ZIFLP to plant 5 million agroforestry trees
Pot filling: Members of Kasega association fill-up polythene plastics with a mixture of soil and manure By GLORIA SIWISHA EASTERN Province is an agricultural hub contributing a substantial amount of its crop produce to the national food basket. In the 2019/2020 agriculture season alone, the province produced about 600,000 metric tonnes of maize which accounted for 19 percent of the country’s total production. Over the years however, agricultural activities have had a devastating effect on the environment through deforestation, as smallholder farmers seek to open up more farm land in search of fertile soils so as to increase production and productivity. According to a 2016 World Bank report dubbed “Drivers of deforestation and forest degradation in Eastern Province”, 54,027 hectares of forests were lost in Eastern Province between 2000, and 2010, and 102,087 hectares lost between 2010 and 2014. The report attributes the quick depletion of forests in the province to the heavy d