecosystem services. Hydrologic and drainage maps of the project targeted sites (the eastern and southwestern Wetlands Basin) indicate that most of the freshwater inflows pass through the wetlands and natural forests. These systems have played an integral role in maintaining the quality of water over the centuries. However, over the last three decades, climate change impacts, as well as other baseline (non-climate) issues such as excessive sedimentation and non-native species invasions, have resulted in substantial water quality deterioration.

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Government of Uganda and UNDP sign financing agreement for new climate fund to restore wetlands and build community resilience

Key results and output

Output 1: Restoration and management of wetland hydrology and associated forests
Under this sub-component, at least 760 km2 of degraded wetlands and its associated catchment will be restored and the lives of 500,000 people will be improved in selected districts of Eastern and South Western Uganda. The overall aim of the intervention is to restore the ecological and hydrological integrity of the wetland and support the development and implementation of a community-based framework for wetland management plans. This will help support climate risk management and resilient livelihoods through enhanced ecosystems services in the area.

Output 2: Improved agricultural practices and alternative livelihood options in the wetland catchment
This output will target at least 150,000 farmers including those who currently do not have secure access to irrigation, land-poor farmers, women-headed households, and the landless, to build more climate-resilient livelihoods. Investments in small-scale rural infrastructure (shallow bore wells, drip irrigation, tilling tools) for agricultural purposes, especially on-farm water management infrastructure such as dams, canals, drip irrigation systems, as well as farming best practices and crop diversification will be implemented to realize high economic return given their coverage. In addition, the output will focus on technical skills training for employment in key economic sectors viable in wetland areas, such as tourism, health and construction. Most of the beneficiaries have very low levels of education and no skills that can help them find a job. Beneficiaries will be trained in specific skills with high employability potential (e.g. earth mover, driver, assistant nurse, reception clerk in hotels, desktop publishing).Output 3: Strengthening access to climate and early warning information to farmers and other target communities to support wetland management

Output 3: Strengthening access to climate and early warning information to farmers and other target communities to support wetland management
This output will focus on strengthening access to reliable climate-related information and scaling up advisories for farmers and other target communities in the two wetland target areas, to improve the adaptation capacity of the entire population in and around the wetlands – around 1 million people. This will include the expansion of networks that generate and process climate-related data into relevant information to the scale and location of local districts, villages or communities, as well as dissemination of climate-related information/services, advisories and early warnings to communities. A strong focus of this output will be on delivering actionable climate-related information to communities, taking the form of agro-met advisories for agriculture, as well as the dissemination channels for making information available to the “last mile.”

Reports & publications

Videos & multimedia

How Uganda is redeeming her wetlands with support from GoU, GCF and UNDP

Limoto Wetland wise use demonstration site

Building Resilient Communities Wetland Ecosystem and Associated Catchment Areas in Uganda Project

GCF in Uganda: Restoring wetlands

Wetland Restoration Project - Uganda

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