Uganda needs climatic change calamity policy
The world over, there is acknowledgement and consensus over the reality of climatic changes. From the last century, the global warming trend has rapidly increased, according to the observations of the Kyoto Protocol held in Japan in February 2005.
By Tucungwirwe Rwamutega
The world over, there is acknowledgement and consensus over the reality of climatic changes. From the last century, the global warming trend has rapidly increased, according to the observations of the Kyoto Protocol held in Japan in February 2005. At global level, climate experts have already predicted that climatic changes will influence the frequency and magnitude of extreme weather events such as droughts, storms, floods, and the Elnino phenomenon, among others. These pose a real threat to food security in most developing countries, reduce access to safe water, because they undermine the earth’s ability to support life, posing outstanding threats to the poor people whose countries are now incapable to adapt to changing weather conditions.
It should be noted that while climate change calamity is a global problem, countries like Uganda, whose economies are nature-based, have their exclusive susceptibilities to this phenomenon and are likely to be the worst victims. Uganda has already started to taste the realities of the climatic changes. According to a World Food Programme report released last month, over 600,000 people in nort-eastern Uganda are at the verge of starvation due to crop failure attributed to drought.
In Mbarara, Ntungamo, Rakai and Sembabule, the drought has caused serious water and food shortages. Since January 2005, people in these districts have never received any serious rains, wells have dried up and there is a serious shortage of water for animals coupled with food insecurity. Posho price has gone up to sh600 from sh400 a kilo. More threatening is the fact that weather experts have already predicted there will be less rains this year.
Given the magnitude of these changes, how prepared are we to handle the situation as a nature-based economy? Where is our climate change disaster mitigation plan?
It is my submission that, faced with this calamity, a nature-based economy like ours should:
- Develop a national climate change reduction and disaster strategy.
- Increase on our weather forecasting capacity and early warning to farmers.
- Strongly support the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol that seeks to compel developed countries to control and mitigate their climatic change actions that are largely responsible for global warming.
- Develop and avail to farmers small-scale irrigation technologies.
- Strengthen our environmental protection and preservation interventions.
- Integrate environmental change adaptation measures in our development plans.
The writer is the co-ordinator Ntungamo Development Network and a researcher at the Development Research Centre.
Ends
The world over, there is acknowledgement and consensus over the reality of climatic changes. From the last century, the global warming trend has rapidly increased, according to the observations of the Kyoto Protocol held in Japan in February 2005. At global level, climate experts have already predicted that climatic changes will influence the frequency and magnitude of extreme weather events such as droughts, storms, floods, and the Elnino phenomenon, among others. These pose a real threat to food security in most developing countries, reduce access to safe water, because they undermine the earth’s ability to support life, posing outstanding threats to the poor people whose countries are now incapable to adapt to changing weather conditions.
It should be noted that while climate change calamity is a global problem, countries like Uganda, whose economies are nature-based, have their exclusive susceptibilities to this phenomenon and are likely to be the worst victims. Uganda has already started to taste the realities of the climatic changes. According to a World Food Programme report released last month, over 600,000 people in nort-eastern Uganda are at the verge of starvation due to crop failure attributed to drought.
In Mbarara, Ntungamo, Rakai and Sembabule, the drought has caused serious water and food shortages. Since January 2005, people in these districts have never received any serious rains, wells have dried up and there is a serious shortage of water for animals coupled with food insecurity. Posho price has gone up to sh600 from sh400 a kilo. More threatening is the fact that weather experts have already predicted there will be less rains this year.
Given the magnitude of these changes, how prepared are we to handle the situation as a nature-based economy? Where is our climate change disaster mitigation plan?
It is my submission that, faced with this calamity, a nature-based economy like ours should:
- Develop a national climate change reduction and disaster strategy.
- Increase on our weather forecasting capacity and early warning to farmers.
- Strongly support the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol that seeks to compel developed countries to control and mitigate their climatic change actions that are largely responsible for global warming.
- Develop and avail to farmers small-scale irrigation technologies.
- Strengthen our environmental protection and preservation interventions.
- Integrate environmental change adaptation measures in our development plans.
The writer is the co-ordinator Ntungamo Development Network and a researcher at the Development Research Centre.
Ends