1 TIST Uganda July News Letter 2016 TIST & CAAC WIN ENVIRONMENTAL FINANCE'S HIGHEST HONORS June 15th, 2016 Clean Air Action Corporation's (CAAC's) TIST Afforestation Program was voted “Best Offsetting Project,” and CAAC declared “Best Project Developer - Forestry & LandUse,” in a global ranking conducted by Environmental Finance magazine. These recognitions demonstrate that some of the world's poorest farmers are willing and capable of combating the climate challenge by improving their farms, restoring degraded land, increasing biodiversity and wildlife habitat, and working with each other to raise incomes and improve lives. “There are at least 5 billion acres of badly degraded land that could be returned to productive use by farmers to improve access to water, boost crop yields, and increase climate resilience. At the same time they are improving their local environment and economies, farmers will remove billions of tons of carbon dioxide from our atmosphere,” said CAAC president and TIST cofounder, Ben Henneke. “Partnering with farmers is an opportunity to immediately make a big dent in global greenhouse gas levels and buy time for low carbon energy technologies to develop and scale-up.” In 1998-1999, following a series of mission trips to Tanzania, Henneke and his wife, Vannesa, founded TIST—“The International Small Group and Tree Planting Program”—with 77 smallholder farmers in the Dodoma region of Tanzania. The program has since expanded into 3 additional countries—including Kenya, Uganda, and India— and attracted more than 77,000 members, who together have planted tens of millions of trees, and kept more than 16 million trees alive and sequestering CO2.
“We met and worked with farmers who were living in increasing drought and poverty caused by the degradation of their small plots of land. They had no source of cash income, no information about how to improve their land and crop yields. TIST farmers now earn carbon prepayments for trees they plant and keep alive on their farms,” explained Vannesa Henneke. “At the same time the program helps them organize to work together to develop and share ‘best practices’ that improve their lives in many ways.” 2 Farmers form “TIST Small Groups” of 6 to 12 participants who assist each other in collecting seeds, starting nurseries, planting and maintaining trees, and implementing other projects such as bee keeping, and vegetable gardens. A system of rotating leadership encourages women and less educated members to participate actively and take on positions of growing responsibility. At monthly “Cluster” meetings, TIST Small Groups gather to share information on topics such as Conservation Farming techniques, trees for animal fodder, and prevention of HIV/AIDS. “Working with the smallest farms and the poorest farmers and still keeping the costs low is a major challenge ” explained CAAC Vice-President, Charlie Williams. “The sheer volume of smallholdings spread across 4 countries presented a potential monitoring nightmare. From the start we knew we had to create a mobile, scalable system capable of accurately keeping track of millions of trees planted on thousands of small plots of land.” In 2001, long before digital tools became widely used in developing countries,
TIST created an award-winning monitoring system based on handheld computers and GPS and began training some of the farmers to become “Quantifiers,” responsible for measuring, recording and uploading data to a cloud-based website (www.tist.org). After 24 successful independent verifications, TIST has proven that honest and accurate information systems can be created and replicated. TIST's carbon offsets from India, Kenya, and Uganda have been validated and verified to the Verified Carbon Standard and the Climate, Community & Biodiversity standards at the “Gold” level. “Sales of TIST tons now support the program’s operations and have paid the farmers over $1.7 million,” Williams pointed out. “When we started TIST the carbon market and mobile phones didn't exist. According to a recent audit of TIST’s results, the value of other benefits to the farmers—such as, increased food production, fodder, and income from fruits and nuts—exceeds $90 million.” “TIST just keeps expanding, ” Ben Henneke stated. “Farmers tell each other about the benefits, and we're now 1,000 time bigger than in 2000. But, with more than 700 million smallholder farmers globally, we have lots of opportunity to grow and reach more farmers. Continued exponential growth will allow ‘payments for environmental services’ to empower local communities, create paths out of poverty, and restore the environment one farm, one Small Group, one Cluster at a time." For further information: Trena Workman / +1 918 747 8770 www.tist.org trenaworkman@cleanairaction.com www.growcleanair.com
3 TIST Green Team members after their training meeting in Bushenyi. TAKING CARE OF TREES IN YOUR GROVE By Hakim Bachwa. It is time to remind group members about taking care of trees in our groves. Conserving our groves is very important. Groves are the source of the life of our trees we transplant. Remember that, if trees are not well taken care of, they will become weak and lack energy and even die. Trees have many important uses for people and animals. Here are some of the important benefits of trees. Trees planted by TIST Small Groups: Give fresh air that’s good for people and animals Absorb carbon and put it back into the soil Encourage rain, Prevent soil erosion Give shelter to wild animals, Provide firewood for cooking, Provide timber for building, making furniture, Give shade Shelter our houses from wind, Provide fruit and nuts. Those are some of benefits from tree planting. There are many profits which are in touch with daily human life. Therefore groups members, take care of your trees for our benefits. In order for our trees to grow well it is very important to know one of the most effective practices which is frequent weeding. Clean groves will make your trees grow healthy and faster. Also when weeds contaminate trees it is attractive to the dangerous animals like snakes. Meanwhile, weeds take nutrients and water from the soil so trees cannot use them. Hence trees become thinner and unhealthy. In our travels, TIST staff has seen small groups that have put more efforts on keeping their groves These groups gave weeding a high priority in their weekly activities and this is keeping the trees healthy.
