Extreme weather forces govt to restore Awoja catchment

kumi. For years, Mr James Okiror,50, a resident of Aminit A Village in Aminit Sub-county in Bukedea District has been making a livelihood to sustain his family from farming.

But for the past three years, Mr Okiror’s main source of income is no longer lucrative because of poor crop yields.

“I plant more, but I harvest less amid the rising food prices and other essentials. I am struggling to feed my family,” Mr Okiror said.

To make matters worse, his plantation of sweet potatoes and other crops were washed away by floods two weeks ago.

The disaster, which was triggered after Lake Okolitorom flooded following a downpour in Mt Elgon Sub-region, also left one person dead and destroyed livestock and several houses.

Mr Ibrahim Okeya, another resident, said with the poor harvest, food insecurity will become worse.

“We depend on natural resources for survival and if we cannot make a living from it, we will definitely starve,” he said.

Mr Moses Olemukan, the chairperson for Bukedea District, said agriculture is under threat due to extreme weather conditions worsened by environmental degradation.

“Climate change’s negative impacts are already being felt in informing weather variability, floods and crop failure,” he said.

He said Bukedea and other districts found in the low-lying areas of Awoja sub-catchment bear the brunt of floods from Mt Elgon when River Sironko and other tributaries burst their banks.

Mr Olemukan made the remarks during a meeting for a project that supports communities to implement priority catchment management measures in the middle and lower Awoja sub-catchment in Kumi at the weekend.

The sub-catchment, which consists of the districts of Bukedea, Sironko, Katakwi, and Bulambuli has a high environmental degradation. Mr Micheal Wangusi, an environmental expert and a resident of Sironko, said river bank degradation due to sand mining needs to be controlled.  “This has led to river deviation and when there is a downpour, it results in flooding, which destroys crops and sends families into famine,” he said.

Mr Wangusi further said unregulated excavation of murram, brick laying and silted valley tanks have made matters worse.

Mr Martin Asiimwe, the programme coordinator of World – Wide Fund for Nature, a non-governmental organisation, said poor water quality and the burning of wetland vegetation is common in the catchment area.

“A number of wetlands are under threat from burning during the dry season , besides encroachment on the natural resource,” he said.

Mr Asiimwe said they will support the communities to restore degraded stretches of riverbanks through the use of catchment management measures.

Mr Moses Imalingat, the project manager for Soroti Catholic Diocese Integrated Development Organisation, said communities should be sensitised on better farming methods.

The Deputy RDC for Kumi District, Mr Anthony Tibuhaburwa, said they have signed a commitment with locals growing rice in wetlands to vacate after the harvest.

“Communities are willing to vacate the wetland because they have realised the dangers,” he said.

Apart from supplying water, the wetlands play an important role in storing carbon, which stabilises the climate.

SHS5 billion project

Mr Maximo Twinomuhangi, the team leader of Kyoga Water Management Zone, said the 24-month restoration project is helping locals in soil and water conservation, riverbank protection and identifying and supporting alternative livelihood programmes. The project is being implemented by the Ministry of Water and Environment with funding from the World Bank worth Shs5 billion under Integrated Water Management and Development Project.

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