Dr. Munsell Comes to Uganda

John and I with refugee translator Josephine after a refugee household assessment in Imvepi

Dear All,

Warm greetings, and I hope that you are well!

It has been a very packed 10 days or so, with my PhD advisor Dr. John Munsell arriving to visit Uganda and Imvepi on May 24th. Early this morning he set off from Arua back to Kampala, and will eventually travel back to the US on Monday. Let me try and retrace our steps over the past week and half...

After arriving, John had one day to rest before he was scheduled to give a talk at the Makerere University School of Forestry, Geographical, and Environmental Sciences, at the invitation of Dr. Ssekuubwa who is a lecturer of forestry, biodiversity, and tourism. John's talk was titled "Agroforestry Applications: Insights and Experience from North America and Refugee-Hosting Cameroon," and was scheduled for Friday at 2pm. I was a bit concerned that Makerere students would not be able or willing to attend giving that they recently completed exams. But as the time approached, the room filled with more than 30 faculty, graduate, and undergraduate students, while our zoom link attracted 25 others. After the talk John fielded several insightful questions, and all around there was good energy and interest with regard to agroforestry.

John provides a seminar on agroforestry (top) to students and faculty at Makerere University

The next morning, our driver named Tonny came with his pick-up truck to take us on the long journey north from Kampala to Arua. We left around 8am, and with a few brief stops arrived close to 5pm to the hotel. We had most of a Sunday to relax and catch up on errands in Arua, before Tonny took us from Arua to Imvepi, along with two of my friends who were scavenging for a ride back. We got John settled in a guest house in Imvepi which was kindly coordinated by assistant settlement commandant Martin, which already was furnished with a bed, sheets, mosquito net, etc.

Our first task on Monday morning was to greet Imvepi settlement commandant Vincent Amuro, as is standard practice for visitors. We received prior approval for John to visit and supervise my research, so there was no issue. John provided orange Virginia Tech hats to both the commandant and Martin, which I believe they really appreciated. Next we met up with my assistant Robilert and Tom, who was John's personal motorbike driver for the week, and rode to the home of a host national to start our field work.

In addition to observing my research, John's main objective for this trip was to help to develop a method for studying and estimating tree and shrub biomass on both refugee and host national plots, which is one component we will use to assess and compare the "natural capital" of a participant in addition to their landholdings and crop diversity.

Measurements of trees and shrubs on refugee plots are bounded by the small size of those plots (generally no more than 2500 square feet), making tree and shrub cover more easily sampled and estimated. Host plots, however, are much more complicated because they range from a half-acre to 10 or more acres in size, are often fragmented into diverse parcels in separate locations, and include many different types of land cover including agricultural production, intensive homegardens, teak woodlots, and shrubby bushland. Given that measuring every tree on host plots is far outside the scope of what we can accomplish, we needed a more targeted sampling strategy.

John sampling the tart fruits of Sclerocarya birrea along with Tom and Robilert on a host firwewood walk

After a couple of days of John attending firewood walks, experimentation, and discussion, he helped us to develop a proportionate, targeted sampling approach for tree and shrub biomass on host plots. We start by asking a host participant to sketch their overall land holdings (whether the land is consolidated or fragmented). Next we ask them to demarcate the rough boundaries between unique land cover types so that we can understand the overall proportions in each type. In the map sketched below, the host participant indicates that most of her land is in agricultural production, and her trees and shrubs are located specifically around the home compound, in a shrubby area, and within a fruit tree orchard.

A host's proportionate drawing of her landholdings

The next step is to go into those targeted areas and measure trees and shrubs. John came well prepared with forest measurement equipment, ready to help turn my assistants and I into real foresters. On Tuesday morning, he held a training with the three of us to teach us how to 1) use a loggers tape/diameter tape to measure tree widths at DBH (diameter at breast height), 2) a clinometer to measure tree heights, and 3) calipers for measuring shrub root collars. He also taught us how to estimate the Live Crown Ratio (LCR), or the percent of total tree height which supports live foliage, and to assess trees for signs of damage or disease. We tested these tools on trees around basecamp, and even established a 1/30th acre fixed plot with flagging to practice measuring all of the trees within.

