The rains betrayed us

Jul 12, 2009

ON the northeastern part of Mt. Elgon is a place known as Bukwo, which has two faces. One is its beautiful landscape which is seen as wonderful by many people who dare to mount an expedition on the mountain. <br>

By Gerald Tenywa
ON the northeastern part of Mt. Elgon is a place known as Bukwo, which has two faces. One is its beautiful landscape which is seen as wonderful by many people who dare to mount an expedition on the mountain.

The other face is seen on people like Patrick Malinga, a local farmer, who have suffered the misery and pain brought by a raging drought. “We planted maize three months ago hoping to earn a lot from the harvests.

The rains have let us down and we are now headed for a total loss,” laments Malinga. He says the long rainy season of March-June delayed and disappeared sooner than it was supposed to stay.

“We will be lucky to harvest anything soon. I was expecting over sh4m after investing sh500,000,” he says. Malinga and other members of the community had responded to the Government’s call to engage in commercial farming, planting improved seeds and applying fertilisers, but the rains have betrayed them.

Another farmer, 45-yearold Gilbert Chalangat, says: “We have not eaten anything since morning and I do not know whether we will get any food today.”

Asked how he was going to over-come the problem, Chalangat looked at the ‘treacherous’ sky as if in search for an answer. He then turned and pointed at the ropes as an alternative to earn an income that could bail him out of the problem.

But his fear is that the ropes that go for a paltry sh100 do not have a ready market since most of the herdsmen keep animals in kraals. His intervention is as meek as the Government contribution of 200 bags of maize and 60 bags of beans towards the unfolding crisis.

“We are targeting Suam sub county which has been hit worst with about 25,000 people,” says Francis Epido, the acting agricultural officer for Bukwo. “This will help us to mitigate the impacts, but it will not last long.”

He says the district needs relief and protection for the farmers who had borrowed money from banks and local lending institutions because they will soon demand for their money.

As a long term measure, the district is working with National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS) to experiment on perennial crops like coffee and bananas to reduce dependence on one crop and also minimize vulnerability of the farmers in case of a disaster like drought.

He says their current situation has come as a surprise since the mountainous areas of Elgon receive a lot of rainfall bringing about fear of landslides instead of droughts. Bukwo—which fed many in eastern Uganda and Kitale in western Kenya—has drastically turned into a time bomb.

So far, over 2,000 households have lost crops amounting to more than 4,000 acres representing a loss of sh14b. Their hope of producing food is tied to next year’s rainy season since they have only one planting season.

How are people going to survive? As we ascended the mountains, there was more charcoal than food being ferried from Bukwo. “Most people are turning to charcoal burning to escape the claws of starvation,” says Epido.

“They sell each sack at sh3,000, which helps them to buy two kilogrammes of posho.” But this too, is plunging the mountainous district into more problems.

When the heavy rains ‘return’ they will not encounter any barrier on the bare landscape and will end up sweeping everything in their way.

In addition to the cutting of trees for charcoal, ploughing with either oxen or tractors in preparation of the fields is also causing wanton destruction of the environment.

Before ploughing with the oxen or tractors, farmers first cut down all the trees. Apart from the forest on the mountain top that is protected as a wildlife reserve, the rest of Bukwo’s landscape is suffering from relentless tree cutting.

Most youth and old women have migrated to Kitale in western Kenya in search of manual labour as shamba boys or nannies. “We have prepared a proposal that will help mitigate the impacts — this includes planting fast- yielding and droughttolerant crops,” says Epido.

Mwangusho Robert, the district planner says the district was expecting revenue of up to sh200m from the farmers to complete construction of their office block, but construction has been put on hold.

Unseen impacts such as increased crime rates since people are between a rock a hard place could hit the mountainous district.

According to Bukwo woman MP, Everline Tete, children do not go school because they lack what to eat. “I have more than 100 children camped in my house so that they can get something to eat,” she says.

ActionAid, one of the partners, has responded to a proposal to provide drought resistant potato vines and cassava cutting. However, Florence Auma, the director for partnership development says this will only address the problem in the short term.

“It is necessary to address issues of ecological destruction because people are turning to charcoal burning to survive and cattle rustling that have displaced thousands.”

“The issue of climate justice needs to be addressed since the problem has been caused by the rich countries andadaptation to minimize the risks.

We can solve the problem completely, but we believe this will reduce the impacts of climate change,” Auma says. Bukwo is bordered by Kenya to the east, Nakapiripiti to the north, Kapchorwa to the west and south.

Two decades ago, Malinga lost his cattle to the Pokot, a pastoralist tribe from Kenya who raided his 25 cattle. “I gave up life as a herdsman and started farming since this place is fertile,” he says.

The Government intervened and increased security that had become a dream for the community. It has also constructed a security road between the mountain (Bukwo) and the plains where the Pokot from Kenya and the Karimojong live.

This, according to Malinga, has tamed the raids of the warriors, but more than 20,000 people still live in Internally Displaced People’s Camps.

Today, Malinga’s challenge is drought and climate change. Who is going to shield him and his colleagues from losing the war of survival on this new front?

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