Agriculture and Environment  
STF addresses livelihoods by producing Tree Talk and Farm Talk . These newspapers are central to STF's push on poverty. Through Tree Talk and Farm Talk , STF supplies schools with tree and vegetable seeds to promote woodlots and school gardens

Background
Tree Talk: As the world worries about climate change, Straight Talk Foundation is implementing a model for tree growing across Uganda that is documented, cost effective and replicable.

Launched in 2002, Tree Talk is an eco-newspaper on tree growing and environmental conservation. STF posts Tree Talk to all schools in Uganda, as well as faith- and community-based organizations. A sachet of seed, usually for an indigenous tree, is enclosed in each bundle. A 2004 evaluation found that over 50% of schools started tree nurseries using the information and seeds accompanying Tree Talk .

In 2006 Tree Talk added a woodlot scheme— Tree Talk Plus—with support from World Food Programme. This initiative established nurseries and enabled the planting of 244,000 trees in woodlots in 227 primary schools across seven districts in northern and northeastern Uganda. Despite drought and conflict, 60% of the new trees were alive at nine months. The cost per surviving tree was just $0.60 US.

With interventions continuing in Apac, Gulu, Kitgum, Pader, Lira, Kotido, Moroto, and Kumi, and new programs underway in Gulu and Kaberamaido, Tree Talk Plus stands to facilitate the growth of over 400,000 new trees in 2007. For more information on supporting or joining in Uganda's most extensive tree-planting effort, contact Simon Peter Amunau—National Director, Tree Talk—at spamunau@straighttalkuganda.org .

Farm Talk: The vast majority of Young Talk readers will remain in the countryside and support themselves through agriculture .

Farm Talk is playing a vital role in Uganda's Plan for the Modernisation of Agriculture(PMA) and poverty alleviation (PEAP). It is sent three times a year with vegetable seed to about 18,000 schools and community groups.

Farm Talk addresses poor nutrition among pupils, especially children affected by HIV, by encouraging school gardens. Farm Talk is funded by DANIDA