Agroecology, explains Josephine Akia Luyimbazi of PELUM, is a systematic approach to agriculture that is based on working in harmony with nature and natural processes. In this wide ranging conversation she details the work PELUM uundertakes with farming communities across Uganda, seed banks, the outcomes that famers experience from adopting agroecological farming practices, and her view of the vital importance of seed sovereignty in the face of agri-business practices in the country.

As outlined on the PELUM website, "PELUM (Participatory Ecological Land Use Management) is a regional network of over 320 civil society organizations in 12 countries in East, Central and Southern Africa working in the area of participatory ecological land use management. The Association works to improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers and the sustainability of farming communities, by fostering ecological land use management. Country chapters include Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Botswana, South Africa, Ethiopia and Swaziland."

You can find out more about the Uganda chapter here:

https://pelumuganda.org/the-voice-of-afsa-meet-josephine-akia-luymibazi/

Iganachi Razaki Omia is the founder and CEO of Omia Agribusiness Development Group, which provides farmers in northern Uganda with a huge range of sevices from agricultural inputs and extension support services to effective linkages to markets. In this full, unedited interview with Josephine Karungi he talks about how the business started, his personal motivations, and how women and refugees face particular challenges when it comes to farming and making an income in an unstable climate.

As one of the major service providers in the region, Omia Agribusiness Development Group is seen by many as a real-world example of how the private sector can help farmers adapt to the challenges of climate change. As part of this process, Omia Agribusiness has been working in partnership with the Climate Smart Jobs Initiative, which is the parent organisation behind this podcast. The Climate Smart Jobs Initiative is funded by the United Kingdom Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

You can find Omia Agribusiness Development Group here:

And you can find out more about the Climate Smart Jobs Initiative here:

As always, thank you for listening. If you have comments or feedback, please drop us a line: [email protected] is where you'll find us. Until next time, stay well.

Josephine.

Iganachi Razaki Omia is the founder and CEO of Omia Agribusiness Development Group, which provides farmers in northern Uganda with a huge range of sevices from agricultural inputs and extension support services to effective linkages to markets. He joins Josephine Karungi to talk about how the business started, his personal motivations, and how women and refugees face particular challenges when it comes to farming and making an income in an unstable climate.

As one of the major service providers in the region, Omia Agribusiness Development Group is seen by many as a real-world example of how the private sector can help farmers adapt to the challenges of climate change. As part of this process, Omia Agribusiness has been working in partnership with the Climate Smart Jobs Initiative, which is the parent organisation behind this podcast. The Climate Smart Jobs Initiative is funded by the United Kingdom Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

You can find Omia Agribusiness Development Group here:

And you can find out more about the Climate Smart Jobs Initiative here:

This episode is an edited version of a longer conversation I had with Iganachi Razaki Omia. You can find the full audio of our chat by going to our episode called Climate Talk Extra - Iganachi Razaki Omia in Conversation with Josephine Karungi.

As always, thank you for listening. If you have comments or feedback, please drop us a line: [email protected] is where you'll find us. Until next time, stay well.

Josephine.

Looking back on it, 2025 was a big year: we covered climate change, electric boda-bodas and reducing food waste; innovations to improve the shelf life of fruit and increase moisture retention in soil; coffee prices, food prices and how climate change affects them, including at the local market; we've talked mental health, public health more broadly and how AI might be used to predict future needs; climate change as a hazard for humans, flood impacts, and environmental protection. Resilience at a community level, why wetlands matter and climate change journalism; COP30, how it unfolded and what it means for Uganda. And our most listened to episode: an up close account of the closure of USAID in Uganda, the unfinished projects left behind and the possible cost to Uganda's future.

It's a lot, and yet there's so much more to do. Which is why we're so excited about the year ahead, when we'll continue exploring the day to day impacts of climate change across Uganda, and bringing you analysis, stories and perspectives. We hope you'll continue to spread the news about the podcast among your networks of friends and colleagues, and thanks for listening.

With best wishes,

Josephine

So much stuff in this episode. Big stuff. Uganda is now co-chairing the Green Climate Fund: 'You can't be the one that is slaughtering a cow and then you don't give your family a big part of that cow.' Then there's the green list, the red list and the blue zone; the promised tripling of adaptation finance and the adaptation plan for Uganda. There's the fossil fuel roadmap that wasn't; a phased approach to a phase-out that won't; rich countries' double standards; the indigenous takeover of the conference and the Ugandan government lobbying to retain the use of fossil fuels.

