Sustainable Land Management, defined for this context
Sustainable Land Management is the combination of practices, planning and institutional support that keeps Uganda's soils, water and vegetation productive without trading away long-term fertility for short-term yield.
The SLM programme is a component within a wider framework that brings together different stakeholders to address land degradation. It strategically and incrementally promotes and institutionalises SLM practices through a collaborative arrangement between the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) and the National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO), to deliver broader technical options to farmer groups. NARO and MAAIF jointly implement SLM activities, much of it derived from a sizeable body of analytical work and investment programming by government and district local governments — strengthening SLM information support, investment planning and monitoring across the agricultural sector.
Since targeted SLM activities started in earnest in 2010, communities have increasingly appreciated the need for land management and resource planning, and the area under SLM has grown substantially as a result. SLM practices and technologies have helped reverse the negative trends of land degradation — especially soil erosion and declining soil fertility — leading to increased crop yields. They have also reduced downside production risks, increasing resilience among communities amid a changing climate. The outcome: improved food, nutrition and income security among households.
Mandate and current arrangement
SLM in Uganda is delivered through a joint arrangement between two national institutions: the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF), which sets agricultural policy and investment direction, and the National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO), which leads the technical and research side of the work — soil science, technology validation and field demonstration. Much of the current programme builds on analytical work and investment programming carried out with government and district local governments over more than a decade.
On the ground, the work is anchored in NARO's network of Zonal Agricultural Research and Development Institutes (ZARDIs) — among them Abi ZARDI (West Nile), Bulindi ZARDI (Lake Albert Crescent) and Buginyanya ZARDI (South Eastern Agro-Ecological Zone) — each carrying out adaptive research and demonstration suited to its own agro-ecology. See Zones & Hotspots for profiles of these institutes and the wider agro-ecological zones they serve.
Confirmed from source documents
Joint MAAIF & NARO institutional arrangement.
SLM activities targeted in earnest from 2010.
National in scope, delivered through government, ZARDIs and district local governments.
Uganda at a glance
Uganda sits in the Great Lakes region of East Africa, covering 197,100 km² of land and 43,938 km² of water — 241,038 km² in total, the 81st largest nation in the world, with a population of 41,659,070 (UBOS, 2017). Its tropical climate ranges 21–25°C, moderated by Lake Victoria and mountain ranges including the Rwenzoris and Mount Elgon. Often called the “Pearl of Africa” — a phrase attributed to Winston Churchill in 1907 — the country gained independence from Britain on 9 October 1962.
Favourable soils and climate have long underpinned Uganda's agricultural sector, spanning crop production, livestock, fisheries and forestry. But land degradation — chiefly soil erosion and soil fertility depletion — remains a serious problem, which is precisely what the SLM programme, under MAAIF and NARO, works to address. Roughly 23% of national GDP comes from agriculture, yet an estimated 12.7% of the population still experiences chronic hunger — a paradox of scarcity amid agricultural potential that SLM's work on soils and sustainable practice is designed to help close.
Quick facts
Total area: 241,038 km² (197,100 km² land)
Population: 41,659,070 (UBOS 2017)
Climate: Tropical, 21–25°C
Main land degradation drivers: Soil erosion & fertility depletion
Areas of work
Soil & land information
Mapping, surveys and spatial products that describe land condition.
Technology development & validation
Testing and adapting SLM practices — e.g. manure & mulch conservation farming, agroforestry, Ca-bentonite soil amendment — for Uganda's farming systems.
Land degradation assessment
Identifying priority degradation hotspots and mapping rainfall/temperature change.
Demonstration, training & extension
Field-level support, including the CSA Training Manual developed with ULN and GIZ.
Research & policy support
Peer-reviewed research and policy briefs that feed district and national planning.
Knowledge management & partnerships
Maintaining the platform and coordinating with partners such as NARO, MAAIF, ULN and GIZ.
Who to talk to
Dr. Drake N. Mubiru
Senior Principal Research Officer, NARO. Soil scientist with 25+ years in soil fertility management, soil and water conservation, and climate change adaptation. PhD & MSc, Soil Science, University of Kentucky; BSc Chemistry, Makerere University.
Dr. Onesmus Semalulu
PhD (Soil Fertility), MSc (Soil Science), BSc (Chemistry). Expertise in natural resource management, integrated soil fertility management, applied soil chemistry, nutrient recycling and environmental management. Lead researcher on Uganda's Ca-bentonite and supplemental irrigation trials.
Dr. Eveline Komutunga
Principle Research Officer with the National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO), and lead author on SLM's published soil and water conservation and climate-data harmonisation research.
Ms. Priscilla Vivian Kyosaba
MA (Business Administration — Project Planning & Management), BA (Office and Information Management). Expertise in strategic project planning, office administration and information management.
Selected publications for Dr. Mubiru and Dr. Semalulu are listed in the Research & Projects section.