Climate Talk Uganda With Josephine Karungi - Episodes Tagged with “Climate Smart Jobs”

Episode 50: Growing Cocoa - A Ugandan Farmer's Testimony

Josephine Karungi — Mon, 22 Jun 2026 14:00:00 +0200

A example of how the Climate Smart Jobs Program is having a positive impact, through the lens of Mme Milly Akello's experience in northern Uganda. Following on from our previous episode, ecosystems specialist Solomon Etany joins me in the studio to share the background to Mme Akello's story, and she tells us herself, with real passion and commitment, how the increasing cultivation of cocoa alongside traditional crops can enable farmers to make a better living.

We also talk to Moses Ayena for an overview of cocoa and coffee growing in the region, and the economic opportunities it represents.

The programs dicsussed in the episode are funded and run by the Climate Smart Jobs Initiative. If you'd like to find out more, go to https://www.csj.co.ug/

Special thanks to this week's guests Moses Ayena, Milly Akello and Solomon Etany. And thanks to you for listening - see you next time.

Josephine

Episode 49: Enabling Increased Cocoa Cultivation in Northern Uganda

Josephine Karungi — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 11:00:00 +0200

'Adag-anii means that we don't want rumours, we want to work.'

Okullo Paul Peter is Managing Director of Adag-Anii Ltd, based in the the Lango sub-region of Uganda. In this chat he has a great story about how his company go its name - 'adag-anii.'

He talks to us about helping farmers adapt to growing cocoa as a cash generating, environmentally responsible alternative to maize. In partnership with the Climate Smart Jobs program, the idea is to help farmers access the market by helping them at all points in the process: preparation, cultivation, harvesting, processing and selling. And the aim is pretty simple when you boil it down - to ease the poverty that many people experience on a daily basis in these regions, partly as a result of climate change.

Cocoa has an interesting history in Uganda, as it turns out. It's been grown here since it was first introduced at the Entebbe Botanical Gardens in 1901. Initially, production was mainly limited to plantations, though - it was only adopted by smallholder producers in 1958. The crop is now grown by an estimated 120,000 smallholder farmers in at least 22 Districts, with more than two-thirds of the national harvest coming from Bundibugyo District; Hoima, Mukono and Kagadi are the other important producing districts.

In the bigger picture, cocoa is now one of the leading agricultural export commodities after coffee, with volumes more than doubling over the past decade. In 2024/25 some 75,545 tonnes, worth US $620 million, were exported to markets in both Asia and Europe. So this shift in priorities that Okullo Paul Peter is speaking about? For farmers, it makes a lot of sense.

Thanks so much to Okullo Paul Peter for taking time to speak with us. If you'd like more info about the Climate Smart Jobs Program, click on this link. Thanks for listening and see you next time,

Josephine

Episode 47: CTU Extra - My Full Conversation with Halima Nalunkuma

Josephine Karungi — Fri, 03 Apr 2026 08:00:00 +0200

This is the story of how Halima Nalunkuma decided to become a provider of agricultural materials - and knowledge - to farmers. And how she's now working with refugeee communities to encourage minimal tilling agricultural methods, leading to improved yields and increased economic wellbeing in those communities. And crucially, improving their resilience in the face of climate change.

Halima Nalunkuma is Director of Kiryandongo Agro Input Center Limited. She's a great talker, equal parts inspiring, thoughtful and insighful, and as she mentions in our chat, she received support from the Climate Smart Jobs Initiative. It supports '...sustainable solutions for Ugandan smallholder farmers to respond to climate change.' You can find out more about the Climate Smart Jobs programme here:

https://csj.co.ug/

Climate Smart Jobs is also the funder of this podcast. Thanks to Halima Nalunkuma for being so generous with her time and knowledge. Drop us a line any time - climatetalkpod@gmail.com

Thanks for listening and see you next time -

Josephine

Episode 46: Pfumvudaza In Action - Halima Nalunkuma in Kiryandongo

Josephine Karungi — Fri, 03 Apr 2026 06:00:00 +0200

Sometimes life happens while you're busy making other plans. Halima Nalunkuma wanted to be a banker and to 'wear shoes with pointy heels.' But while in Kiryandongo she saw an opportunity and grabbed it with both hands. This is the story of how she's now working with refugeee communities to encourage minimal tilling agricultural methods, leading to improved yields and increased economic wellbeing in those communities. And crucially, improving their resilience in the face of climate change.

https://csj.co.ug/

Climate Smart Jobs is also the funder of this podcast. Thanks to Halima Nalunkuma for being so generous with her time and knowledge. Drop us a line any time - climatetalkpod@gmail.com

Thanks for listening and see you next time -

Josephine

Episode 41: Iganachi Razaki Omia, Agribusiness and Climate Change Resilience

Josephine Karungi — Fri, 06 Feb 2026 05:00:00 +0200

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:
https://omiaagribusinessdg.com/

And you can find out more about the Climate Smart Jobs Initiative here:
https://csj.co.ug/

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: climatetalkpod@gmail.com is where you'll find us. Until next time, stay well.

Josephine.

Episode 33: 'Climate change is not about COP...it's about our families. '

Josephine Karungi — Fri, 19 Sep 2025 07:00:00 +0200

Veteran journalist Samuel Ssettumba explains why informed, dedicated climate change coverage matters in 2025. The Nation Media Group now has a dedicated Climate Change Desk. He gives us an inside perspective on why that's a huge step forward for Uganda: making climate change reporting a priority and explaining it in ways that will make sense to Ugandans as they think about their everyday lives. We talk about the impacts of climate change on people and how they live; communicating those impacts to different communities; and presenting complex issues in ways that show that climate change is not abstract - it's about people: 'My mother, my grandfather.'

The Nation Media Group's Climate Change Desk was established in partnership with the parent organisation of this podcast, the Climate Smart Jobs Project.

You can find out more about the Nation Media Group here:
https://www.nationmedia.com/

And you can find the Climate Smart Jobs project here:
https://csj.co.ug/

Thanks so much to Samual Ssettumba for joining us for this episode.
Drop us a line any time at climatetalkpod@gmail.com
And we'll see you next time.

Episode 4: Marabou storks, wetlands and nature, with Achilles Byaruhanga of Nature Uganda

Josephine Karungi — Fri, 09 Aug 2024 21:00:00 +0200

Achilles Byaruhanga is the Executive Director of Nature Uganda, and he's an amazing person to listen to. This conversation with Josephine Karungi begins with the resilience and beauty of Marabou Storks (yes, you heard that right) and quickly moves on to the magical nature of wetlands, the vital importance of birdlife in Ugandan ecosystems, water resources and climate change, and the economic opportunties presented by the natural world in Uganda. It's a fantastic listen, and we hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

You can find out more about the work of Nature Uganda here:
https://natureuganda.org/

As always, want to drop us a line? climatetalkpod@gmail.com is the place to go.

If you like this episode, let your friends know - share it on your socials, or give us a review. It makes a huge difference! Thanks.

Climate Talk is part of the Climate Smart Jobs Initiative - you can find out more about that here:
https://csj.co.ug/