Moyo’s water pot drying
NEARLY200 years ago, an Arab slave dealer drove his caravan through an unusual route to find a short cut to the slave depot of Lebubu on the bank of River Nile in transit to the slave market of Nimule in the Sudan.
By George Laghu
NEARLY200 years ago, an Arab slave dealer drove his caravan through an unusual route to find a short cut to the slave depot of Lebubu on the bank of River Nile in transit to the slave market of Nimule in the Sudan.
The slaves were driven though the dry savannah lands of northern Uganda where many died of thirst. The famed Arab and a few lucky of his “mercantile†reached Lebubu after drinking from a spring water point. The valley in which the spring was found was called Wadi Moyo in Arabic or the valley of water.
Simple commercial activities begun to take place around the water point which the local people simply referred to as Moyo. The water point, located directly behind the magistrate’s court in Moyo town, has since dried up. A dried water point and a spoilt borehole seem to pass a message of an impending water problem.
The name Moyo remains very relevant for the town inspite of its relative underdevelopment in other aspects. The town has safe potable water within access of every homestead.
Unfortunately for Moyo, all is not a bed of roses. The recent draught has not concealed the declining social economic and environmental infrastructure. The Kony insurgency as well as the effects of war in southern Sudan has led to an influx of refuges leading to increased pressure on the environment. The greatest of all threats is the continued cutting of trees which affects water resources.
The district chairman Peter Dolo Iku is worried that the achievements in the Water and sanitation sector maybe short lived if the question of afforestation and maintenance of water level and rainfall are not taken seriously.
For purposes of fuelwood, acacia trees are grown because they are resilient to draught, but due to the complicated communal arrangements over land use, it is difficult for one farmer to manage large acres of land planted with trees.
The local government is called upon to devise a land policy which recognises fuelwood production as an important objective in forest and environmental resources management.
Efforts toward afforestation must be enhanced as the use of other energy alternatives is often more expensive than fuelwood. There should be increased tree planting by schools, communities, women and youth groups as well as churches.
The biggest setback is finances. There is simply no money for such projects. Other factors include lack of trained manpower, lack of information, social and cultural inhibitions as well as institutional intractibilities.
According to Ruth Kareo, a designer of appropriate technologies research with the African Hunger Relief Agency (AHRA) in Moyo, the government should change its tactics in delivering technologies of change. “Technologies should not just be given to users, but users must be helped to define their own needs and how to meet them†she said.
The looming environmental crisis in Moyo is an integral part of the dynamics of development which cannot be discussed in isolation or abstraction. It cannot be simply explained in terms of scarcity. It is a result of the concentration of wealth and power in the hands of a few individuals with a consequence loss of peoples’ control over essential resources.
According to James Magrama, a retired educationist, a working environmental policy in the district should aim at satisfying basic human needs, self reliance, control over resources and technology by means of local participatory democracy, equity and social justice at national and local levels as well as living in harmony with the environment.
The obstacles are immense, the stakes are high and the time too short, it is time to work or the water pot of Moyo is likely to break at the doorpost.
NEARLY200 years ago, an Arab slave dealer drove his caravan through an unusual route to find a short cut to the slave depot of Lebubu on the bank of River Nile in transit to the slave market of Nimule in the Sudan.
The slaves were driven though the dry savannah lands of northern Uganda where many died of thirst. The famed Arab and a few lucky of his “mercantile†reached Lebubu after drinking from a spring water point. The valley in which the spring was found was called Wadi Moyo in Arabic or the valley of water.
Simple commercial activities begun to take place around the water point which the local people simply referred to as Moyo. The water point, located directly behind the magistrate’s court in Moyo town, has since dried up. A dried water point and a spoilt borehole seem to pass a message of an impending water problem.
The name Moyo remains very relevant for the town inspite of its relative underdevelopment in other aspects. The town has safe potable water within access of every homestead.
Unfortunately for Moyo, all is not a bed of roses. The recent draught has not concealed the declining social economic and environmental infrastructure. The Kony insurgency as well as the effects of war in southern Sudan has led to an influx of refuges leading to increased pressure on the environment. The greatest of all threats is the continued cutting of trees which affects water resources.
The district chairman Peter Dolo Iku is worried that the achievements in the Water and sanitation sector maybe short lived if the question of afforestation and maintenance of water level and rainfall are not taken seriously.
For purposes of fuelwood, acacia trees are grown because they are resilient to draught, but due to the complicated communal arrangements over land use, it is difficult for one farmer to manage large acres of land planted with trees.
The local government is called upon to devise a land policy which recognises fuelwood production as an important objective in forest and environmental resources management.
Efforts toward afforestation must be enhanced as the use of other energy alternatives is often more expensive than fuelwood. There should be increased tree planting by schools, communities, women and youth groups as well as churches.
The biggest setback is finances. There is simply no money for such projects. Other factors include lack of trained manpower, lack of information, social and cultural inhibitions as well as institutional intractibilities.
According to Ruth Kareo, a designer of appropriate technologies research with the African Hunger Relief Agency (AHRA) in Moyo, the government should change its tactics in delivering technologies of change. “Technologies should not just be given to users, but users must be helped to define their own needs and how to meet them†she said.
The looming environmental crisis in Moyo is an integral part of the dynamics of development which cannot be discussed in isolation or abstraction. It cannot be simply explained in terms of scarcity. It is a result of the concentration of wealth and power in the hands of a few individuals with a consequence loss of peoples’ control over essential resources.
According to James Magrama, a retired educationist, a working environmental policy in the district should aim at satisfying basic human needs, self reliance, control over resources and technology by means of local participatory democracy, equity and social justice at national and local levels as well as living in harmony with the environment.
The obstacles are immense, the stakes are high and the time too short, it is time to work or the water pot of Moyo is likely to break at the doorpost.