Population takes toll on Mt. Elgon forest
Jan 03, 2010
AS the sun disappears behind Kyibainga Hill on the periphery of Mt. Elgon in Kabutola sub-county in Manafwa district, 13-year-old Brenda Nabukoko limps over degraded ground to collect firewood and also check on the cassava her family has planted.<br>Her family has depended on this hill for crop cul
By Frederick Womakuyu
AS the sun disappears behind Kyibainga Hill on the periphery of Mt. Elgon in Kabutola sub-county in Manafwa district, 13-year-old Brenda Nabukoko limps over degraded ground to collect firewood and also check on the cassava her family has planted.
Her family has depended on this hill for crop cultivation and firewood for many generations.
Before Nabukoko was born, this hill had a cool and wet climate with many trees and vegetation. However, when 300 other families that cultivate this 10-acre hill began indiscriminately cutting down the trees for firewood and cultivation, the climate changed to prolonged drought.
James Magomu, Nabukoko’s father, who says drought and floods at times occur in the area, says his family sowed 20 sacks of cassava stems at the beginning of last year but over 90% of the cassava dried.
“We had nothing to eat and we are facing a food crisis,†he adds.
Magomu says poverty in their home has also soared. “We used to sell some cassava to get money for fees. But there is nothing. My daughter Nabukoko has dropped out of school.â€
Nabukoko is afraid of the future.
“I am not sure whether I will go to school again. If I do not, it means I will cultivate the same soil that my great grand parents cultivated. This means more environmental degradation,†she says.
Population vs environment
Nabukoko’s family is an example of the many families in Bugisu region facing environment challenges.
The Manafwa senior environment officer, George Wanakina, says as the population of Bugisu soars to over 4 million people, the size of the land and other resources have remained the same and this has led to environmental degradation.
“In Bugisu, an acre of land is occupied by over 10 people. This has put a lot of pressure on the land.†Wanakina explains that over 98% of the population depends on agriculture for survival.
“It is unfortunate that people practise poor farming methods. They have cultivated the hills, making the soil loose and now landslides are common. In the past, we used to have landslides every after 10 years, but now, landslides occur every year,†he adds.
Rivers dry and wetlands flood
Fred Masaba, an environment analyst with Green peace, says the water catchment areas that supply Manafwa River have also been destroyed.
“The water is not absorbed into the ground because there is no vegetation to trap it. There is run-off irrigation,†Masaba adds.
Wanakina says the rivers in Bugisu have accumulated a lot of silt and rubbish. The waters of major rivers like Manafwa have turned brown and its volume is reducing.
“This has affected the water table which has gone down, affecting the construction of boreholes,†he says.
“In the last two financial years, we have lost sh60m for drilling water. When we set up a borehole, after sometime, it dries up.â€
Masaba says over 40% of wetlands in Bugisu region have been reclaimed for crop cultivation. “Namatala wetlands are no more. Natives have cultivated rice there, yet the wetlands used to trap floods and modify the climate.â€
Mosquitoes increase
Masaba says when it rained heavily in October 2009, half of Bungokho South constituency flooded and vectors have become common.
As a young boy in the Namatala wetland in the 1970s, Masaba says they never used to have mosquitoes. “People rarely suffered from malaria. But now it is a common disease,†he explains.
A visit to the nearby Busiu Health Centre III, Freda Magona, an enrolled nurse, says they receive over 20 children from Namatala area suffering from malaria everyday compared to three in the 1970s.
The way forward
Although Wanakina and Masaba have undertaken community sensitisation on planting more trees, protecting the trees and good farming methods, Wanakina believes it is all in vain.
“There should be population control through family planning. A high population would have been good if it was well educated and productive.
Many people are unproductive and depend on the natural resources and continue depleting everything,†Wanakina observes.
He says although they have encouraged people to use energy efficient stoves, many cannot afford them due to poverty.
“Other stakeholders should come in and help. The future of the environment here is bleak and it will affect everybody globally,†Wanakina adds.
At the beginning of 2009, environmental activists and academicians from the Elgon region formed the Elgon Education Foundation (EEF), whose aim is to promote the education of the girl-child as well as protection of the environment in the Mt. Elgon zone.
Led by Prof. Timothy Wangusa, the presidential adviser on literary affairs, EEF plans to sensitise the people on environmental protection as well as income generation.
“We shall focus on the improvement of the environment by teaching people how to plant trees, improve their health and incomes through equipping them with skills,†Wangusa says.
Paul Kalamya, the coordinator of the project, says they are encouraging people to practise afforestation.