As a reminder to all TIST small groups, here are some of the advantages of Weeding your groves: Trees grow faster because weeds don’t take the nutrients and water from the soil Trees will become stronger and grow taller in a shorter period of time, Trees can get the sunlight they need unhindered, Trees are not exposed to as many diseases, Trees are more protected from a fire spreading. Clean groves indicate that small groups are maintaining them and are good examples of the TIST program that will attract many people to come and see your work. Clean groves enable the quantifiers to count the trees quickly and accurately The TIST office staff encourages all small groups to carry on weeding their groves. It is worth the effort of each member of your small group, and you will be able to see the difference in your healthy trees. 4 CONSERVATION FARMING PROMOTES FOOD PRODUCTION By: Joyce Murungi, Trainer-Bushenyi It is very true - Conservation Farming improves food production! I used to have a problem of not enough food for my family. When I started Conservation Farming through TIST, the food supply increased and now I have surplus to sell. I grow green vegetables, such as dodo, carrots, cabbages, eggplants, green pepper, cucumber, spinach, tomatoes and other vegetables in my Conservation Farming holes. The extra food my family does not eat, allows excess for me to sell in the neighboring markets. This has increased my savings, income and improved my standard of living. I have been able to send my children to school. Conservation Farming has brought many benefits to my me and my family and encourage all other farmers to practice it because: Conservation Farming works - you dig holes for the crops and fill the holes half full of good soil and manure or compost. The crops get more nutrients than if they were planted in normal soil, and the holes help channel water to the crops, too. Extra nutrients help the seeds to grow into stronger plants with greater yields. The holes protect the seeds and you can weed around the holes without hurting the germinating plants. Conservation Farming Best Practices - When using traditional farming methods, farmers are not always certain they will get any harvest. Most years the harvest is small and sometimes there is no harvest
. Small Groups that use TIST Best Practices always seem to get some harvest, even in the worst years when rainfall is little or unreliable. In good years the harvest can be spectacular! Small Groups who use Conservation Farming can see a large difference, and some Small Groups in dry land areas have reported 2-5 times improvement in their crop yields. I urge you therefore to take this serious and start practicing Conservation Farming. It improved my food production and it can also do it for you. TREES BEAR FRUIT AND HELP START A BUSINESS By Yasini Bilaali, Kanyinya Small Group. I am so grateful for TIST Uganda. TIST taught and trained me how to plant trees, especially fruit trees. Oranges, Mangoes, Avocados, Jackfruits, and Guavas are the trees I planted on my farm, my banana plantation, my compound and along the paths to my home. The fruit trees grew well and are yielding so much. They have improved my diet, since fruits are good for our bodies. I have benefited a lot from the surplus that I sell to the markets nearby and also receive payment for my trees from TIST as well. Furthermore, in addition to my fruit trees, I also have medicinal trees like the Fagara. They provide medicine for my family and I am able to sell some of the leaves to people who have related sickness. Through TIST incentive payments for trees, I have now been able to save and start operating a shop in town.
The money I get from TIST for planting trees, and from the sale of fruits and medicinal products from trees, have contributed greatly to my startup capital for my shop. I have now improved my living status, started educating my children in good schools, buying other plots of land where I can plant more fruit trees and I have an idea of building a better house for my family. Great thanks to the TIST Program! Together we can join hands and learn from my testimony and let us develop ourselves. Tree planting is very useful in our lives. I encourage my fellow TIST members to take up this idea. You are sure to see a difference! 5 NURSERIES: A SOURCE OF INCOME AND KEY TO BIG RESULTS By Ndyabawe Carl Peters, Trainer Kabale. It is now time to start nurseries. When we start our own nurseries, we can keep costs low and results big. We can grow diverse species that provide varied benefits for years to come. First, choose a suitable place for the tree nursery. The place should have a slight slope so water runs off. The place should be out of floods but near a water source like a river or water tap so it is easy to water the seedlings as they grow. It is useful if the nursery is close to where the trees will be planted. This way, it is easy to carry the saplings to the groves, so that they are healthy and not stressed during transplanting. Once you have chosen a site, prepare the seedbed. First, the nursery bed should be surrounded with dried maize stalks or branches as a fence to prevent animals from getting in.
