In Lugwar Parish, Palabek Ogili Sub-county in Lamwo District, neat rows of freshly planted seedlings now cover a once-open 1.5-acre piece of land. To most passers-by, they are still too young to mean much. But to John Paul Okeny, they represent a carefully planned future shaped by new knowledge, practical skills, and support received through the IFPA-CD Woodlots Project.

Implemented through a consortium of partners with support from the World Bank, the IFPA-CD Woodlots Project is helping smallholder farmers in refugee-hosting districts establish commercial woodlots, improve household incomes, and build long-term resilience. Through farmer training, technical guidance, and community engagement activities delivered under the Project, Okeny gained the confidence to transform part of his land into a growing investment.

“I have seen people getting money from trees,” Okeny says, standing at the edge of his newly established woodlot. “After the training, I decided to make my land work for me. I want the money from these poles to help me pay school fees for my children.”

Before the Project, tree growing in Okeny’s community was largely informal, characterised by scattered planting, limited management practices, and little understanding of market opportunities. Through the IFPA-CD Woodlots Project, farmers were introduced to commercial woodlot establishment and management practices designed to improve productivity and profitability.

For Okeny, the biggest change was not simply receiving seedlings, but learning to view tree growing as a long-term business venture.

He now manages clonal eucalyptus and Tectona grandis (teak), locally known as black teak or Sudan teak.

“I planted eucalyptus clonal and black teak,” he explains. “From the training we received, I am planting these for poles within three years.”

Through the Project, he received 856 teak seedlings and 494 clonal eucalyptus seedlings, which he planted about three weeks ago. However, he says the greatest benefit was the technical knowledge shared on how to establish and manage a productive woodlot.

Training delivered through the Project focused on practical forestry establishment techniques, including proper land preparation, plantation design, seedling management, and weed control. Farmers were introduced to clean weeding, slash weeding, and controlled chemical weeding using approved herbicides to reduce competition between weeds and young trees during the critical establishment phase.

“We were taught that weeds compete with trees for light, water, and nutrients,” Okeny says. “If you don’t control them early, they suppress the seedlings.”

The training also emphasized correct herbicide use, including proper dilution and timing, to ensure effectiveness without damaging seedlings.

Another key component of the Project was plantation design, particularly lining and pitting, where farmers learned how to establish straight, evenly spaced planting rows. The recommended 3-by-3 metre spacing promotes healthy tree growth, improves long-term productivity, and simplifies future management activities such as weeding, thinning, and harvesting.

For Okeny, this brought structure and confidence to his investment.

“Now I can look at my garden and know exactly how many trees I have and what I will get in future,” he says.

Technical guidance shared through the Project also helped farmers understand the economic differences between tree species. Clonal eucalyptus offers relatively quick returns through pole production, while teak provides a longer-term investment capable of generating high-value timber.

“Clonal eucalyptus gives quick returns, while teak builds long-term value,” explains Denis Emmanuel Oweka, Regional Coordinator for the Project.

Beyond his own farm, Okeny has become a local resource person for other farmers. As a farmer coordinator, he has already shared lessons learned through the Project with more than 50 farmers in his community.

“What we learned through the Project, we are now passing on,” he says. “Many farmers now understand that trees are a business.”

The IFPA-CD Woodlots Project seeks to increase tree cover while supporting livelihood improvement through market-oriented tree growing. In refugee-hosting areas such as Lamwo, demand for poles, timber, and fuelwood provides farmers with viable market opportunities that can generate income over the long term.

For farmers like Okeny, this proximity to market is a major motivation.

“We are near the refugee settlement, so if you have trees, you already have a market,” he says.

Despite the optimism, tree growing requires patience, discipline, and long-term commitment. Seedlings require careful management during the early stages, while species such as teak may take several years before generating returns.

Still, Okeny believes the most important legacy of the Project is not the seedlings themselves, but the knowledge and skills that will remain long after project activities have ended.

“These trees will help us make money, improve our livelihoods, and help us build better houses,” he says.

As he walks through his newly planted woodlot, the seedlings sway gently in the wind—still small, still vulnerable, and still years away from harvest. Yet in Okeny’s eyes, they already represent something much greater: a growing investment that is steadily turning knowledge, patience, and good management into future opportunity.