The Way Forward 2

4. District role
A District forester should be responsible for mobilisation and co-ordination of services advocacy for forestry in the district. This would include allocations for forestry in the District Development Plans, monitoring of the development of forestry in the district including the quality control of service providers and promotion of appropriate district or sub-county bye-laws and ordinances.

Challenges:

• Management of transition from current FD extension staff to new roles in the district or NAADS service providers
• Identification of forestry as an investment priority in local government
• Co-ordination of fragmented services, and collaboration between providers

5. Central information services
This would involve a menu of opportunities to identify possible markets, basic production technologies, investments and returns for each opportunity. There will be an out-sourced market information service to provide dynamic information on prices, requests for export tender information and information to the business support services in the district.

6. National co-ordination and advocacy
National coordination and advocacy is needed to promote the development of forestry-related livelihoods. This would include public information and sensitisation, coordination of extension service reforms, promotion of investment in forestry-related activities and promotion of sustainable use of forestry resources. This may be provided on contract by the NFA.

Roll Out

• There is now a window of opportunity to reposition the forest sector in Uganda and redefine institutional roles - a programme of pilot initiatives is now under way to learn about the delivery of services identified during the livelihoods studies in the sample districts.
  
  
• These forestry livelihoods pilots will contribute to learning in NAADS and PMA, and demonstrate in practice that forestry can contribute to poverty eradication if managed under new forms of governance.