Increased charcoal burning biggest threat to climate change in Uganda

Once a fortnight, Moses Sserwada travels from the capital, Kampala, to northern Uganda to pick up a truckload of charcoal destined for the popular Owino Market.

“I have been in this trade for three years; we get our supply from northern Uganda because the charcoal produced there is of good quality and in high demand,” Mr Sserwada says.
The charcoal trade, referred to as “black gold” by Kampala traders, has become more profitable than the forests where trees are being indiscriminately cut down for charcoal-burning. For the rural population, charcoal trade is an opportunity to earn an income.

However, because of this lucrative trade, Uganda loses close to 73,000 hectares of forest cover annually, which has crippled the country’s climate.

New findings show that the average temperatures in Uganda have increased to as high as 1.4 degrees Celsius since the 1960s compared to an average of 0.5 degrees in the East African region over the last century.

The experts are now warning that: “Looking further ahead, up to 4.30C, change in average temperatures by the 2080s is possible. A temperature rise of that magnitude would have disastrous consequences for Uganda.”

To put these numbers in perspective, there is a general consensus among politicians that if the most dangerous effects of climate change are to be avoided, average global temperatures should not rise by more than 20C.

In a new report titled: ‘Hidden Heat: Communicating climate change in Uganda: Challenges and Opportunities,’ the researcher notes that there is an extremely small window of opportunity to get to grips with climate change.

“Unless urgent action is taken, climate change will cause a range of serious problems in Uganda,” the report cautions.
The Ugandan government has presented tentative evidence that the number of droughts per decade is already increasing, with the period 1991-2000 especially drought-prone.

The surface area of the ice cap on the Rwenzori Mountains has reduced from six square kilometers in 1906 to 0.86 square kilometres today.

“We may not be able to say with certainty that a particular extreme weather event is directly linked to climate change, but we know that extreme weather events will become more frequent and more severe as the global climate warms. An increase in drought is completely consistent with scientists’ predictions about how climate change will impact on lives and livelihoods in Uganda. Climate change is becoming a reality in Uganda,” the report says.

According to the most recent report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, all of Africa is likely to warm during this century, and at a faster rate than the global average. But Africa is also the continent that is least likely to be able to cope with its effects.

African nations are highly dependent on climate sensitive industries like farming and food production and yet Africa lacks the financial and technological resources to adapt to a changing climate.

“Among the crops to be affected in Uganda will be tea. The temperatures will be so high and will scorch the tea leaves, bringing down production, if not drying out the whole plant,” the senior agricultural officer and head of the tea unit in the ministry of agriculture, animal industries and fisheries, Ms Daisy Eresu, warns.

“We shall then have to grow our tea at altitudes of 2,000 above sea level and abandon the low laying areas. Alternatively, if Uganda is to remain growing tea in the low-lying areas, we have to encourage the farmers to plant trees for shade that are compatible with tea and we are beginning to encourage farmers to adopt this method through our extension services,” Ms Eresu says.

According to the executive director of Nature Uganda, Mr Achilles Byaruhanga, there is need for a firm commitment from development partners on the issue of financing for mitigation or adaptation to climate change impacts.

“The point is that there is no more dilly-dallying. Climate change is with us. We are already suffering its impact through food insecurity and less power generation. Therefore, it is not an issue to be postponed,” Mr Byaruhanga says.

The hidden heat research project conducted by Dr Adam Corner of the School of Psychology, Cardiff University in partnership with Panos Eastern Africa-Uganda, aimed at identifying the challenges and opportunities for communication and public engagement on climate change in Uganda.

Although government policies, low-carbon technologies and financial support from international donors will all play a role in Uganda’s response to climate change, central to the fight against climate change in Uganda is effective communication and public engagement, the report suggests.

The report adds that there is a major lack of co-ordination in the communication of climate change information in Uganda. Although several governmental and non-governmental bodies are potentially in position to act as a central hub for climate change information and engagement, currently they are poorly funded and have a low public profile.

At the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment in Nairobi in 2010, it was noted that communicating about climate change is as complex as the issue itself – and that there was an urgent need to communicate clearly to African citizens and mobilise mass support for policies to tackle climate change.

At a national and international level, the report notes that politicians are not being held into account for taking action on climate change – but this is partly because there is such little awareness of the international causes of climate change.

Raising awareness about the role of industrialised nations in causing climate change, and pressuring national politicians to make greater progress at international negotiations is critical.

At the local level, politicians tend to be poorly informed about climate change; yet local government structures represent a crucial opportunity for reaching large numbers of ordinary citizens. Sensitisation campaigns should focus on local politicians as a key constituency that can catalyse action on climate change.Awareness must be raised about the emerging carbon trading sector, as the report notes.

