Uganda in land crisis
Nov 30, 2007
Samuel Walimbwa, 52, has half an acre of land that he inherited from his father in Bushiyi village, Bududa district. His father had 10 acres, which he divided among 20 sons.
By Gerald Tenywa
Samuel Walimbwa, 52, has half an acre of land that he inherited from his father in Bushiyi village, Bududa district. His father had 10 acres, which he divided among 20 sons.
Like his late father, Walimbwa has sired 20 sons. Each of them has a birth right to receive a portion of his land, but this will not happen. “I get defeated on how to distribute less than an acre of land among 20 children,†says Walimbwa.
As a family that earns a living by tilling the soil, the Walimbwas worry everyday that they do not have enough land to produce food.
Worse still, his sons could become landless because they will not inherit any land from him. “In the rural areas we are married to the soil and get everything from sweat,†says Walimbwa. “Without land, how will my children survive?â€
Many times his family has only one meal a day. “I no longer have land to grow enough food and I have to work for other farmers so that I can get an income to buy food,†he cries out.
Walimbwa is not facing the pressure alone. In Bududa district, there are over 1,000 people, most of them peasants, for every square kilometre. This is far higher than the national average of 124 persons per square kilometre. Consequently, an average family in Bududa has less than one acre of land.
According to a new report released by the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), by 2010 parts of eastern Uganda will reach a crisis, in which the available land will be too little for the number of peasants on it.
The “State of the Environment Report for Uganda 2006-2007â€, says the land crisis will gradually spread to the rest of the country by 2022.
This crisis is attributed to high population growth. According to the World Population Data Sheet released this month, Uganda is going to have the world’s biggest population increase in the next four decades.
Uganda’s population, estimated at 28.4 million in mid 2007, will grow to 55.9 million by 2025 and further to 117 million by 2050.
This represents a 310% increase between 2007 and 2050, just the period it takes today’s university students to reach retirement age.
The head of advocacy at the Population Secretariat, Hannington Burunde, says whereas most women want to limit the number of children they produce, only one fifth practice birth control. “Most women produce at an early age, and by the time they reach menopause they have already produced several children. Each woman in Uganda on average produces seven children,†he says.
Dr. Augustus Nuwagaba, a lecturer at Makerere University’s Faculty of Social Sciences, blames poverty. “The current generation of our mothers, thinks that by having so many children, they will become rich through them, as they work to sustain her family,†he explains. “Others do it as a means of protection, in that even if some die, others will survive.â€
Because of the rapid population growth, Uganda’s land is quickly losing fertility, says Goretti Kitutu, an environmental systems analyst with the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA).
In most of the highly populated areas, farmers no longer have the luxury of allowing part of their land to rest and become fertile again. They end up working the same plot year in year out.
They cut trees, encroach on reserve land such as forests and cultivate wetlands up to river banks. River Manafa has turned brown as a result of top soils brought in by floods.
Others, especially the youth, migrate to urban areas where they create a workforce of unskilled labour and contribute to the growth of slums.
On the mountain slopes, this population pressure has already caused an increase in landslides. Yet, most of the locals think landslides are accidental. “They have failed to see the relationship between their activities and the landslides,†says Richard Matanda, the warden in charge of conservation at Mt. Elgon National Park.
As the population grows bigger, the environmental resources such as firewood and water are becoming scarce. Global warming is likely to make this worse, according to Augustine Masereka, the Chief Warden of Mt. Elgon National Park.
According to the NEMA report, some of the effects of climate change such as floods, droughts and recession of water bodies have already been seen in Uganda.
Given that land scarcity is an emerging threat as the population of the country grows and as productivity declines, it is important to introduce new ways of using land, says Dr. Aryamanya Mugisha, the Executive Director of NEMA.
Farmers should be taught how to produce food on a small piece of land, while maintaining the fertility. This could include practices like strip cropping and terracing.
In order to control the rapid population growth, says Mugisha, the Government should consider training and supporting rural families to limit child birth.
He also calls for land policy reforms to take into consideration the growing population pressure.