John teaching Robilert, Josephine, Tom, and I the basics of forest measurements in basecamp

On Wednesday, we had the chance to test out our sampling methodology at a host national home with fragmented tree cover. We started at the home site and used quadrant sampling to select 3 of 8 total trees for measurements: a papaya, jackfruit, and teak tree. Next we moved out to the owner's teak woodlot where we established a 1/30th acre fixed area plot and measured the three teak trees which landed within. Finally, we moved over to the shrubby area of the plot where we established much smaller (1/100th) fixed area plots to measure the dense brush within, including stem widths, number of stems, and height. Combining knowledge of the rough proportions of land cover types within a participant's plot with these samples can now give us estimates of overall biomass across larger land parcels in a feasible manner, given constrained time and resources.

On our last day in Imvepi, I wanted John to see an ideal refugee agroforestry site so as to leave on a hopeful note of what can be possible in this challenging context. I took him to visit my dear friend Lilly's compound, where she led us on a tour through her intensive application of tree growing and permaculture, adopted as part of her role as a Community Based Facilitator with CIFOR-ICRAF. Lilly's family has dug bioswales (deep trenches near garden plots) for water retention, integrated pigs and other livestock into their agricultural systems, planted boundary lines of Markhamia lutea for windbreak, and blended diverse tree species including guava, papaya, Melia volkensii, mvule, and others with crops such as yams, sorghum, maize, bananas, sweet potato, and yams.

Lilly gave us a tour of her family's plot (top), and we gathered for a photo afterwards (bottom)

In the afternoon we left Imvepi and travelled back to Arua to prepare for a very packed Friday. In the morning, John and I co-facilitated a focus-group discussion (FGD) which included 8 staff members of Imvepi-based tree planting and conservation programs. I studied these program last year through conducting semi-structured interviews with administrative and technical staff to learn about different program models, including their strengths and weaknesses. The goal of the FGD was to solicit feedback from participants on my initial results and to collectively work on some solution development for the future.

We held the FGD in the balcony conference room of a lovely hotel in a quiet part of Arua. John led us in a rousing icebreaker and then I presented my data in two sections, with break-out groups in between. We concluded with an hour-long visioning session, using a logic model template to collectively identify ideal, long-term outcomes for tree cover in Imvepi (with associated environmental and human health implications), and chart pathways towards achieving those outcomes in the forms of short-term outcomes, activities, and inputs. Participants used color-coded sticky notes to contribute their ideas to each section of the logic model and I grouped the sticky notes to find themes within. I will eventually process this data to develop a clear, participatory theory of change, but some of the outcomes identified included: A stable and productive ecosystem in Imvepi by 2030, refugee and host households having easy firewood access, the development of an internationally recognized model for environmental remediation and multicultural harmony, comprehensive integration of trees within maize/sorghum fields, and better family nutrition through access to fruit products from agroforestry systems.

FGD presentations, theory of change exercise, lunch on the balcony, and group photo

Some feedback we received from participants included:

"Thank you so much for inviting me to come and learn about what information you have been collecting.. through it I've learned so many things because of the different organizations that presented here. I learned what they've been doing through your presentation and also picked up some interest in some of them so that we can in the future incorporate some of the ideas that were shared here."

"I'm also so grateful for organizing this particular event. It was really a learning platform for me which will guide me personally. I've learned for my personal development, but also for the betterment of implementing my program. But also it has been a platform for networking because most people here are meeting for the first time. We have been in the camp there, but we have not been regularly meeting. Now we shall continue with the collaboration to ensure we take our activities forward. Thank you so much."

Upon the conclusion of the FGD, John and I raced over to Muni University, where he presented a second agroforestry seminar at the invitation of my local research Ugandan advisor, Dr. Clement Okia, who is an Associate Professor of agroforestry at Muni. Though a smaller event, the seminar drew meaningful conversation with an attentive audience both in person and on zoom.

John presenting a slide on agroforestry in North America (left), and standing with both my Ugandan and U.S. research advisors (right)

We finished up a busy visit by sharing dinner with Clement back at our hotel. John and Clement found that they have many mutual connections in the global agroforestry network and we dined together on the balcony past 10pm discussing all topics related to agroforestry, as well as future opportunities.

John and Clement enjoying a nice dinner and conversation at the hotel

Early this morning John and driver Tonny set off back to Kampala, this time via the Murchison Falls National Park to get some exciting animal sightings (he already sent a few-- see below). I will travel back to Imvepi and embark on continued field work, strategizing with my team how to best integrate the new forest measurements into our existing protocol. I am very grateful for the enormous effort John made to reach Uganda and Imvepi. I believe it was mutually rewarding and will significantly support the advancement of my research program. Until next week, be well!

Animals in Murchison Falls National Park (photos courtesy of John)