“There is the potential for carbon trading to deliver much-needed income to ordinary Ugandan citizens, but there are also major risks. An honest and open dialogue about the risks and benefits of carbon trading for Uganda is an essential first step to accessing the financial advantages that carbon trading may bring.”

Uganda has a National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA), but a coordinated national policy on climate change is yet to be implemented.

Responses to climate change are usually divided into two categories – ‘mitigation’ and ‘adaptation’. Mitigating climate change means reducing the amount of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere, in an attempt to avoid the effects of climate change. Adaptation means taking action that increases the capacity to cope with the effects of climate change – building resilience.

However, findings show that Uganda’s capacity to mitigate climate change through changes in energy use is extremely limited. Fossil fuel use is low, and greenhouse gas emissions from Uganda barely register at the global level. This does not mean that steps to mitigate climate change should not be taken.

Some actions – such as the use of solar fuel cells for heating water, or fuel stoves with increased energy efficiency for cooking, will reduce Ugandan greenhouse gas emissions and provide tools for sustainable development.

Saving forests
Uganda does have significant forest reserves although they are rapidly being reduced.

“If these forests can be maintained or increased, they will help to absorb the extra carbondioxide in the atmosphere.
According to the report, “Given the limited scope for mitigation in Uganda, adaptation is the focus of most attention.

“Trees and vegetation play a number of critical roles in Uganda, providing food, wind cover and contributing to local-level temperature regulation. Other potential adaptation methods include developing drought-resistant crop varieties, maintaining soil fertility, and diversification in agricultural methods.”

According to the National Forest Authority (NFA), more than 73,000 hectares of private forest are cleared every year across the country and over 7,000 hectares of protected forest reserves are destroyed annually for timber and charcoal.
“People are cutting down trees indiscriminately without thinking of the future,” Mr Moses Watasa, of the NFA says, adding that Uganda has no clear policy on charcoal production.

“We must encourage planting fast-growing trees like eucalyptus so that we can be in position to get timber and charcoal in 10 years,” he said.

Northern Uganda has thick forest cover, comprising both hard and soft wood. Forest growth in the area flourished during the two-decade LRA conflict since many locals were displaced from their villages.

Previously, Kampala charcoal traders relied on charcoal from Nakasongola, Hoima, Masindi, Kafu, Luweero areas in central Uganda. These have since been depleted of private and community forests.

For instance, Langele Village, adjacent to the Murchison Falls National Park in Nwoya District, known for its beautiful scenery and thick forests, is no more because locals have depleted it of the forest cover, referring to it as a charcoal factory.

“The price of forest depends on its thickness but on average it costs 1.5 million shillings [US$600] for a hectare,” said Mr Otto Oola, a resident of Langele. “Any patch of land here covered with trees is worth a fortune, it can earn you millions of shillings any time.”

Poverty
Although aware of the environmental impact of indiscriminate cutting of trees, Oola said many people were doing it out of poverty. He said charcoal buyers not only provided cash upon purchase, they also helped villagers clear forested land for cultivation.
“I am trying to survive, I can’t sit hungry in that forest,” Mr Oola said.

According to the State of the Environment report by the Uganda National Environment Management Authority, the rate of deforestation had, by 2005, increased from 1.76 per cent per annum to 2.13 per cent per annum.

The report says pressure on land, water, forest and biological resources has dramatically increased to meet the needs of a growing population, leading to a loss of 76 per cent of the country’s forest cover.

Mr Geoffrey Oryema, the Nwoya district chief, said poverty and lack of a meaningful livelihood were the driving factors for environmental destruction.

But Mr Samuel Abwola, a district environment officer in Gulu, said people in rural areas were being exploited to degrade their own environment.

Forest depletion in Gulu

Gulu initially had 371 Sqkm of forest cover, but environmentalists now estimate the cover to be only 200 Sqkm, a reduction they attribute to charcoal-burning, human settlement as well as the quest to open up cultivable lands.
Margaret Barihahi, a coordinator for the African Climate Change Resilience Alliance, said it was necessary to devise alternatives for sustainable livelihoods and to empower communities with information on the dangers of indiscriminate forest-cutting.

“Without a viable alternative source of energy, it is clear that charcoal and wood fuel will remain the dominant sources of energy,” Barihahi said.

An estimated 95 per cent of Ugandans depend on charcoal and wood for cooking. Moreover, Uganda’s rapid population growth, coupled with rapid urbanisation, has increased the demand for energy, especially cooking fuel.

However, growth in energy demand has not been matched by corresponding growth in supply of alternative sources of fuel, such as hydro-electricity, which is the cheapest and most convenient alternative source of energy for cooking.

Because of its short supply, hydro-electricity is neither affordable nor reliable.

Uganda’s National Development Plan estimates the country’s electricity demand to reach 35,000MW by 2015 and the absence of cheap charcoal is likely to push demand for electricity even higher.

By IRIN

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