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The BBC World Service Trust is the BBC's international charity. It uses the creative power of media to reduce poverty and promote human rights.
The British Council is the UK's international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. As well as education, it runs programmes in the arts, science, sport, governance and English language.
Uganda Talks Climate
What do people think about climate change in Uganda? Can communication and media strategies be tailored to support Uganda's response to climate change?
In May 2009, the BBC World Service Trust conducted research in Uganda to gauge public understanding of climate change.
The research consisted of 12 focus group discussions with Ugandan citizens, as well as 18 in-depth interviews with opinion leaders from government, religious institutions, the private sector, the media and civil society.
Findings included:
Changes in climate are not noticed by Ugandans in isolation from broader environmental changes. People in Uganda are keenly aware of environmental degradation and natural resource depletion. They often make little distinction between environmental degradation and climate change. Drought and food scarcity are causing frustration and despair across Kenya. Farmers, fishermen and pastoralists do not know how they would cope if these problems became worse.
Crop failure and death of livestock are causing frustration and despair. Farmers and pastoralists do not have a sense of how they would cope if the problems became worse. other issues that people are worried about include bush fires, deforestation, flooding, soil erosion, poor sanitation and air pollution. Opinion leaders are particularly concerned for rural communities and the urban poor.
Opinion leaders recognise that climate change is a global problem, and that industrialised countries are most responsible for causing it. As such, they feel far more needs to be done by industrialised countries to help Uganda adapt to the potentially devastating effects of climate change on its people.
The media in Uganda, together with schools, are people’s main source of information on climate change; and opinion leaders agree that the media has an important role to play is raising public awareness around the issue. However, journalists feel that it is difficult to get editorial buy-in for stories on climate change.
Ugandans draw on existing knowledge and beliefs to explain the effects of climate change. For example, many think that deforestation in their area reduces local rainfall, and some incorrectly believe that smoke from cars and factories damages the ozone layer, which makes it hotter. Many Ugandans link their country’s growing population to climate change; both in terms of the strain it places on natural resources and the creation of ambient heat through higher population density. Some also believe that changes in the weather are the will of God. This view is particularly prevalent among women and rural populations.
The existing knowledge that people draw on when they are making sense of climate change – in relation to trees, ozone depletion, smoke, overpopulation and God – can function as a barrier or as a facilitator to effective climate change communication.
opinion leaders agree on the need to raise awareness of climate change, and they emphasise the need to prioritise the provision of information that will enable the most vulnerable people to adapt. However, they stress that Ugandans have a variety of other socioeconomic issues to contend with, and that it may take some time before the public recognises the severity of the issue.
Ugandans are keen to emphasise that preservation of the environment is often hampered by poverty. Many people rely on the exploitation of Uganda’s natural resources to make a living.
Many people criticise government at all levels for a lack of visible action on climate change and the environment. Those government representatives interviewed say that more will need to be done to tackle the impacts of climate change on Uganda’s rural poor; to regulate carbon dioxide emissions; and to reduce bush fires and deforestation. They suggest that the major challenge is one of financial resources.