Tree seedlings access and soil suitability mobile application.

Abstract

Deforestation results from human activities including charcoal burning, agriculture and timber harvesting among others and Leads to environmental degradation and global warming. Globally 7 million to 8 million hectares a year are destroyed by deforestation compared to global reforestation rate of 2.5 million hectares a year. In Uganda annual deforestation rates stood at 1.8% (1990 to 2005), 5.4 % (2005 to 2010) [4]. Reforestation to replace the lost forest cover still lags behind deforestation not because of lack of knowledge about tree planting (A/R). This is as a result of immense difficulties in obtaining tree seedlings and seeds due to lack of information/awareness about the tree providers, how/time to access them (for the case of busy working class and those in remote areas), and lack of prior knowledge about the soils suitable for the growth of the different trees species. This project was therefore aimed at developing a mobile application that would solve the above problem through connecting tree sellers/providers and tree buyers as well as providing information about tree-soil relationship/suitability. The work is arranged mainly in six chapters, Chapter one includes the introduction of a Tree seedling access and soil suitability mobile application. Chapter two discusses the literature related to the system, Chapter three illustrates the methodologies used in coming up with the working prototype of the system, Chapter four includes system design and analysis, Chapter five comprises of the implementation and testing of the system and chapter six contains the summary of the work, discussions and recommendations.