After that, prepare the fertile seedbed soil. There are many ways to make good seed soil. One way is to use 3 parts of topsoil from forest areas, 2 parts of sand and 1 part of manure or plant compost. Make sure the compost is well matured. This will ensure that the soil is rich with nutrients to help the seeds grow. TIST members have shared these best practices for raising seedlings: Make sure you have gathered good quality seed from healthy parent trees with good traits (good strong trunk for a tree you are growing for timber; no diseases; good fruits for a fruit tree). Check to make sure the seeds are free of pests and mold. Planting diverse species makes healthy groves that provide long-term benefits. You should time when you plant the seed according to how long it will take it to be strong and the right size to transplant into the prepared hole in the field. You want to have the seedlings ready to transplant at a time when rains and weather will be good for their survival. 2) Put the seed in some sort of bag or tube filled with the fertile soil mixture so the bag constrains the plant vertically. Some Groups use polytubes. Others make tubes from clean, used plastic sacks from shopping, or from pieces of sacks from charcoal cut in strips and sealed with an ember. Others use banana leaves. It is better to leave the bottom of the tube open for root pruning, and very important that if the bottom is closed, that there are holes for drainage. 4) Seedlings should be checked at least every week and probably more often than that.
They need to be watered and weeded. 5) When you check the seedlings, look at the roots. You can either clip off the small roots that are coming out or you can just move the seedling in the nursery once per week. With the knowledge I have gained from TIST, I have managed to start nursery beds from which I get money from selling seedlings. I have beds of different species which I sell and get income for my family.I am proud of TIST . Start your nurseries now so we can grow more trees, grow our profits and benefits, and grow TIST! Farmers in Nyarushanje a new TIST expansion area in Rukungiri receiving seedlings for planting 6 JULY 2016 NEWSLETTER. TIST na CAAC basiingire ekirabo kyobwobuhangwa. Ahakya 27/6/2016 ekigombe ekaya Environment Finance Magazine kikoreka ngu TIST na CAAC bakozire kihango omukurinda ebyobuhangwa omunsi yoona. - Eki kikoreka ngu abahingi abarikuruga omunsi enyoro nibabaasa kukora kihango omukurinda obuhangwa obukugu bwenzaarwa kandi bakarinda amataka hamwe kukanyisa entaasya yaabo.
- Purezidenti wa CAAC na TIST Ben Henneke agizire ngu omunsi yoona haihi hiika ezirikurenga omubuhumbi 5 nizo ziine amataka mabi kandi abahingi wabegyesa gye nibabaasa kugaihamu agomugasho. Kandi agizire ngu abahingi aba nibakora kihango kurinda obuhangwa barikubyara emiti erikunyuunyuuta orwoya orwa kaboni reeru ensi ekaba gye kandi nabo bakaihamu entasya. - Nagira ngu omurutaayayo rwe nomukazi we Vannesa akashanga abahingi ba TIST omuri Dodoma Tanzania barikuhika 77 omugwa 1998- 1999 kandi ngu kuruga aho abahingi bemiti bakeyongyera omuri Uganda, Kenya na India ahi obwahati bari kwingana 77,000 barikuhinga emiti erikwingana mirioni 16 kandi bakaguza orwoya rwa kaboni kwihamu entastya. LOCAL LANGUAGE - Bakabugana abahingi ababaire nibatuura ahamataka geirungu babegyesa obwahati bagakozire nibahinga kandi nibeyemerezaho. - Abahingi aba nibeteeraho emitwarize yebigombe byabo kandi bagigyenderaho obwe barikikorera omukweterana hamwe omuguruupu zabantu kuruga 6-12 nibahinga emiti, ebyokurya, bariisa enjoki n`emboga. Nibakiika kandi obwebembezi bwabo nibabuhindura buri kaanya. Quantifiers getting ready for a large grove tree count in Bushenyi 7 OKUREEBERERA EMITI OMUMUSIRI. Nebya Hakim Bachwa. Abahingi nimwijukibwa kureeberera emiti yanyu mumanye ngu emiti nigo magara ganyu kandi waginagaijura nebura amaani obundi endiijo eyoma. Emiti neyomugasho ahabantu n`enyamaiswa. Egi nemwe ahamigasho y`emiti
• Neheereza amabeho
• Nenyuunyuuta kaboni egigarura omwititaka.
• Nereeta enjura kandi etamba eitaka butatwarwa omutunga.
• Neeha ekibunda kandi twihamu enku .
