IGC Fellow, Sarah Juster, writes a postcard from the field to update us on her research in Uganda.

Sarah with a host national in Imvepi, after completing a firewood collection walk.”
Sarah with a host national in Imvepi, after completing a firewood collection walk.

Dapure (Good Morning), or Daparana (Good Afternoon)!

These are greetings frequently used among Kakwa-speaking South Sudanese refugees in the Imvepi refugee settlement, Uganda. Imvepi is in Uganda’s northwest corner and is a temporary home to 65,000 refugees who have escaped civil conflict in the neighboring nations of South Sudan and Democratic Republic of Congo. I have been in Imvepi for one and a half months now to collect data as part of my PhD research, and I will stay here for the next seven months.

My research focuses on firewood and non-timber forest product foraging among refugees in Imvepi and local Ugandans (known as hosts). Refugees and hosts alike cook primarily with firewood and charcoal. As Imvepi’s population grows, trees in nearby woodlands and forests are depleted and refugees in particular are forced to walk far distances in search of wood for cooking. These walks, however, are also opportunities for collecting edible, medicinal, and fiber products in the bushlands and forests around Imvepi.

Resident of the Imvepi Refugee Settlement carrying firewood back to her plot
Resident of the Imvepi Refugee Settlement carrying firewood back to her plot
Edible and medicinal products foraged by a South Sudanese refugee while collecting firewood.
Edible and medicinal products foraged by a South Sudanese refugee while collecting firewood.

To quantify the burden of firewood collection and understand the ethnobotany of foraged edible and medicinal products, I use a participatory transect walk methodology, where I walk with refugees and hosts as they go about the routine activity of firewood collection. I use GPS to track distances travelled and elevation gain. Additionally, with the assistance of translators, I collect qualitative  data at important points along the walk such as reasons for avoiding or selecting foraging locations, and the importance and use of specific botanical species.

Refugee participant and translator crossing a marsh in search of firewood
Refugee participant and translator crossing a marsh in search of firewood.
taking rest under a mango tree during firewood collection
Taking rest under a mango tree during firewood collection.

I have collected firewood with 35 participants so far and walked 101.6 miles. The bulk of this mileage is accounted for by refugees who are significantly disadvantaged in terms of land access. In total, these 35 participants carried a cumulative 1,329 pounds of firewood to their homes. They also identified more than 25 edible and 35 medicinal species which are critical to sustaining both host and refugee livelihoods and well-being. Our goal is to communicate this data directly to humanitarian organizations and stakeholders to underscore the need for reforestation and tree conservation programming in refugee settings, with specific recommendations for culturally-appropriate interventions in Uganda.

If you would like to learn more and follow my fieldwork in Imvepi, please check out my blog: www.refugeeshostsandtrees.com

Written by Sarah Juster.