Brick burning eating up Teso’s tree cover

The GFW states that in 2020, Soroti districts had 2.5 kilo hectares of natural forest, extending over 0.76 percent of its land area. By 2023, the district had lost 97 hectares of natural forest, equivalent to 78.9 kilotons of carbon dioxide emissions. Brick burning is also a major source of livelihood for hundreds of unemployed youth and school dropouts. 

Samuel Okwalinga, a resident of Amero village in Amero parish, says the concern about the decreasing tree cover is understandable. However, the day’s demands justify the need to fell old trees to sell to brickmakers and charcoal consumers. 

“There is little we can do to resist the wave of cutting down trees. The brickmakers often dangle thousands of shillings at us in exchange for trees. Because we do not have another source of income, we end up cutting down the trees and selling the logs,” he says. 

The father of five has stored logs from shea trees on the side of his compound. He says no one in his village can sell a cow for disposable income when he has a tree that has lasted hundreds of years in his compound. “I would rather spare my cow and cut down a tree. I get between Shs400,000 and Shs500,000 for every two huge trees I cut down. That is enough money to manage the needs of a rural household for three months,” Okwalinga reasons. David Onyait is a Senior Three dropout. He operates a brickmaking business in Aten village, Wera sub-county, in Amuria district. Onyait admits that the business is fulfilling, although it has negative impacts on the environment. 

“I have been making bricks for three years and can tell you that today, the only places where we can easily get wood are in Kapelebyong, Otuke, and Katakwi districts. Amuria district is depleted,” he says. The 21-year-old says he burns close to 100,000 bricks every week in his kiln. Roughly, these account for two trucks of logs or ten trees. “We have customers from as far as the south of the Karamoja subregion. I fear that in a few years, baked bricks will be phased out and replaced with concrete bricks made from cement and stone dust. This is because there will be no trees left in this region to provide wood fuel for kilns,” he bemoans. 

Onyait adds that he makes a profit of Shs10 million every week from his business. This makes it impossible for him to abandon the trade in favour of environmental conservation in a country where the unemployment rate is over 60 percent.

Government response

Moses Ogwal, the environment officer for Amuria district, admits that brick burning has far-reaching impacts on tree cover across the Teso subregion. This comes at a time when dozens of valley dams are empty and grazing grounds are bare, without grass.

 “We feel the impact but cannot close the brickmaking sites. The district has an ordinance to stop the cutting down of trees in the villages. However, it has not been able to achieve its intended purpose because the budgetary allocation to the Natural Resources Department is meagre. This cuts across all the districts in the Teso sub-region,” he explains. 

Ogwal adds that the problem is compounded by a population explosion, with people competing for limited resources. To redeem the environment, the district authorities are meeting with stakeholders at the 18 political administrative units to urge them to sensitising the residents on the dangers of deforestation. 

“We are drafting an ordinance to encourage rural folks to plant ten trees for every tree they fell. Also, everyone who wants to start an organization in the district must have a woodlot and energy-saving cookers. By having these in place, the pressure on the existing vegetation cover will be lessened,” he says. Moses Emabu, the LCV chairperson of Amuria district, says the high poverty rate among his people have failed every campaign to save Amuria’s environment. 

“There are a lot of hidden stories behind the destruction of traditional tree species in the Teso subregion. Some people destroy the tree cover to get money for school fees and medication. To save our traditional tree species the government should set up tree nurseries at the district headquarters,” he says. 

Emabu advises that each homestead should be encouraged to plant these fast-growing tree species for wood fuel and logs. He adds that the prices of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) and electricity should be subsidised for residents in urban areas to discourage the use of charcoal. 

“Environmental conservation should be championed by civil servants, instead of elected politicians. The locals will always threaten to vote the politicians out of power if they try to stop them from cutting down trees. When such threats are made, politicians usually back down,” he says.

 Emabu adds that it is for this reason that wetland and tree conservation have hit a dead-end.

Need for alternatives

Emmanuel Ijaala, a resident of Orapada Cell in Bukedea Town Council, says the government needs to provide an alternative energy source for baking bricks, instead of only telling people to stop the habit of cutting down trees. “The hydro-form machines given to a few people as an alternative to burnt bricks, produce substandard products. The products are not long-lasting, the bricks are loose and once the interlocking grips give way, the entire structure is affected. That is why the market for baked bricks remains high,” he explains. 

David Oluka, the environment officer for Bukedea district, says supporting the brickmakers with locker brick machines (interlocking brickmaking machines) will help with environmental conservation.

“While other districts have received these machines from the government, Bukedea is still waiting. The district loses about three percent of its indigenous vegetation cover every year to swamp cultivation, charcoal burning, and brick burning. However, the locker machines are costly,” he says. Oluka adds that if the price of cement were to be lowered, it is likely that people will turn to concrete bricks, automatically wiping out the use of baked bricks. “Planting cloned eucalyptus trees that regenerate quickly is another alternative source of wood fuel for brickmakers,” he says. 

Richard Okweny, a former sales executive for Energy Saving Stoves Company based in Kenya, is now a brickmaker at Nakatunya bricklaying site in Soroti City. He concurs that concrete bricks are the way to go. “The only challenge is that one concrete brick costs Shs2,000 while a baked brick goes for Shs250. That difference of Shs1,750 will determine whether one completes the construction of a building in the stipulated time, or not. However, we will raise the price of baked bricks to Shs350 each due to the current shortage of wood,” he explains. 

Okweny adds that sometimes, he fails to get wood yet he had a ton of bricks to bake. However, Moses Opio, the environment officer for Kumi district, says the change in climate being experienced in the subregion is a result of diverse causes. It is not limited to brick and charcoal burning.

 “Such causes include bad agricultural practices and pollution from hazardous fumes. These have led to increased heatwave which has caused some trees to dry up naturally. The problem seems to be the meagre funding towards the climate change campaigns,” he says. Ohio further confirms that although swamps are still visible in eastern Uganda, 40 percent of the wetland cover has been tampered with.

“If briquettes are the solution to charcoal burning, their use should be enforced. If concrete bricks are the solution to baked bricks, then their use should also be enforced. Concrete bricks are highly recommended by civil engineers because of their efficiency and durability,” he says. The destruction of the region’s natural cover has led to an increase in pollutants in the atmosphere which are affecting human health in general.

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