“Five years ago, we distributed 20,000 tree seedlings to the community.
They were planted but many of the trees have been harvested for firewood. We shall distribute more and sensitise the people,†Kalamya says.
AS the sun disappears behind Kyibainga Hill on the periphery of Mt. Elgon in Kabutola sub-county in Manafwa district, 13-year-old Brenda Nabukoko limps over degraded ground to collect firewood and also check on the cassava her family has planted.
Her family has depended on this hill for crop cultivation and firewood for many generations.
Before Nabukoko was born, this hill had a cool and wet climate with many trees and vegetation. However, when 300 other families that cultivate this 10-acre hill began indiscriminately cutting down the trees for firewood and cultivation, the climate changed to prolonged drought.
James Magomu, Nabukoko’s father, who says drought and floods at times occur in the area, says his family sowed 20 sacks of cassava stems at the beginning of last year but over 90% of the cassava dried.
“We had nothing to eat and we are facing a food crisis,†he adds.
Magomu says poverty in their home has also soared. “We used to sell some cassava to get money for fees. But there is nothing. My daughter Nabukoko has dropped out of school.â€
Nabukoko is afraid of the future.
“I am not sure whether I will go to school again. If I do not, it means I will cultivate the same soil that my great grand parents cultivated. This means more environmental degradation,†she says.
Population vs environment
Nabukoko’s family is an example of the many families in Bugisu region facing environment challenges.
The Manafwa senior environment officer, George Wanakina, says as the population of Bugisu soars to over 4 million people, the size of the land and other resources have remained the same and this has led to environmental degradation.
“In Bugisu, an acre of land is occupied by over 10 people. This has put a lot of pressure on the land.†Wanakina explains that over 98% of the population depends on agriculture for survival.
“It is unfortunate that people practise poor farming methods. They have cultivated the hills, making the soil loose and now landslides are common. In the past, we used to have landslides every after 10 years, but now, landslides occur every year,†he adds.
Rivers dry and wetlands flood
Fred Masaba, an environment analyst with Green peace, says the water catchment areas that supply Manafwa River have also been destroyed.
“The water is not absorbed into the ground because there is no vegetation to trap it. There is run-off irrigation,†Masaba adds.
Wanakina says the rivers in Bugisu have accumulated a lot of silt and rubbish. The waters of major rivers like Manafwa have turned brown and its volume is reducing.
“This has affected the water table which has gone down, affecting the construction of boreholes,†he says.
“In the last two financial years, we have lost sh60m for drilling water. When we set up a borehole, after sometime, it dries up.â€
Masaba says over 40% of wetlands in Bugisu region have been reclaimed for crop cultivation. “Namatala wetlands are no more. Natives have cultivated rice there, yet the wetlands used to trap floods and modify the climate.â€
Mosquitoes increase
Masaba says when it rained heavily in October 2009, half of Bungokho South constituency flooded and vectors have become common.
As a young boy in the Namatala wetland in the 1970s, Masaba says they never used to have mosquitoes. “People rarely suffered from malaria. But now it is a common disease,†he explains.
A visit to the nearby Busiu Health Centre III, Freda Magona, an enrolled nurse, says they receive over 20 children from Namatala area suffering from malaria everyday compared to three in the 1970s.
The way forward
Although Wanakina and Masaba have undertaken community sensitisation on planting more trees, protecting the trees and good farming methods, Wanakina believes it is all in vain.
“There should be population control through family planning. A high population would have been good if it was well educated and productive.
Many people are unproductive and depend on the natural resources and continue depleting everything,†Wanakina observes.
He says although they have encouraged people to use energy efficient stoves, many cannot afford them due to poverty.
“Other stakeholders should come in and help. The future of the environment here is bleak and it will affect everybody globally,†Wanakina adds.
At the beginning of 2009, environmental activists and academicians from the Elgon region formed the Elgon Education Foundation (EEF), whose aim is to promote the education of the girl-child as well as protection of the environment in the Mt. Elgon zone.
Led by Prof. Timothy Wangusa, the presidential adviser on literary affairs, EEF plans to sensitise the people on environmental protection as well as income generation.
“We shall focus on the improvement of the environment by teaching people how to plant trees, improve their health and incomes through equipping them with skills,†Wangusa says.
Paul Kalamya, the coordinator of the project, says they are encouraging people to practise afforestation.
“Five years ago, we distributed 20,000 tree seedlings to the community.
They were planted but many of the trees have been harvested for firewood. We shall distribute more and sensitise the people,†Kalamya says.