Fairventures Worldwide Uganda has officially handed over all its work in the country to a new Ugandan-led organisation, Good Forests Foundation Uganda (GFU).
The announcement was made during a handover ceremony held on Thursday in Kampala. The transition means GFU will now oversee all programmes, partnerships and field activities that Fairventures has managed since 2018.
Speaking at the event, James Thembo, Director of Good Forests Foundation Uganda, said the transformation reflects a strategic commitment to empowering local expertise and ensuring long-term sustainability.
“Fairventures has been here since 2018 focusing on growing trees within communities, and to date they have planted around 2.1 million trees across 22 districts,” Thembo said.
“They learned that being local brings greater impact than being foreign. A local organisation stays even when funding is low. That is why they resolved to transform Fairventures Uganda into Good Forests Foundation.”
Thembo said GFU will continue restoration work while expanding into livelihood-focused agroforestry, integrating cocoa, coffee and Hass avocado to help farmers earn faster returns.
“If I give a farmer 20 cocoa trees, in two years they can start earning UGX 2 million annually,” he explained, adding that the foundation is already partnering with chocolate processors and exporters to secure better market access for farmers.
He also announced plans to promote energy-saving stoves and establish district-level farmer committees to strengthen coordination among the more than 6,000 farmers in their network.
Fairventures Uganda’s outgoing Country Representative, Patience Naamara, emphasized that the handover marks a new chapter—not an end.
“Since 2018, our team has grown from 3 to 53, we now have 19 community nurseries, and over 2.1 million seedlings have been raised and distributed. So far, 840,289 trees are standing, sequestering 5,814 tonnes of CO₂. We will continue offering technical expertise as Good Forests Foundation grows.”
Representing the Ministry of Water and Environment, Assistant Commissioner Issa Kamwesigye praised the transition as a milestone for local ownership in Uganda’s forestry sector.
“Good Forests Uganda has built professional competence and skills that support government, private sector and communities,” he said.
“Forests are a way of life, and we must make it politically risky for anyone to undermine them.”
Kamwesigye also highlighted Uganda’s preparations for the EU’s deforestation-free commodities regulations and the need to integrate cocoa and coffee into forested landscapes without clearing natural forests.
Fairventures Worldwide CEO Megan King reaffirmed the organisation’s commitment as GFU’s main donor.
“We’re not going anywhere. We will continue being the bridge between Good Forest Indonesia and Good Forest Uganda,” she said. “In the future, we hope Tembo’s team will stand even stronger as we gradually take a smaller role—but we’ve got their back.”
Good Forests Foundation Uganda now assumes full responsibility for forest landscape restoration, rural community empowerment and sustainable forest-based livelihoods across the country.