• Niharugamu embaaho zokwombekyesa
• Netamba omuyaga.
• Nerugamu ebijuma.
Okwitira emiti omukibira nomuringo gumwe gwokugira emiti mirungi. Omuntaayaya zaitu tushangire ngu okwomberera nokwitira ekibira nibicendeza ebiririzi nenyamaishwa kutahirira emiti yaawe. Egi nemwe aha migasho yokwemberera emiti yaawe ; Emiti nekura juba Neriiha kandi ekura eine amaani Terikukwatwa endwara ntingi Terikurahuka kukwatwa omuriro. TIST neyehanangiriza abahingi kwombererera emiti yaanyu kwenda ngu ebarwe gye ebonere kandi ekwesiimisa kubaasa kusharuuramu kihango. EMPIINGA NUNGI NEKANYISA EBYOKURYA. Nebya Joyce Murungi Trainer-Bushenyi. Nkaba ngira ekizibu kyebyokurya omuka yangye kuhisya obunayegire okuhinga norinda orweezo Kuruga omuri TIST. Obwahati nisharuura ebyokurya bingi kandi enshagi ningiguza nyihamu sente nyingi. Nimpinga emboga zirikwiragura nka dodo, caroti, kabegi,entoonga, esheenda,enyanya, ebihimba n`ebindi bingi. Mbasize kwihamu entaasya kandi nashashura fiizi z`abaana kandi nagura ebindi bintu ebyokukozesa omuka . Notima ebiina otamu eitaka eririmu orweezo, otamu nakasasiro reeru obyaramu ebimera.
Ebiina nibikuma amaizi kuguma omwitaka. Abahingi abari kukoresa empinga egi nibasharuuramu kihango kandi batunga sente nebyokurya bingi n`obu enjura yakubura kugwa. Nimbahiga kukuratira empinga egi kwenda kukanyisa ebyokurya nentasya. 8 HIINGA EMITI YEBIJUMA OTUNGYE ENTASYA. Nebya Yasin Bilaali-Kanyinya Small Group. Ninyebaza TIST ahabwokunyegyesa kubyara emiti yebijuma. Mpingire emiti nka; emiyembe, emicungwa, vakedo, fene n`amapeera. Mbihingire omurutookye omurusharasharo, nahamuhanda gurikuza owangye kandi mbigobiiremu omukurya nentasya. Ninguza omubutare kandi ntuunga nakasiimo kuruga omumiti, mbasize kuhinga n`emiti yemibazi nka fagara, omuryamazi eyi ndikukoresa kwetambira hamwe nabandi abaine oburwaire. Sente ezinaihire omukuguza ebijuma, emibazi nakasiimo nzimbasiise kutandikaho akaduuka kandi nagura na purooti zeitaka ezindi kubyaramu emiti endiijo. Nimbahiga kunyegyeraho kandi tukatunguura tukaruga omubworo. OBUSIRI BW`EMITI N`ENTASTYA Y`AMAANI. Nebya Ndyabawe Carlpeters-Kabale Trainer. Wayehingira ensigo zemiti n`oceendeeza enshohoza kandi nokanyisa entaastya omumyaka yomumaisho. Reebeka ngu wacooka omwaya gwokuhingaho ensigo zaawe.
Omwanya ogu gushwenereire kuba guri ahakarunduko kwenda ngu amaizi gatarengana. Tigushemereire kuba guri omukisharara kirikuteramamu amaizi, kwonka gushemereire kuba guri aharubaju rweshuro nkomugyera, enyaja kwenda ngu otungye amizi gaahonaaho. Reebeka ngu wahinga obusiri obu haihi nomusiri omuhango kwenda butateganisibwa waaba nosimburira ensigo. Reebeka ngu wazitirira obusiri bwawe nebikonko byebicoori kwenda ngu butatahirwa amatungo. Ronda eitaka eriine orweezo orite ahamutwe, ahagati taho eitaka eririmu orushenyi reeru ahamutwe oteho orweezo. Noija kutunga amasharuura marungi. Okutuuga ensigo nungi gyenderera ebi;
• Cooka embibo kuruga ahari zanyinazo.
• Hingira omubunaku bwenyini namunonga omunjura nyingi.
• Ensigo zaawe zite omubupapura kwenda ngu onzirinde gye.
• Guma nozishuura buri kaanya kandi zeishukyerere amaizi agarukye ozomberere omwata.
• Guma nozishunira emizi etaba miringwa ekakwata omwitaka.
Nkoreise amagyezi gunyegire omu TIST nahunga obusiri bwensigo z`ebika bingi, naihamu entasya. Yetandikireho obusiri oihemu kihango. Hangara TIST.