21 February 2012: The Global Environment Facility (GEF) Small Grants Programme (SGP) presented the results of a project carried out in Uganda to disseminate sustainable land use practices while supporting income-generating activities at the community level.

A first SGP grant, of US$40,000, was implemented by the UN Development Programme (UNDP). The funds were used to: conduct training workshops; procure and distribute seedlings; establish demonstration sites; construct energy efficient cook stoves; purchase shear butter extraction equipment and facilitate usage training; install modern beehives and honey-extraction machines; and create awareness through radio talks, film shows, and project calendars, brochures and pamphlets.

The second phase of the project built on its initial success, with another US$40,000 awarded in 2005. By the completion of the project, its results included: a 170-fold increase in milk production; the installation of 40 energy efficient cook stoves, which cut down 80% of the biomass previously utilized by the traditional cooking method, with resulting greenhouse gas emissions savings; the generation of new income amounting to UGx 49,500/bag (equivalent to USD 21) by shear nut oil extraction; and the increase in annual rice production by three to four tons as a result of the shift towards upland rice cultivation. [GEF Press Release]