Harnessing Breeding and Biotechnology to Enhance the Benefits of Trees in Agroforestry and Urban Spaces in Uganda
Abstract
The response to the diverse economic and ecological needs from trees requires an increase in genetic gain and will necessitate investment in public tree breeding programs. Breeding for small spaces in agroforestry and urban places should especially be targeted, given the reduced space for plantations and their roles in strengthening climate change resilience of communities while contributing to food access, income, health, and environmental stability. No systematic tree breeding programme exists in Uganda. However, use of improved planting stock exists in timber and pole plantations where improved tree genetic resources have been mostly imported and tested, although some plus trees now exist for Eucalyptus and Pine species. The National Forestry Resources Research Institute (NaFORRI) and the Forestry Department at Makerere University undertake some tree breeding activities, mostly limited to research. However, many opportunities exist that can support the development of a fully functional tree breeding programme. At national level, these include; (1) enhanced capacity in terms of necessary resources, human capital, and technical expertise, (2) enabling policies and instruments such as the formation of a national forestry research institute, (3) enhanced awareness of the importance of trees that has also led to (4) the diversification of users, including the private sector. Enablers at a wider scale include (1) the enhanced appreciation of trees for non-commodity values such as climate change adaptation, (2) technological developments to enhance data collection and management, such as phenotyping tools and next-generation sequencing, and (3) enhanced tree genetic and genomic resources such as published tree genomes. However, there is a need to design and implement sustainable tree breeding programs that ensure genetic progress. The lack of a national tree breeding strategy and financial resources remains a key constraint. Significant sustained investment, especially from public funds for the tree breeding programme, is paramount, given the very long nature of the activities.
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