I'm a farmer — where do I start?
Pick what you need. Every link leads to practical information from SLM Uganda's own field work.
Managing our land today for a productive tomorrow
Sustainable Land Management (SLM) in Uganda is an integrated, knowledge- and evidence-based approach to managing the country's natural resources — land, soil, water, vegetation and biodiversity — in ways that maintain or restore land productivity, prevent and reverse land degradation, sustain ecosystem services, strengthen resilience to climate and other production risks, and improve the livelihoods and food, nutrition and income security of land users.
SLM recognises that soil, water, vegetation, biodiversity, climate and people are closely connected. When these resources are well managed, agricultural land remains productive, ecosystems stay healthy, and communities become more resilient to climate change and other shocks.
Key message
SLM is not simply about protecting the environment. It is about keeping land productive, improving livelihoods, and ensuring Uganda's natural resources continue to support development for generations to come.
What's at stake when land degrades
Uganda's economy and livelihoods depend heavily on agriculture and natural resources. Many parts of the country are experiencing soil erosion, nutrient mining, vegetation loss, deforestation, wetland degradation, overgrazing and increasing climate-related risk. Left unmanaged, land degradation can mean:
Declining productivity
Falling crop and livestock yields, and loss of fertile topsoil and nutrients.
Water stress
Reduced water availability, poorer water quality, and sharper swings between drought and flood.
Biodiversity loss
Weakened ecosystem services — pollination, natural pest control, soil formation.
Household impact
Declining incomes and food security for the families who depend on the land.
A connected system
Healthy soils feed crops; vegetation protects soil and retains water; water sustains people, crops and ecosystems; biodiversity stabilises it all. Degrade one part, and the effects spread across the landscape — which is why SLM manages these resources together rather than as separate issues.
The SLM response
Evidence-based practices and technologies that keep land productive while reversing these trends — see SLM Technologies and Zones & Hotspots for where and how.
The scale of land degradation in Uganda
Of Uganda's 241,551 km², the Uganda Forest Landscape Restoration Opportunity Assessment estimated that only a small share of land is free of degradation — the rest ranges from moderate to severe (IUCN, 2016).
A further 5.8% is classified as low degradation. Source: IUCN Uganda Forest Landscape Restoration Opportunity Assessment, 2016.
Where degradation pressure is greatest
According to the USIF-SLM (2010), Uganda has four major land degradation hotspots, identified from the interaction of topography, rainfall, soil erodibility, land cover, population pressure, poverty, land-use intensity, land tenure and market access.
Lake Victoria Crescent / Basin
High population density, intensive cultivation, deforestation, wetland loss and continuous cultivation; intense rainfall contributes to soil erosion and climate-induced degradation.
Southwestern & Eastern Highlands
High population pressure, land scarcity and fragmentation, cultivation on steep and fragile terrain, declining fallow periods and serious soil erosion.
Eastern & Northern Uganda
Nutrient depletion, agricultural intensification, reduced fallow periods, deforestation, wetland drainage and increasing pressure on land resources.
Drylands / Cattle Corridor
Erratic rainfall, recurrent drought, overgrazing, bush burning, deforestation, shortened fallows and relatively low adoption of SLM practices — vulnerable to desertification.
Four ways into the platform
Land & Soils
Soil mapping, land degradation information and spatial products, with guidance on how to read them.
View land & soil information ›
SLM Technologies
A catalogue of practices — what problem each solves, where it works, and what it takes to implement.
Browse technologies ›
Zones & Hotspots
Place-based profiles: farming systems, degradation pressure and the practices suited to each zone.
See zone profiles ›
Knowledge Hub
Manuals, publications, policy briefs and reports, tagged by audience and topic.
Open the Knowledge Hub ›See the work on the ground
Recent photos from SLM sites and field activities. Tap a photo to view it larger.
Led by NARL–Kawanda, anchored in NARO
The SLM work is coordinated through a multi-institutional framework: MAAIF sets the overarching agricultural policy and coordination framework, while the National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO) — through the National Agricultural Research Laboratories (NARL) at Kawanda and its Soils, Environment and Agro-meteorology Programme — provides the scientific and technical expertise. Six core research areas sit underneath this programme.
Soil Health & Fertility
Soil sampling, nutrient management and amendment research to maintain productive capacity.
Soil & Water Conservation
Erosion control, water retention and degradation-risk assessment at landscape and catchment scale.
Soil Microbiology
Beneficial microorganisms, bio-fertilisers and biological approaches to restoring degraded soils.
Land-Use Planning & NRM
Integrating soils, terrain and climate information to support land-use and agricultural planning.
Soil Survey & Mapping
Updating Uganda's national soil map from 1:250,000 to 1:50,000 scale, soil classification and land-capability mapping.
Agro-meteorology & Climate
Real-time weather networks, climate-risk information and climate-smart technology packages.
Technologies farmers are using now
Whichever question brought you here, there's a page for it
Farmers & extension
Practical technologies, field examples and training contacts.
Researchers & students
Data, methods, zone profiles and collaboration routes.
Policy & district planners
Evidence, priority areas and investment implications.
Partners & NGOs
Geographic coverage, results and partnership models.
Private sector
Service opportunities in soil, advisory and restoration work.
Media & public
A plain-language explanation of SLM and why it matters.
Latest news & events
Want to work with the SLM team?
Technical support, training, data requests, research partnerships and field demonstrations — find the right route in.
