Patience Naamara
Patience Naamara

Patience Naamara

Uganda

Sustainable HabitatsWellbeing Economies

My fondest childhood memories come from my time in the countryside. I have fond memories of climbing fruit trees, grazing cattle and collecting firewood. So my path into resource conservation was only logical - instead of the law degree my parents had hoped for.

Initiative

Creating sustainable livelihoods for small farmers, preserving rainforests and combating climate change

Impact 2023

Building sustainable livelihoods for 915 smallholder farmers; distribution of 546,000 seedlings to reforest deforested areas

Patience Naamara, the Country Director of Fairventures Worldwide in Uganda, has taken an unconventional path. Although her family had envisioned a legal career for her, she instead followed her passion for conservation.

Her journey was not easy – as a young mother, she had to balance her career and family early on. But with the support of mentors who recognized her potential, Patience persevered and continued to grow. Today, she leads the Fairventures team in Uganda with a leadership model focused on inclusion and self-responsibility.

With Fairventures’ innovative approach, Patience and her team create new income opportunities for small-scale farmers and their families while transforming degraded lands into sustainable forests that provide timber, food, and habitat for biodiversity conservation.

The Initiative

For over 10 years, Fairventures Worldwide has been supporting small-scale farmers in Uganda and Indonesia to reforest degraded lands. Their holistic agroforestry approach combines agriculture and forestry by planting trees alongside high-yield intercrops like cocoa and nuts on the same land. Additionally, by planting fast-growing native tree species that are in demand by the timber industry, further income opportunities are created for the farmers. This holistic approach, which integrates economic, environmental, and social aspects, transforms communities with high poverty rates into sustainable habitats for people and nature.

Vision

Healthy forests as climate solutions – small-scale farmers become pioneers in the fight against climate change.

Program & Activities

Patience’s team consists of 40 employees who work with small-scale farmers and local institutions – such as schools, churches, community councils, and local NGOs – in various regions of Uganda.

Every year, new small-scale farmers are recruited by the field teams. In the Farmer Field Schools, farmers receive personalized advice to determine the best reforestation strategy and practical training in effective agroforestry practices. Seedlings from community nurseries are then distributed at the start of the rainy season.

The field teams support the farmers in planting and accompany them until harvest. All planting areas are documented. Comprehensive monitoring by the farmers tracks the growth of the trees, and replanting is done where necessary.

Together with Patience and her team, we are also committed to developing a sustainable timber industry in Uganda. With the support of the ChanceMaker Foundation, an innovation center for timber construction has been opened in Kampala to bring together professionals from forestry and the construction sector to develop innovative solutions for the timber construction sector.

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