Anyim Wa (Our Future) - A Tree Planting Initiative

How did Anyim Wa start?

The organization was founded in 2019 as an initiative to promote self-resilience and reliance among the youth through tree growing, with the aim of changing the mindset and outlook towards Agro-Forestry.

The effects and aftermath of the civil war were massive, especially in the northern part of Uganda. One significant psychological effect of the war was dependency syndrome. Making people dependent on funds and handouts sabotages their will to work or do things themselves.

In the initial stages of 2019 (the beginning), we decided to start a tree-planting workshop in Primary schools. With the help of the district's Authorities, we were given ten schools where we planted around 120 Pine and Teak trees in each school.

Before the tree planting activity, we visited the schools for a visibility study to determine our focus group and then decided on P5 and P6 students, who we then trained on the basics of tree planting; how to mark the ground, how to dig a hole, and placing/planting the seedlings. We wanted to reach the younger demographic whose minds are easier to influence while taking a hands-on approach in the school workshops with the full involvement of the students.

How did you get into tree planting?

I was introduced to the world of tree planting by my Father. If my memory serves me right, I was in Primary 5 when he showed me a pen and explained how that was the height of a standard seedling. I also recall a moment when he took my siblings and me to what looked like a bare piece of land, and it was there that he first explained the economics behind tree planting. At that time, a seedling cost about 500Ug Shillings, now 700Ug Shillings. He then gave us the old button phones and told us to calculate the result of 5 acres of trees, each acre taking 500 seedlings amounting to 2500 per acre times 500 multiplied by 20 years. I was considering that a tree's value after 20 years would be more than 200,000Ug Shillings. So when we tried to calculate the value of those trees after 20 years, the phone gave an error because its value was so immense. So at around nine years old, the economic sense of planting started to grow in my mind. I reaped the benefit by being able to do my master's with the money generated from trees I planted in 2015, and after I got back after my master's, I did my LDC with the money I got from planting trees.

I am a lawyer by profession. Majoring in Law for my undergrad and later decided to do my master's in Environmental Law, specializing in Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation and Promoting Environmental Conservation which is indirectly connected to planting trees. Through tree planting, I am mitigating climate change by reducing carbon emissions and adapting to it by renewing the forest covers that are being depleted.

Inspiring Others

Spreading this idea to the younger generation is vital because, just like my Father influenced me into the world of tree planting at a young age, the seed of the importance and benefits of tree planting started to grow in me. In the same way, I hope that the initiative in schools will have the same effect. My Father, who is now a grandfather of two, has already started planting trees for his grandchildren; for a granddaughter who is just two years he has planted 2 acres, and for a grandson who is not even a year yet has 5 acres. MFatherer, a Forester by profession, found exciting ways to integrate us into his work through field visits, tracking Chimpanzees, things he knew would interest us.

The Interest in Tree Planting.

The sensitization of people towards planting trees started in schools, but the plan is to make the target population bigger with time. To the more educated people in the community, agriculture is looked on as a dirty and peasant-like job. But when we walk them through every step, people clearly understand what the initiative is aiming at. Through agroforestry, we practically show them how to incorporate planting trees alongside the crops they grow and educate them on how it will benefit them and the environment.

In our initial training, there was a lot of interest from the students and teachers, especially after they understood the benefits of tree planting better. So much so that they were requesting more trees to embark on the next season of tree planting on their own at school, while others wanted to get some so they could plant them in their homes. For some in the community, tree planting was something they already practised primitively, so in addition to us showing them how to plant new trees, we are also showing them how to take care of the improved version of the seedlings we give them. We use enhanced seedlings such as that of the Pine trees so that they can get an economic return investment on the tree they've planted. This monetary value of tree planting can only be achieved when we sow good-quality trees.

One of the ways we are expanding our reach to the older generation is to have them involved in creating their own nurseries to plant seedlings. Because tree growing doesn't start in the garden, it starts from the seed brought up in a greenhouse and then planted.

So we wanted to make it a chain connection and show them the final destination—a field of trees.

New and Improved Methods of Utilizing Trees

Trees are an essential raw material for many things, i.e. a fuel source in the form of firewood, timber for building and many more. For this reason, deforestation continues to be a significant issue in this area. A central mission of the initiative is to educate people on better methods of using this raw material.

For instance, we teach them different pruning methods for the branches, which they can use for firewood instead of cutting down the whole tree.

My Father and I have about 55 acres of planted trees, so let's say I want to get timber; I won't cut all of them at once; instead, I'd do what we call thinning. A method of identifying a tree/wood with a diameter of about 30/20/10 cm, targeting the smaller ones to get lumber from, and the ones you can't, you sell as firewood. The first (14) 28 ft of a tree is for timber, and the rest 15 ft is used for firewood. So instead of clearing the whole plantation, pruning is done first to get the branches for firewood, and then thinning is done afterwards.

