app01 Thu, 24 Sep 2026 17:38:52 +0000 Fireside (https://fireside.fm) Climate Talk Uganda With Josephine Karungi - Episodes Tagged with “Women” https://climatetalkuganda.fireside.fm/tags/women Sat, 05 Sep 2026 10:00:00 +0200 Climate Talk Uganda aims to explore all aspects of climate change in Uganda. Every two weeks we aim to feature a wide range of people who offer their perspectives on the challenges they - and Uganda - face as climate change continues to play out. en-us episodic The accessible, acronym-free podcast about climate change in Uganda. Josephine Karungi Climate Talk Uganda aims to explore all aspects of climate change in Uganda. Every two weeks we aim to feature a wide range of people who offer their perspectives on the challenges they - and Uganda - face as climate change continues to play out. no Uganda, Climate Change, Josephine Karungi Josephine Karungi climatetalkpod@gmail.com Episode 55: Shea butter and women's empowerment https://climatetalkuganda.fireside.fm/55 e10c963e-9f5e-4a77-9f1c-a1ac668919c9 Sat, 05 Sep 2026 10:00:00 +0200 Josephine Karungi full Josephine Karungi Shea butter and women's empowerment, with Margaret Laloyo. 43:31 no <p>This is a fantastic episode about women, shea, self-reliance, entrepreneurial energy and talent. It’s the story of Blessed Organic Release shea products, founded by our guest, Margaret Laloyo. As she says on the company website:</p> <p>‘In 2004 I took note of an ‘international investor’ who was buying Shea butter and Shea kernels from local collectors, mostly impoverished rural women in my home area in Acholi. I noted the ‘investor’ was not offering collectors fair trade terms. I took the initiative to learn more about Shea butter and recognized it to be a high quality product. I invested in getting knowledge about the Shea butter value chain, including taking atraining course with the America Shea Butter Institute. I used my new learning and knowledge to successfully bring an honest and charitable approach to the Shea butter market, delivering Premium Grade A Organic Nilotica Shea Products. While ensuring the strongest link in the Lalida Shea value chain, the collectors, are paid fair.’</p> <p>Margaret talks us through her early days as an entrepreneurial nine-year-old who paid her own school fees by selling orange juice from her father’s trees sweetened with sugar cane at the local market; the foundation of Blessed Organic Release Nilotica Shea; ‘skilling and enabling our strategic partners, thousands of disadvantaged women and youth in Acholi, to earn a living’; climate resilience; and creating economic opportunities for women in local communities. Remarkably, she says, the shea tree, once it becomes productive, can continue to bear fruit for up to three hundred years. That’s a long time, even for a tree.</p> <p>Our thanks to Margaret Laloyo for taking the time to share her knowledge and experience with us - you can find out more about Blessed Organic Release here: <a href="https://blessedorganic.org/what-we-do/" rel="nofollow noopener">https://blessedorganic.org/what-we-do/</a></p> <p>And thanks to you, our listeners. See you next time,</p> <p>Josephine </p> Blessed Organic Release, shea butter, nilotica shea, Margaret Laloyo, Uganda, Acholi, women, empowerment, climate change This is a fantastic episode about women, shea, self-reliance, entrepreneurial energy and talent. It’s the story of Blessed Organic Release shea products, founded by our guest, Margaret Laloyo. As she says on the company website:

‘In 2004 I took note of an ‘international investor’ who was buying Shea butter and Shea kernels from local collectors, mostly impoverished rural women in my home area in Acholi. I noted the ‘investor’ was not offering collectors fair trade terms. I took the initiative to learn more about Shea butter and recognized it to be a high quality product. I invested in getting knowledge about the Shea butter value chain, including taking atraining course with the America Shea Butter Institute. I used my new learning and knowledge to successfully bring an honest and charitable approach to the Shea butter market, delivering Premium Grade A Organic Nilotica Shea Products. While ensuring the strongest link in the Lalida Shea value chain, the collectors, are paid fair.’

Margaret talks us through her early days as an entrepreneurial nine-year-old who paid her own school fees by selling orange juice from her father’s trees sweetened with sugar cane at the local market; the foundation of Blessed Organic Release Nilotica Shea; ‘skilling and enabling our strategic partners, thousands of disadvantaged women and youth in Acholi, to earn a living’; climate resilience; and creating economic opportunities for women in local communities. Remarkably, she says, the shea tree, once it becomes productive, can continue to bear fruit for up to three hundred years. That’s a long time, even for a tree.

