5 forests risk destruction over sugarcane growing
Concern. The Masindi District chairperson, Mr Cosmas Byaruhanga, inspects sugarcane fields last year. Five forests risk being cleared for sugarcane growing in Masindi District. FILE PHOTO
What you need to know:
- Environmentalists warned that the run off waste from sugar mills pollutes the environment.
Five forests are at the risk of being cleared for sugarcane growing in Masindi District.
According to district authorities, the rain forests could be cut down to meet the increasing demands for sugarcane.
Private investors on the other hand are clearing land for the establishment of sugar industries in Kiryandongo District, Kafu in Kibaale District and Kimengo in Masindi District, according to district leaders. More outgrowers are also expanding their sugarcane plantations.
The forests that are at risk include Katampiisi, Kyamasuuka, Siiba, and Tengele in Bujenje and Buruli sub-counties all in Masindi District, some of which are surrounded by sugarcane plantations.
The Masindi District chairperson, Mr Cosmas Byaruhanga, said sugarcane growing is being practiced on a large scale and businesses are expanding to most parts of the district due to the establishment of new industries.
“All the factories in Kafu, Kiryandongo and Kimengo require more sugarcane for sugar production and this poses a great risk to food security,” Mr Byaruhanga said on Wednesday.
Sugarcane growing has a significant impact on the environment, more so on biodiversity. Sugarcane is a water intensive crop.
However, Mr Balampali Ramesh, an agriculture engineer at Kinyara Sugar Ltd, said: “We used to have 15,000 hectares of sugarcane but now we have 29,000 hectares and in our expansion, we budgeted for Shs300 million for environmental protection and conservation.”
The Budongo Sub-county chairperson, Mr Kenneth Nyendwoha, said there is a lot of deforestation taking olace that is linked to sugarcane growing in his area.
“We used to have a large forest cover but we no longer have them in Bwijanga and Budongo areas,” Mr Nyedwoha said.
Threat
Environmentalists warned that the run off waste from sugar mills pollutes the environment.
Mr Asiiku Micah, the coordinator of ECO-TRUST Uganda, an environmental advocacy organisation, said with the creation of new sugar factories in Masindi and Kiryandongo districts, a lot of water from the surrounding swamps will be used in cooling the machines and forests will be cut to pave way for sugarcane gardens.
Mr Asiku, however encouraged sugar factories to grow more trees in the area before growing sugarcane.