To combat the adverse effects of using firewood alongside the tree-growing training, we show people improved methods of cooking that would help reduce the risk hazards of inhaling carbon monoxide. Survey shows that most people in villages use the three-stone method to cook. Still, throughout training, we promote energy cook stoves, a particular one that has a chimney made of clay with one firewood inlet and a duct that takes the smoke outside the cooking area. The 3-stone method uses more firewood because you must keep adding more wood once it's done, unlike the energy-saving one, which keeps the heat even after the firewood is done because of the clay coating. To combat carbon emissions, the more trees we can encourage people to plant, the better. By planting trees, we try to equalize or reduce our carbon footprint, so those who cook with firewood have a surrounding of trees.

Sensitization is one of the powerful things we do at schools as we try to show them how everything is interrelated, from where you plant, how you plant and how you use the by-products.

Social Impact

Besides the school tree-growing workshops, we also sensitize the students on various life issues, such as menstrual health. We've had a minimum of 100 pupils involved in the training on how to make reusable sanitary towels, in which I also participated and learnt how to sow one. Out of a team of 10, we were about four male participants, which was significant in illustrating the importance of everyone's involvement in getting the know-how in the matters. Something like menstruation may affect women directly but has an indirect effect on men, so having men participate in such activities is a way to prevent the stigma around it. In a review we conducted early 2021, we found out that the rate of girls missing school due to their menstrual cycle reduced.

The impact of Covid and schools being closed meant that we couldn't continue with our regular training, but once the schools were reopened, the students were anticipating and looking forward to the training sessions again. Our next training session will be another follow-up and data collection on what the students want to plant and how far they've come in the process. Then we can start the actual tree planting in 2023.

Another significant improvement I'd say Anyim Wa has achieved is a shift in the students' mindset prior to our initiative. Initially, the training was school-based and would take place on a piece of land the school owned, but now we have students asking for seedlings so that they can plant in their homes. So that they can say, - "when I was young, I was able to plant this, and it has now grown into a whole forest". This shows that they are thinking ahead concerning their lives and into the future. The most extensive significance of this initiative is that they are learning something in addition to what they are getting in their classroom a- step-by-step and hands-on learning.

We've also drawn interest from agencies that give to the school initiatives. For instance, the seedlings we used in the schools we got for free. The transport and fuel for the vehicles we used for fieldwork in order to gather data that facilitated the training was all possible with the backing of sponsors. Apart from the few necessary expenses, most of our support came from donors. We receive support mostly in kind and not in cash, which shows that the work Anyim Wa is doing is significant enough to draw donors' attention. I was shocked when one of the major Radio stations in the city (MEGA FM), which is Gulu's version of Kampala's Capital FM, read about our work in their news segment and even later called one of our volunteers for an interview. Another sponsor we had was Radio King, which focuses more on the youth, and requested to host us every Friday for about three months for a 1 Hour radio program about the work Anyim Wa is doing. They brought us on board because our work also inspired them. In addition, we work with the local authorities, such as the District Forest Officer and District Education Officer, for authorization and permits that enable us to carry out our different activities.

Tree growing and Generational Wealth

The main idea is to change the direction of how things are done when it comes to generational wealth. Many people have gotten it wrong regarding integrating their children into their work. There's this one person I know who's a soil and water conservation expert, but none of his children is curious about what he's doing. He's tried all he could, but they seem uninterested. Not to say that children should always follow in their parent's footsteps.

Take, for instance, my elder brother, an aerospace engineer, yet he also has a piece of land where he's planted his trees. Our parents didn't stop us from pursuing our career interests, but somewhere somehow, we've all developed an interest in tree planting, which is now slowly growing into generational wealth. Recently my brother has been talking about starting a company. Our current company's name is JC, a combination of the first initial of our parent's names, and my brother wants to name his company JC Avionics; when I asked him why he said he wants to continue with the brand. This shows that my parent's intention to integrate us is engraved in all we do. Because of the interconnective nature of the world we live in, we, too, are trying to take the same approach with the tree-growing projects.

The meaning behind ANYIM WA's name.

The Acholi language is ever descriptive, so Anyim Wa (Our Future), whose full name is "Anyim Wa Cake Ki An", means "Our Future Begins With Me". It sends out the message that the future is for us all but for it to manifest, the individual's involvement towards this collective future is paramount. We must ask ourselves what we have done to offset tackling the issues in the outer community we can expect others to join in.

As the vision barrier, I wanted to come up with a name that spoke for itself and resonated with the community without needing much explanation.

The mission

Our mission as Anyim Wa is to awaken a movement of generational thinkers through tree planting for environmental conservation and economic empowerment.

"We are generational beings, so we ought to be generational thinkers in everything we do.

Considering the 'now' and its ripple effect on one's future and the future of others."

My name is Andrew Lagonya, the vision barrier of Anyim Wa Cake Ki An Limited.