Our thanks to Margaret Laloyo for taking the time to share her knowledge and experience with us - you can find out more about Blessed Organic Release here: https://blessedorganic.org/what-we-do/

And thanks to you, our listeners. See you next time,

Josephine

]]> This is a fantastic episode about women, shea, self-reliance, entrepreneurial energy and talent. It’s the story of Blessed Organic Release shea products, founded by our guest, Margaret Laloyo. As she says on the company website:

‘In 2004 I took note of an ‘international investor’ who was buying Shea butter and Shea kernels from local collectors, mostly impoverished rural women in my home area in Acholi. I noted the ‘investor’ was not offering collectors fair trade terms. I took the initiative to learn more about Shea butter and recognized it to be a high quality product. I invested in getting knowledge about the Shea butter value chain, including taking atraining course with the America Shea Butter Institute. I used my new learning and knowledge to successfully bring an honest and charitable approach to the Shea butter market, delivering Premium Grade A Organic Nilotica Shea Products. While ensuring the strongest link in the Lalida Shea value chain, the collectors, are paid fair.’

Margaret talks us through her early days as an entrepreneurial nine-year-old who paid her own school fees by selling orange juice from her father’s trees sweetened with sugar cane at the local market; the foundation of Blessed Organic Release Nilotica Shea; ‘skilling and enabling our strategic partners, thousands of disadvantaged women and youth in Acholi, to earn a living’; climate resilience; and creating economic opportunities for women in local communities. Remarkably, she says, the shea tree, once it becomes productive, can continue to bear fruit for up to three hundred years. That’s a long time, even for a tree.

Our thanks to Margaret Laloyo for taking the time to share her knowledge and experience with us - you can find out more about Blessed Organic Release here: https://blessedorganic.org/what-we-do/

And thanks to you, our listeners. See you next time,

Josephine

]]> Episode 26: What Progress in Protecting Uganda's Environment? https://climatetalkuganda.fireside.fm/26 54d76a01-a536-4389-89dd-dff9b40a19f0 Fri, 13 Jun 2025 06:00:00 +0200 Josephine Karungi full Josephine Karungi From 1983 to 2025 what progress has been made in protecting Uganda's environment? Ruth Kiwanuka - CEO of Joint Energy Environment Projects - offers some perspectives in light of ongoing challenges of climate change. 27:17 no <p>This is a timely and profound exploration of the strategies, passions and frustrations of environmental activism over a long period of time. Founded in 1983, Joint Energy Environment Projects exists to promote efficient use of natural resources and prevent the destruction of forests. Forty years after its founding, how does the CEO, Ruth Kiwanuka, reflect on her experiences; the progress that has been made; and the challenges that remain? </p> <p>You can hear Ruth Kiwanuka speak about Joint Energy Environment Projects in this video from 2020:</p> <p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0QUZwRK3ro" rel="nofollow noopener">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0QUZwRK3ro</a></p> <p>And you can find out more about the work of JEEP and its partners here: </p> <p><a href="https://jeepfolkecenter.org/about/" rel="nofollow noopener">https://jeepfolkecenter.org/about/</a></p> <p>As always, thanks for listening, and drop us a line any time: <a href="mailto:climatetalkpod@gmail.com" rel="nofollow noopener">climatetalkpod@gmail.com</a></p> JEEP, Joint Energy Environment Projects, Ruth Kiwanuka, de-forestation, charcoal burning, energy efficiency, women, domestic labor, climate change, gender This is a timely and profound exploration of the strategies, passions and frustrations of environmental activism over a long period of time. Founded in 1983, Joint Energy Environment Projects exists to promote efficient use of natural resources and prevent the destruction of forests. Forty years after its founding, how does the CEO, Ruth Kiwanuka, reflect on her experiences; the progress that has been made; and the challenges that remain?

You can hear Ruth Kiwanuka speak about Joint Energy Environment Projects in this video from 2020:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0QUZwRK3ro

And you can find out more about the work of JEEP and its partners here:

https://jeepfolkecenter.org/about/

As always, thanks for listening, and drop us a line any time: climatetalkpod@gmail.com

]]> This is a timely and profound exploration of the strategies, passions and frustrations of environmental activism over a long period of time. Founded in 1983, Joint Energy Environment Projects exists to promote efficient use of natural resources and prevent the destruction of forests. Forty years after its founding, how does the CEO, Ruth Kiwanuka, reflect on her experiences; the progress that has been made; and the challenges that remain?

You can hear Ruth Kiwanuka speak about Joint Energy Environment Projects in this video from 2020:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0QUZwRK3ro

And you can find out more about the work of JEEP and its partners here:

https://jeepfolkecenter.org/about/

As always, thanks for listening, and drop us a line any time: climatetalkpod@gmail.com

]]>