Abstract:

Forests have since ancient times played an important role of food provisioning to indigenous people and regulatory functions in the environment in general. In spite of their immeasurable benefits to life sustenance, the sustainable management of forest and forest resources in Uganda is oppressed with numerous challenges such as the conflicting roles of the various stakeholders involved in forest management. Descriptive analysis was done for mean frequencies and chi square using SPSS version 21 for Windows XP. The results showed that, the farmers in the study area are largely engaged in the cultivation of food crops which are mainly subsistence in nature. It was realized that the farmers practice mixed cropping with slash and burn as the predominant land preparation method. The study showed that deforestation has affected crop production in the areas of delayed planting seasons, pest and diseases infestation, level and quality of crop yields, reduction in the income levels of farmers and reduction in various tree species. The study recommended among other things, the continuous education and sensitization of farmers, strengthening of the public institution stakeholders and promotion of active research that will ensure a decline in deforestation.