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

Episode 40: Looking Back on 2025 and Looking Ahead to 2026

Josephine Karungi — Fri, 23 Jan 2026 05:00:00 +0200

Looking back on it, 2025 was a big year: we covered climate change, electric boda-bodas and reducing food waste; innovations to improve the shelf life of fruit and increase moisture retention in soil; coffee prices, food prices and how climate change affects them, including at the local market; we've talked mental health, public health more broadly and how AI might be used to predict future needs; climate change as a hazard for humans, flood impacts, and environmental protection. Resilience at a community level, why wetlands matter and climate change journalism; COP30, how it unfolded and what it means for Uganda. And our most listened to episode: an up close account of the closure of USAID in Uganda, the unfinished projects left behind and the possible cost to Uganda's future.

It's a lot, and yet there's so much more to do. Which is why we're so excited about the year ahead, when we'll continue exploring the day to day impacts of climate change across Uganda, and bringing you analysis, stories and perspectives. We hope you'll continue to spread the news about the podcast among your networks of friends and colleagues, and thanks for listening.

With best wishes,

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 29: Making Climate Resilient Communities A Reality

Josephine Karungi — Fri, 25 Jul 2025 00:15:00 +0200

In this in-depth interview, Pauline Nantongo Kalunda talks to us about her own personal and professional growth. She has moved from being a scientist with a specialist interest in insects to entreprenurial activism and passionate advocacy for smallholding communities. She details the workings of the ECOTRUST model of incentivising environmentally sustainable practices, and offers many other fascinating insights along the way.

Pauline is the Executive Director of the Environmental Conservation Trust of Uganda: ECOTRUST. You can find out more about their work here:

https://ecotrust.or.ug/about-us/

This interview was recorded in August 2024.

Episode 25: Predicting Healthcare Needs, AI and Climate Change

Josephine Karungi — Fri, 30 May 2025 07:00:00 +0200

How do you prepare for outbreaks of malaria if climate change means that mosquitoes which spread the disease are thriving in areas that were previously off limits? When it comes to public health, climate change makes a tricky situation even more difficult.

In this episode Dr Muganzi David Jolly and Dr Ian Clarke discuss how AI might play a role in helpiing Uganda meet this challenge. Dr Muganzi David Jolly is the Health Innovation Hub manager at Clarke International University here in Kampala. Dr Ian Clarke is an Irish-born doctor, entrpreneur, and coffee farmer. In this wide-ranging conversation we touch on many aspects of the healthcare landscape in Uganda, and the idea that climate change can be a driving force for innovation.

You can find out more about Clarke International University here:
https://ciu.ac.ug/?s5_responsive_switch_wwwihsuacug=0

And you can find a brief profile of Dr Muganzi David Jolly here:
https://wayforwardyouth.org/muganzi_david

And as always, if you'd like to get in touch, climatetalkpod@gmail.com is where you'll find us.

Episode 24: The Impact of Climate Change on Mental Health

Josephine Karungi — Fri, 16 May 2025 00:00:00 +0200

Janet Kantalama Kantana joins Josephine to talk about how we can understand mental health challenges in the age of climate change. We explore how our inner wellbeing is affected when day to day life is disrupted by intense or unpredictable weather events. And we talk about measures we can take - individually and collectively - to make sure we are mentally resilient in those circumstances.

Janet Kantalama Kantana is a psychologist and Executive Director of Safe Places Uganda. It's a private facility helping people deal with mental health issues and addiction. You can find out more about Safe Places here:

https://safeplacesuganda.com/about-us/

Episode 20: Talking Food Prices with Market Traders

Josephine Karungi — Mon, 24 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0200

Matoke! Irish potatoes! Mangoes! What more could you want?

The on-the-ground impacts of price fluctuations on these foods are felt day to day and season to season by traders in the markets around Kampala. William Ssekiranda speaks to three traders at Kalerwe Market about where they source their produce and how price variations affect them.

Episode 19: Two Perspectives on Rising Coffee Prices and Climate Change.

Josephine Karungi — Wed, 05 Mar 2025 09:00:00 +0200

The price of coffee and many staple foods in Uganda have been rising steeply: good news for sellers (farmers), not so good news for consumers. And these price rises have been attributed to extreme weather due to climate change. In the first of two episodes, Josephine explores this link, and what it means for growing and selling coffee in Uganda and beyond. In our next episode we'll be looking at the price of food staples and attempting to understand the links between local conditions and global markets. It's complicated but utterly fascinating. So don't miss it.

