By Oramire Stuart
Executive Director, Advocates for Equal Justice Initiative
Uganda stands on the frontline of the climate crisis. The country is increasingly grappling with prolonged droughts, erratic rainfall, floods, and landslides. For a nation where agriculture is the backbone of both the economy and survival—employing nearly 80% of households—climate change is not an abstract threat; it’s a daily struggle.
Despite commendable government interventions such as relief distribution, water projects, and the National Climate Change Act of 2021, rural smallholder farmers remain vulnerable. In regions like Kisoro, Ntungamo, and Bududa, many communities face extreme poverty and food insecurity, worsened by unpredictable weather and limited livelihood alternatives.
Yet, while the climate crisis deepens, funding support for frontline communities is shrinking. The suspension of USAID’s overseas spending and the increasing closure of NGOs under restrictive laws have left a vacuum. Ironically, many traditional donors continue to operate through top-down grant systems that exclude grassroots, community-led organizations. The barriers to access—complex application processes, rigid eligibility requirements, and urban bias—lock out those who are most affected and most capable of responding effectively.
Enter Global Greengrants Fund—a donor that is quietly revolutionizing how climate resilience is built in Uganda.
Global Greengrants uses a flexible, community-first grantmaking model that prioritizes substance over form. By working through a network of volunteer advisors embedded within communities, the fund supports locally led initiatives without the bureaucracy and gatekeeping common in traditional funding streams. These small but catalytic grants empower community groups to tailor solutions to their specific environmental and social challenges.
What makes this model truly impactful is its inclusivity. Many of the grantees supported by Global Greengrants have never received funding before. For many, it is a lifeline—and often a springboard—for greater visibility, partnerships, and impact.
Our own organization, Advocates for Equal Justice Initiative, received support from Global Greengrants Fund in November 2024. With that grant, we launched a successful reforestation effort in Rwoho Central Forest Reserve and lobbied for the compensation of communities displaced by dam construction. This work would have been impossible through traditional funding channels.
Importantly, the flexibility of this model fits well within Uganda’s increasingly restrictive legal context. As civic space shrinks and established NGOs face suspension or closure, community-based organizations supported by Global Greengrants are filling the gap—quietly but effectively promoting climate adaptation, biodiversity conservation, and environmental justice at the grassroots.
The lesson here is clear: the donor landscape must evolve. Large development agencies need to move away from centralized, one-size-fits-all funding models and adopt community-driven, adaptable grantmaking approaches. If Global Greengrants can do it—and make a difference in some of the most remote corners of Uganda—so can others.
If we are to win the fight against climate change, we must support those who are already leading it from the ground up.
Contact:
stuartoramire@gmail.com / stuart@adveji.org
