By Marko Taibot

Nyai village in Nyadri Sub County, Maracha district is a small village that has been hit hard by deforestation and devastating impact of climate change. The place is home to hundreds of acres of Tobacco farms that has characterized the economy of the area for some time.

Here, tobacco is cured using firewood that has led to destruction of the tree cover for decades. Until recently, the same firewood has been the livelihood of every family.

Data from the Global Forest Watch indicates that in 2010, Maracha had 1.44kha of tree cover, extending over 3.3% of its land area. In 2020, it lost 2.07ha of tree cover, equivalent to 988t of CO₂ of emissions. From 2001 to 2020, Maracha lost 175ha of tree cover, equivalent to a 10% decrease in tree cover since 2000, and 57.3kt of CO₂ emissions.

However, the Nyai women’s group in Nyadri Sub County, Maracha district is gradually changing this loss. The group has taken a keen interest in making and using the energy-saving stoves to reduce the wood that they have been using for cooking.

The group that started as a village Savings and Loan Association in 2010 with 4 members has since grown and now has 35 members and by last year they had Shs7million savings.

For Ms. Eunice Ezajoru, the chairperson of the group, the journey to climate smart stoves has been a long one, with mixed results until they found a partner.  She said for years, women in the area have been battling the impact of climate change and with tree cover dwindling every day, the situation became horrible.

Ezajoru said, from only four women who started the group, the number eventually rose to 35 women and with that, they registered the group with the district officials.

She said after the registration, they came into contact with the United Nations’ Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO).

“When FAO came in, we were trained on how to make energy savings stoves through Maracha district farmers association. With the new technology we have learned, we don’t know go very far to look for firewood, we make charcoals for ourselves,” she says.

Ezajoru noted that after receiving the training, they were supported by materials for starting the project such as iron sheets and seedlings. She however appeals for more support since they do not have enough capital to start on their own.

Steady income

Each eco-friendly stove costs Shs15,000 ($4.17378) and so far, the group has sold a total of 122 stoves, earning them Shs1.8 million shillings ($509.2). Ezajoru says they will invest the money in planting more trees to mitigate impact of climate change.

“You can see all these trees we have are not the traditional indigenous trees that used to be here. All those were cut for curing tobacco. However, as women of this area, we cannot just sit and see our environment being destroyed, so we shall use the revenue we have generated to plant more trees,” she says.

The Nyai women’s group receives support from the Marcha district farmers Association with financial support from FAO’s climate Resilient Livelihood opportunities for Women’s Economic Empowerment (CRWEE) in Karamoja and West Nile regions in Uganda.

Mr. Godfrey Ochan the program officer and field coordinator FAO in the West Nile region explained that under the Women Economic Empowerment (CRWEE) West Nile, the 4 years project is funded by the government of Sweden.

Ochan said the project pursues strengthening the gender-responsive and climate-smart resilience of rural women who depend on the agricultural production system by promoting smart activities.

“Our major focus is the ecosystems adaptive and mitigation capacities enhanced through promotion of bioenergy saving technologies by building the capacity of the local community to plan, implement and mobilize resources for ecosystem-based adaptation and rehabilitate degraded watershed ecosystems,” Ocha said.

Ocha also stated that the project intends to reach a total of 52,500 direct beneficiaries organized in farmer field schools. The project scope states that six out of ten of the beneficiaries to be female while four are male and the projects will be implemented in 12 districts with 8 in west Nile while 4 from Karamoja.

Ms. Immaculate Makosa, a beneficiary of the energy-saving stoves says as a customer, the energy-saving stoves have helped her reduce the cost of spending on charcoal attesting that she used to buy 2sacks of charcoal for one month but now she uses one sack for a whole month.

“The energy-saving stoves are very good compared to the ordinary ones, once I light it, it takes longer and it allows me to do other things while it produces less smoke. I would like to join the group so that I can gain the skills of making it,” Makosa says.

Mr. Zubeir Angurini one of the men in the group says they are happy about the project because it is going to save their remaining trees. He however prays that the program is expanded into a learning center and to cover the whole district so that many will benefit and the environment is saved.

“Our environment was heavily depleted because we cut trees for curing tobacco and for cooking, but with this technology, we will recover the ecosystem,” Angurini says

The field extension officer Mr. Vincent Dratele who works for Maracha District Farmers Association (MADIFA) says the women will now be relieved from some of the health burdens associated with the use of three stones and an ordinary charcoal stove for cooking noting that the women still need more material support.

“We are trying to develop a means to see that the available trees are conserved, using the cook stoves, 33 trees are saved per year,” Dratele says.