Environmental degradation causing poverty, food scarcity
Oct 04, 2010
THE fight against poverty and food insecurity in Uganda has attracted various interventions since independence. One may recall the collective farms of the 1960s and forced cotton growing in the early 1970s.
Joseph Serugo
THE fight against poverty and food insecurity in Uganda has attracted various interventions since independence. One may recall the collective farms of the 1960s and forced cotton growing in the early 1970s.
Under the NRM Government, a number of interventions, such as the rural farmers’ scheme and Entandiikwa have also been tried.
In recent years, under the Plan for Modernisation of Agriculture, the National Agricultural Advisory Services programme has been implemented with mixed results. It is now four years into the President’s manifesto programme of Prosperity for All (Bonna Bagaggawale), but most of the rural folks are still waiting for the magic funds or items.
When one traverses the countryside, one is left with the conviction that production has increased despite the serious bottleneck of expensive agricultural inputs.
Opening markets internally and externally with traders penetrating the remotest villages to buy produce and exporting it anywhere should enable the farmers to earn more money unlike in the past when the Government was the sole buyer of produce and fixed the prices.
However, poverty and food insecurity still persist in many areas in Ugnada. In her 2009/10 budget speech, finance minister Syda Bumba made several landmark statements including the prioritisation of the agriculture sector.
On paper, increasing the budget share for the sector from 4% to about 10% is significant. However, this is on the assumption that all the other factors are constant. One such factor is the environment.
The Government needs to link poverty and food insecurity to environmental degradation rather than lack of inputs and funds.
There is widespread environmental degradation in Uganda, which is a result of man's activities. Uganda practices rain-fed agriculture, but the amount of rainfall is reducing because of degradation. The degradation has also led to siltation and drying of rivers and lakes. So, it is difficult to practise irrigation. This has greatly hindered agricultural production.
In Uganda, degradation has been caused by:
Deforestation in order to open up more land for agricultural expansion
Rampant logging
Bush burning
Replacement of natural forests with pine and eucalyptus plantations
Charcoal burning
Poor garbage disposal
Encroachment on wetlands and protected areas.
Kibaale district can give us a good example of how environmental degradation has led to poverty and hunger. Ten years ago, it was unimaginable that large sections of the population in Kibaale would depend on relief food from World Food Programme.
The situation is such that the forests and wetlands in the district have been obliterated and desecrated to the extent that rainfall is erratic, thus causing crop failures in the once food basket of Uganda.
Bore-holes have also dried up because the water table has receded. In addition, firewood is becoming scarce in the some areas. As a result, rain and dust storms may follow soon, sweeping away houses.
We now have Uganda’s first environmental refugees who destroyed forests in the name of development.
Uganda needs a robust integrated approach to these and other environmental issues. Practical measures to protect the environment should include:
Zero taxes on liquefied petroleum gas so as to reduce demand for charcoal and firewood in towns.
Putting in place incentives for land owners who keep natural forests.
Special fund for demarcation of wetlands and river banks.
Recruitment of agriculture extension workers to guide peasants on soil and water conservation.
Restricting pine and eucalyptus plantations to marginal lands.
The writer is the head of Development Alternatives Programme, an NGO based in Kibaale District
THE fight against poverty and food insecurity in Uganda has attracted various interventions since independence. One may recall the collective farms of the 1960s and forced cotton growing in the early 1970s.
Under the NRM Government, a number of interventions, such as the rural farmers’ scheme and Entandiikwa have also been tried.
In recent years, under the Plan for Modernisation of Agriculture, the National Agricultural Advisory Services programme has been implemented with mixed results. It is now four years into the President’s manifesto programme of Prosperity for All (Bonna Bagaggawale), but most of the rural folks are still waiting for the magic funds or items.
When one traverses the countryside, one is left with the conviction that production has increased despite the serious bottleneck of expensive agricultural inputs.
Opening markets internally and externally with traders penetrating the remotest villages to buy produce and exporting it anywhere should enable the farmers to earn more money unlike in the past when the Government was the sole buyer of produce and fixed the prices.
However, poverty and food insecurity still persist in many areas in Ugnada. In her 2009/10 budget speech, finance minister Syda Bumba made several landmark statements including the prioritisation of the agriculture sector.
On paper, increasing the budget share for the sector from 4% to about 10% is significant. However, this is on the assumption that all the other factors are constant. One such factor is the environment.
The Government needs to link poverty and food insecurity to environmental degradation rather than lack of inputs and funds.
There is widespread environmental degradation in Uganda, which is a result of man's activities. Uganda practices rain-fed agriculture, but the amount of rainfall is reducing because of degradation. The degradation has also led to siltation and drying of rivers and lakes. So, it is difficult to practise irrigation. This has greatly hindered agricultural production.
In Uganda, degradation has been caused by:
Kibaale district can give us a good example of how environmental degradation has led to poverty and hunger. Ten years ago, it was unimaginable that large sections of the population in Kibaale would depend on relief food from World Food Programme.
The situation is such that the forests and wetlands in the district have been obliterated and desecrated to the extent that rainfall is erratic, thus causing crop failures in the once food basket of Uganda.
Bore-holes have also dried up because the water table has receded. In addition, firewood is becoming scarce in the some areas. As a result, rain and dust storms may follow soon, sweeping away houses.
We now have Uganda’s first environmental refugees who destroyed forests in the name of development.
Uganda needs a robust integrated approach to these and other environmental issues. Practical measures to protect the environment should include:
Restricting pine and eucalyptus plantations to marginal lands.
The writer is the head of Development Alternatives Programme, an NGO based in Kibaale District