Jackson Muhindo Rukara of OXFAM Uganda joins us with his personal reflections and big picture view of the negotiations and the politics.

If you'd like some good summaries of various aspects of COP30, go here:

From The Coversation: 'Petrostates-block-climate-deal-once-again-but-some-countries-are-taking-their-own-decisive-steps-to-phase-out-fossil-fuels'

From Carbon Brief: 'Cop30 key outcomes agreed at the UN climate talks in Belem'

And also from Carbon Brief': 'Why COP30’s ‘tripling adaptation finance’ target is less ambitious than it seems'

And so, this episode brings to an end our special season focused on COP30. We hope you've found it as insightful and revealing as we have. It feels like we have a whole new understanding of the significance of the COP meetings, and how they actually work. Special thanks to all our guests who took time to speak with us.

We'll see for our next episode - a COP30-free zone. Until then, thanks for listening, and drop us a line any time - [email protected]

Josephine

Bart Dewaele is a General Director at Join For Water. Recorded on 21st November 2025, while negotiations at COP30 were still underway, he shares his clear-eyed reflections on how things were playing out. Touching on many of the key issues for Uganda including the Global Goals on Adaptation, water, finance and fossil fuels, his insights are thoughtful, articulate and - despite the setbacks - focused on positive outcomes. It's really a fascinating conversation that gives a real sense of what's been going on at COP30 and what it means.

COP30 details can be found here:

Keep an ear out for future episodes when we'll be exploring what COP30 means for Uganda. And drop us a line any time at [email protected] if you'd like to suggest a topic for us to cover. Or even if you just want to offer us some feedback. Thanks for listening, and see you soon.

Josephine Karungi

The future of the world's freshwater resources in an unpredictably changing climate is a vital issue. Vanessa Thompson, Communication and Development Advisor for Join For Water, Africa, joins us to outline what we might expect from COP30. She also describes the work Join For Water is currently doing in Uganda, and why it matters.

You can find out more about the work of Join For Water here:

https://joinforwater.ngo/en/about/uganda/

And all the latest info from COP30 is here:

https://unfccc.int/cop30

Thanks for listening and see you soon.

As COP30 gets up to speed we're joined by Jackson Muhindo Rukara of OXFAM Uganda. Before he leaves for Belem on Friday 14th he gives us a rundown on the priorities for OXFAM and other African countries. With an over-arching emphasis on payments for loss and damage, he identifies the key objectives that can make this happen. Despite the difficluties, he's excited and optimistic about the possiblity for positive outcomes, and gives us a few examples of work now underway in Uganda as a result of previous COP meetings.

You can find a rundown of OXFAM's events and partner events here:

Climate Action Network Uganda which Jasckon spoke about is here:

And here's the official page for COP30:

Keep an eye out for our ongoing episodes from COP over the next couple of weeks, and drop us a line anytime. [email protected] is where you'll find us. Thanks, and see you soon.

The first of a series of special episodes on the UN Conference of Parties in Brazil - COP30 - the world's biggest climate shindig. I mean conference. In this first episode we hear three perspectives on what it's like to go to a COP (70,000+ people went to the one last year in Baku...that's a lot of sandwiches...), what goes on there and why it matters.

Dr Francis Mwesigye is a Chief Economist at Uganda Development Bank; Andrew Aijuka is a journalist and multimedia producer with InfoNile; and Peninah Atwine of Environment Alert represents the collective interests of Ugandan civil society groups. Together they begin to paint a picture for us of this extraordinary annual gathering of world leaders, thought leaders and innovators; governments and non-governmental organisations; lobbyists, academics, chancers and pretty much every other specialism you can think of.

You can find out more about the Uganda Development Bank here:

Peninah Atwine is a Program Office for Environment Alert - you can find out more about that organisation's work here:

Thanks to our guests on this episode - do get in touch if there's something to do with COP that you've always wanted to ask.

[email protected]

And thanks. See you next time.

A conversation about a report from the World Bank might not be your idea of a fun time. But as Cyril Desponts explains, the Uganda Country Climate and Development Report is fascinating, and a significant step on the journey towards a climate resilient future for the country. It's a journey that's already underway and, as this conversation reveals, it touches on every aspect of Ugandan society from economics to agriculture, infrastructure to education, health to innovation. This is an epic take on where we're at and where we're going.

You can find the report itself here. Weirdly, at this point it seem that it's only avalable in English.

Our heartfelt thanks to Cyril Desponts, Senior Economist at The World Bank.