Abstract:
Several traditional agroforestry systems have persisted in Uganda for centuries. In the coffee-banana-shade tree system found in the lakeshore region of central Uganda, trees e.g. Maesopsis eminii, Albizia spp, and Ficus natalensis are used to shade coffee and bananas; while the parklands and croplands of Northern Uganda are scattered with shea butter trees deliberately retained by farmers. Besides these obvious examples, however, very little research and development work has been done in Uganda on integrating indigenous trees in farming systems. The few studies have identified potential indigenous species for various uses in particular farming systems (Nabanoga & Opiro, 2000; Sekatuba et al, 2004; COARD Project, 2004) have not explored in depth, the role of indigenous trees in people's livelihoods and their potential for economic development.