As some argue that a big population is good for the economy, a growing population of peasants who rely on land for survival is already causing a crisis.
Additional reporting by Conan Businge
Samuel Walimbwa, 52, has half an acre of land that he inherited from his father in Bushiyi village, Bududa district. His father had 10 acres, which he divided among 20 sons.
Like his late father, Walimbwa has sired 20 sons. Each of them has a birth right to receive a portion of his land, but this will not happen. “I get defeated on how to distribute less than an acre of land among 20 children,†says Walimbwa.
As a family that earns a living by tilling the soil, the Walimbwas worry everyday that they do not have enough land to produce food.
Worse still, his sons could become landless because they will not inherit any land from him. “In the rural areas we are married to the soil and get everything from sweat,†says Walimbwa. “Without land, how will my children survive?â€
Many times his family has only one meal a day. “I no longer have land to grow enough food and I have to work for other farmers so that I can get an income to buy food,†he cries out.
Walimbwa is not facing the pressure alone. In Bududa district, there are over 1,000 people, most of them peasants, for every square kilometre. This is far higher than the national average of 124 persons per square kilometre. Consequently, an average family in Bududa has less than one acre of land.
According to a new report released by the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), by 2010 parts of eastern Uganda will reach a crisis, in which the available land will be too little for the number of peasants on it.
The “State of the Environment Report for Uganda 2006-2007â€, says the land crisis will gradually spread to the rest of the country by 2022.
This crisis is attributed to high population growth. According to the World Population Data Sheet released this month, Uganda is going to have the world’s biggest population increase in the next four decades.
Uganda’s population, estimated at 28.4 million in mid 2007, will grow to 55.9 million by 2025 and further to 117 million by 2050.
This represents a 310% increase between 2007 and 2050, just the period it takes today’s university students to reach retirement age.
The head of advocacy at the Population Secretariat, Hannington Burunde, says whereas most women want to limit the number of children they produce, only one fifth practice birth control. “Most women produce at an early age, and by the time they reach menopause they have already produced several children. Each woman in Uganda on average produces seven children,†he says.
Dr. Augustus Nuwagaba, a lecturer at Makerere University’s Faculty of Social Sciences, blames poverty. “The current generation of our mothers, thinks that by having so many children, they will become rich through them, as they work to sustain her family,†he explains. “Others do it as a means of protection, in that even if some die, others will survive.â€
Because of the rapid population growth, Uganda’s land is quickly losing fertility, says Goretti Kitutu, an environmental systems analyst with the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA).
In most of the highly populated areas, farmers no longer have the luxury of allowing part of their land to rest and become fertile again. They end up working the same plot year in year out.
They cut trees, encroach on reserve land such as forests and cultivate wetlands up to river banks. River Manafa has turned brown as a result of top soils brought in by floods.
Others, especially the youth, migrate to urban areas where they create a workforce of unskilled labour and contribute to the growth of slums.
On the mountain slopes, this population pressure has already caused an increase in landslides. Yet, most of the locals think landslides are accidental. “They have failed to see the relationship between their activities and the landslides,†says Richard Matanda, the warden in charge of conservation at Mt. Elgon National Park.
As the population grows bigger, the environmental resources such as firewood and water are becoming scarce. Global warming is likely to make this worse, according to Augustine Masereka, the Chief Warden of Mt. Elgon National Park.
According to the NEMA report, some of the effects of climate change such as floods, droughts and recession of water bodies have already been seen in Uganda.
Given that land scarcity is an emerging threat as the population of the country grows and as productivity declines, it is important to introduce new ways of using land, says Dr. Aryamanya Mugisha, the Executive Director of NEMA.
Farmers should be taught how to produce food on a small piece of land, while maintaining the fertility. This could include practices like strip cropping and terracing.
In order to control the rapid population growth, says Mugisha, the Government should consider training and supporting rural families to limit child birth.
He also calls for land policy reforms to take into consideration the growing population pressure.
As some argue that a big population is good for the economy, a growing population of peasants who rely on land for survival is already causing a crisis.
Additional reporting by Conan Businge