Pastoralists are investors
Jun 08, 2006
SIR — Recently, there have been reports of Ugandan pastoralists being evicted from areas they occupied ‘illegally’ within the country and from neighbouring countries that have hosted them for years.
SIR — Recently, there have been reports of Ugandan pastoralists being evicted from areas they occupied ‘illegally’ within the country and from neighbouring countries that have hosted them for years.
Most of these pastoralists have lost their cattle in the eviction process either from disease or through confiscation. The most disturbing thing is that there seems to be nobody concerned with the plight of these people. They are being blamed for moving aimlessly and for practising backward farming methods. However, it is important to appreciate the underlying reasons forcing them to move.
Pastoralists live under harsh conditions of water scarcity, disease and inadequate pasture that they can only survive by shifting seasonally. Some of them were forced into nomadism after their land was gazetted into National Parks like Queen Elizabeth, Kidepo and Lake Mburo.
Under the ranch restructuring programme, squatters were given land with the hope that this would guarantee them security of tenure and hence encourage them to settle. However, this intervention did not work since it did not tackle the underlying problems, namely water shortage, diseases and inadequate pastures.
The privatisation of veterinary services also further isolated the pastoralists as they have limited access to private sources of these services. The closure of the dairy corporation milk collecting centres worsened the situation as it removed the would-be incentives for pastoralists to settle into a market economy.
The government has also not done enough on water for livestock. The only visible dams are those that were constructed by the colonial government. Most of these dams are no longer usable. The problems affecting the pastoralists cannot be continuously ignored. This is because a significant percentage of meat and milk consumed in Uganda is produced by pastoralists.
Secondly, due to uncontrolled movement of livestock, diseases are now endemic in most parts of the cattle corridor. This denies Uganda access to the lucrative international markets.
The long term solution to the livestock sector lies in the establishment of a strong livestock development policy. Pastoralists are ‘potential small scale investors’ capable of contributing to the economy The ‘Suruma government intervention strategy’ is timely in this regard.
Government should construct dams, invest in disease control, and also improve livestock marketing infrastructure. In the short run the government should allocate land to the stranded pastoralists the same way it is doing for investors. Degazetting part of our national parks and government ranches,should also be considered.
Samuel Mugasi
Chairman, Foundation for the Development of Pastoralists
Most of these pastoralists have lost their cattle in the eviction process either from disease or through confiscation. The most disturbing thing is that there seems to be nobody concerned with the plight of these people. They are being blamed for moving aimlessly and for practising backward farming methods. However, it is important to appreciate the underlying reasons forcing them to move.
Pastoralists live under harsh conditions of water scarcity, disease and inadequate pasture that they can only survive by shifting seasonally. Some of them were forced into nomadism after their land was gazetted into National Parks like Queen Elizabeth, Kidepo and Lake Mburo.
Under the ranch restructuring programme, squatters were given land with the hope that this would guarantee them security of tenure and hence encourage them to settle. However, this intervention did not work since it did not tackle the underlying problems, namely water shortage, diseases and inadequate pastures.
The privatisation of veterinary services also further isolated the pastoralists as they have limited access to private sources of these services. The closure of the dairy corporation milk collecting centres worsened the situation as it removed the would-be incentives for pastoralists to settle into a market economy.
The government has also not done enough on water for livestock. The only visible dams are those that were constructed by the colonial government. Most of these dams are no longer usable. The problems affecting the pastoralists cannot be continuously ignored. This is because a significant percentage of meat and milk consumed in Uganda is produced by pastoralists.
Secondly, due to uncontrolled movement of livestock, diseases are now endemic in most parts of the cattle corridor. This denies Uganda access to the lucrative international markets.
The long term solution to the livestock sector lies in the establishment of a strong livestock development policy. Pastoralists are ‘potential small scale investors’ capable of contributing to the economy The ‘Suruma government intervention strategy’ is timely in this regard.
Government should construct dams, invest in disease control, and also improve livestock marketing infrastructure. In the short run the government should allocate land to the stranded pastoralists the same way it is doing for investors. Degazetting part of our national parks and government ranches,should also be considered.
Samuel Mugasi
Chairman, Foundation for the Development of Pastoralists