Tracing the roots of famine and ecological disequilibrium in Karamoja

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OPINION

By Jamilu Muzinga

Of those who later came to constitute the people of Uganda, the Karamojong were the last to be colonised. British military presence in the form of police patrols began in 1915. A District Commissioner was posted to Karamoja in 1921, marking the beginning of colonial civil administration.

Until the early 1950s, however, Karamoja was marked as a restricted area by the colonial authorities. This meant, in essence, a colonial restriction on contact between the people of Karamoja and those of the rest of Uganda.

Colonial intrusion into the productive economy of the Karamojong began with the forcible acquisition of land. By the time colonial rule came to an end, access to nearly a fifth of what was formerly grazing and agricultural land was denied to the people of Karamoja. Forcible land acquisition was a protracted process that took place between 1924 – 1940.

Between 1,500 and 2,000 square miles of land, from the Chemerongit Hills to the Kamyangareng River, were transferred to the colonial administration in Kenya. At the same time, the boundaries of Teso were expanded and the Karamojongs lost access to extensive grazing grounds in Usuku County in Teso. Both these were dry-weather grazing grounds.

The loss of this massive area through the creation of artificial colonial boundaries constituted a grave blow to the pastoral economy of the people of Karamoja. In addition, more land was lost by declaring it Crown Land to build district, county and sub-county headquarters, or to construct police posts or to establish mission stations. What is particularly significant is that usually this was the best-watered land, suitable not only for permanent grazing but also for cultivation. More than 486 square miles of land were fenced off and declared a game reserve. It included the Kidepo River and the surrounding valley.

The loss of grazing ground increased the concentration of cattle. What were previously demarcated as dry season grazing areas, like the western grounds, were now grazed well into the wet season. The immediate result was a heightened feed scarcity problem in the region that led to overgrazing. Much of Karamoja became huge expanses of barren soil punctuated with shrubs.

Wilson, a colonial official, described this process in the following words: “Overgrazing of the centrally situated grasslands has taken place and is still taking place. This had led to widespread sheet erosion of the biologically active top soil and the loss of much potential soil moisture. The continued loss of soil moisture plus overgrazing has led to the virtual destruction of what were grass savannas and the invasion and multiplication of bushland and thicket-forming trees and shrubs with very poor coverage. What was once good pasturage is now only marginal ground.”

 The problem in the eyes of colonial officials like Wilson and others, however, was the 'overgrazing' of land, because of the 'overstocking'. The solution thus was to 'de-stock' the herds. The reality in this case was “having grabbed the people's land, the only way to restore a balance between limited grazing pastures and livestock was to grab the people's cattle. Thus began a 'de-stocking' campaign.

For political reasons, however, the campaign was disguised to appear as the natural result of the forces of supply and demand. In addition, instead of solving the problem, it intensified the exploitation of the people of Karamoja. Were de-stocking campaigns intended to solve the problem in the region, or were to serve the interests of the colonial masters?

The writer is a researcher under the Dryland transform project