Museveni bans rice growing in wetlands
President Museveni. PHOTO/ PPU
What you need to know:
- There has been a sharp decline in wetland coverage from 15.5 per cent in 1994 and to 8.9 percent due to encroachment, according to the National Environment Management Authority.
President Museveni has ordered a total ban on rice growing in wetlands across the country, Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja has revealed.
Ms Nabbanja made the declaration in a February 8 letter to the Agriculture minister, Mr Frank Tumwebaze, and the Minister of Water and Environment, Mr Sam Cheptoris.
“As you must have been aware, the President is concerned about the rate at which many wetlands across the country are drying up because of rice growing among other bad human activities,” Ms Nabbanja wrote.
“This is not only affecting the ecosystems in our country but also presents a real danger to our very own future survival collectively,” she added.
Ms Nabbanja said government should help people who are using wetlands for rice growing to find alternative livelihoods.
“The views of H.E the President are that the use of our wetlands for fish farming, for instance, will fetch the country a lot more money while conserving the environment compared to rice growing. He also thinks that rice is a low-value crop that can be grown anywhere,” the letter reads further.
She asked the two ministers to urgently prepare a Cabinet paper by February 22, “to facilitate discussions and decisions of Government on this matter.”
In July 2021, the Minister of State for Environment, Ms Beatrice Anywar, announced that the Cabinet had, with immediate effect, banned the growing of rice and other crops in wetlands across the country.
But the implementation of the directive was hampered by politicians, who argued that many electorates depend on wetlands and that government needs to provide alternative sources of income for the affected people.
Many nationals have also accused the government of double standards, asking the government to first address issues of factories that are releasing deadly pollutants into the wetlands, as well as the construction of houses in the wetlands to show that it is serious about saving the environment.
This comes just six days after this newspaper reported that the government destroyed more than 10 hectares (about 24.7 acres) of rice in Okole wetland, Lira City, a move that sparked mixed reactions from the public.
The rice, which is said to have almost matured, was slashed down during an operation to crack down on illegal activities in the protected ecosystem last week.
The operation was jointly conducted by the Environmental Protection Police Unit and officials from the Ministry of Water and Environment.
The operation drew mixed reactions from the public.
“This is a good move. Thanks [for the] job well done. My request to you is to make sure that those [polluting the wetlands] in Ayago Village [Lira City] are [punished],” Mr Isaac Okello wrote on Twitter.
Another tweep, Mr Eddie Ojara, wrote: “But could they not give them time to harvest their rice and leave the wetlands? Sometimes we don’t need to let our emotions control us in making decisions.”
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