This episode was recorded live at One Tribe Coffee Shop at 1 Bugologi Road, Kampala. They're open Monday - Saturday from 7:30am-6pm. Thanks so much to Gail Mawocha and the team there for making us so welcome. And thanks, also, Robert Byaruhanga.

You can see what's happening at One Tribe Coffee on their Insta page and website.
https://www.instagram.com/onetribe_coffee/
www.onetribecoffee.com

And you can find out more about the Uganda Coffee Development Authority here:
https://ugandacoffee.go.ug/

Producer: Martin Fowler
Sound Recordist: William Ssekiranda

Episode 14: Cycling could be key to unlocking Kampala's future in a climate-changed world

Josephine Karungi — Thu, 19 Dec 2024 14:00:00 +0200

Going to work, school or shopping, cycling can be the easiest way to get around a congested city. As long as you can do it without fear of dying. Activist, community educator and avid cyclist Owiny Hakim explains what it's like to cycle in Kampala and why an integrated, comprehensive approach to making cycling easier and safer could pay huge dividends in the future. As the city grapples with the consquences of climate change, it turns out two wheels might be better than four.

And Climate Talk's William Ssekiranda shares his experience of a narrow escape after a bicyle accident a few years ago.

You can find out more about Hakim's work here:

https://kiu.ac.ug/news-page.php?i=kius-hakim-owiny-wants-to-turn-kampala-into-a-smart-city

and here:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/owiny-hakim-966064243/?originalSubdomain=ug

Episode 13: Planning, Development and Managing Water

Josephine Karungi — Fri, 13 Dec 2024 01:00:00 +0200

'The bridge that was designed for 1960 can not be the same bridge for today.' Sanitary engineer and water management specialist Julius Musiimenta talks to Josephine about all aspects of what happens to water when it arrives in large amounts at unpredictable times, how it impacts infrastructure and how it can be best dealt with in an uncertain future.

Julius Musiimenta has been a sanitation and hydraulics consultant for many years. A graduate of Makerere University and IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, he is currently working on a range of solutions dealing with water management in a climate change context.

Episode 12: Floods and infrastructure

Josephine Karungi — Mon, 02 Dec 2024 10:00:00 +0200

Drains, culverts, pipes and ditches: facilities you probably never think about. But vital to ensuring that Uganda is able to cope with the increased number and intensity of rainfall events brought on by climate change.

What it comes down to is this: there's an urgent, ongoing need for integrated planning at all levels if Uganda is to successfully adapt to the challenges of climate change. So says our guest, Dr Max Kigobe of Makerere University. He's en engineer by training and has worked on major infrastructure projects, so he brings an engineer's insights alongside experience in analysing historical patterns of rainfall in the country. Dr Kigobe has extensive experience in water resource and climate change modelling, and is currently a Senior Lecturer in Water Resources, Hydrology and Climate Change at Makerere University.

This is the first of two linked episodes in which we're asking engineers for their insights into infrastructure design and climate change.

You can find some of Dr Max Kigobe's research papers here:

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Max-Kigobe

And you can get in touch with us here: climatetalkpod@gmail.com

Episode 11: What does resilience to climate change actually mean?

Josephine Karungi — Thu, 14 Nov 2024 17:00:00 +0200

Deep stuff in this conversation. As a prelude to the next few episodes that'll explore climate change, infrastructure and transportation, we touch on the background to climate change in Uganda; agriculture, engineering and bridges; organisational thinking, the politics of climate change and economic justice.

Professor Revocatus Twinomuhangi is Associate Professor and Dean of the School of Forestry, Environmental and Geographical Sciences at Makerere University. Nick Pyatt is a Director of Climate Sense, and works with governments, agencies, infrastructure operators, construction, manufacturing, trade and financial services companies to strengthen their climate adaptation decision making processes.

You can find several of Professor Revocatus Twinomuhangi's research papers here, including 'Contextualising environmental and climate change migration in Uganda' and the fascinating 'Heat Risk Perception and Communication Strategies for Adaptation within Low-Income Communities in Kampala City, Uganda.'
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Revocatus-Twinomuhangi

Nick Pyatt is a director of Climate Sense - you can find out more information here:
https://www.climatesense.global/