The Mabira Rainforest: Water, Energy and Food Security in Uganda

By

F.C. Oweyegha-Afunaduula, Former Chairman of the Nile Basin Discourse

Despite international outcry and a hard-fought battle by local communities and a host of NGOs to protect the area, 2011 has seen the Ugandan Government resurrect plans to convert much of this biologically diverse and integral natural resource into sugarcane plantations.

In the natural world all things are in some way connected to everything else. However, artificial choices in environment and development disconnect and simplify these connections to our peril. This happens whenever we pursue development as just “money, markets, goods and services”.

We often disconnect nature, environment, people and development; whether this is in the construction of dams to generate hydroelectricity, or the industrial scale agricultural practices employed to meet increasing demand for food. Issues of democracy, equality, human and peoples’ rights and justice are too often removed from the body politic of development. We deplete lakes, rivers and soils, destroy the environment, erode spirituality and culture, flood previously fertile land and cause socio-political instability, water insecurity and food insecurity, among others. We suffer the consequences.

Failure to understand and account for the interconnected nature of resource securities – particularly in the African context – has continued to undermine genuine sustainable development in which environmental, social, ethical and moral considerations are central. In Mabira this dissonance is especially stark.

Uganda’s Mabira area, some 306 square miles of rainforest located across 3 districts just to the East of Kampala, was officially designated a forest reserve in 1932. The creation of the Mabira Central Reserve has by no means completely guaranteed the protection of the area’s pristine forest, with policies such as those of dictator Iddi Amin Dada in the 1970s encouraging Ugandans to settle in the area and grow crops. Nevertheless, big business has never been allowed to encroach on the forest – up until now.

Mabira plays an important role as a water catchment area due to its location between international waterways: Lakes Kyoga and Victoria, and the Nile and Sezibwa rivers. It is a primary source of oxygen for the region and a crucial sink for greenhouse gasses, with an estimated carbon sequestration value of $212 million per year. Existing pressures on the region’s natural water system have already seen many small rivers emanating from Mabira - which flow into Lake Victoria – begin to disappear. Increasing the unsustainable use of these forest lands will simply exacerbate this problem, with catastrophic effects for the communities dependent upon these waterways as a primary source of water, as well as the knock-on implications this has for the larger water systems of Lake Victoria and the Nile.

The plants, fruits and honey produced by Mabira also see it tied closely to issues of food security for local communities. Its plants are also the primary source of traditional medicines used by those living in the area. As a healthier and marketable alternative to sugar, many feel that the honey produced in the forest region has enormous economic potential if it could be expanded and managed in a sustainable fashion, creating employment and facilitating social development. In addition, agriculture and food production in the regions surrounding the forest depend heavily upon the rains its weather system produces, as well as the protection its trees provide from winds which would otherwise erode the nutrient-rich topsoil so crucial to subsistence and commercial farming alike. Moreover through its pivotal contribution to water and food security - although often ignored by political leaders – Mabira is also a critical player in the sociopolitical security and stability of Uganda and the wider Nile Basin.

Yet Mabira is once again being threatened by state-supported encroachment, indicating that the government of Uganda is failing to fully understand the interdependence of the region’s natural resources. Like in 2007, the government has once again proposed converting one third of the Mabira Central Forest Reserve into sugarcane plantations. Whilst much of the forest area ear-marked for this industrial scale sugarcane cultivation was once degraded, it has since recovered significantly and is progressing well towards a fully mature state. What’s more, whilst the government has cited sugar shortages - or put simply, food security - as the primary reasoning behind its decision to revive the plans, the majority of the sugarcane being used to feed a burgeoning agro-fuels industry remains a probable outcome.

Destroying this area will have multifarious impacts on Uganda’s economy, especially at the local level. The short-term economic benefits of industrialised sugarcane production in Mabira may be hard for the Ugandan government to ignore, however, in reality, these are far outweighed by the forest’s central role in water and food security, not to mention the potential monetary benefits more sustainable economic uses of the forest could bring. Put simply, taking Mabira for granted is to jeopardise water and food security for Uganda and the surrounding region. Let Mabira Live!

Professor Oweyegha-Afunaduula is a former lecturer in ecology, conservation and environmental politics at Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda. He is also a former Chairman of the Nile Basin Discourse (NBD). He is currently the Manager of Uganda’s National Association of Professional Environmentalists (NAPE) Sustainability School and leads its Bujagali, Mabira and Oil issues campaigns. For more information on the Mabira campaign contact afunaduula2000[at]yahoo.co.uk.

WARS, TERROR CAMPAIGNS, CORRUPTION, POVERTY, GLOBAL WARMING AND OTHERS: SHOULD IT BE ABOUT BREAKING NEWS?

This is a summary of problems associated to man and his environment -where man's responsibility is key to save himself. To do so values humanist and ecologically-minded nature must be generated.

Human plans must not cheat on nature but get balanced with or to consider ecological needs and those for future generation. Our own actions must neither make us slaves nor other members of the eco-system.

The headlines news papers put to us can be sickening. Sometimes one could be forced to bury his or her head in the sand to avoid watching or looking at them and/or miseries surrounding the globe.

Misery continues to chock as more problems create more problems. Indeed, very few to note could choose healthy behaviors or come out with a proactive plans that step-by-step might solve personal and/or community problems.

Many would resort to drinking alcohol and illegal drug use, abusing their spouses and children or even killing, or make killing a hobby, and form survival cults or sects yet extreme in their values -most of which being psychopathological -showing signs of a long history of misery and/or violence to self and others.

However, a section that would choose to spend time watching premier-league, champions' league or other soccer leagues should not be left out as one way of burying heads in the sand people sometime opt for -much as it is non-violent.

Definitely, it would not be surprising if a formally abused or traumatized by others injurious actions too became abusive to others. There would be a compensatory element -to feel some form justice granted or “life balance” -through injury and then recovery. One thus, could choose to recover through harming others or vengeance.

Plans must be created upon sensing humanly threatening problems, and actions immediately taken -first; by the action initiator through group formations to later form community perception and engagement. Gladly, many humanitarian initiatives have emerged from spirited and courageous global citizens -as observable on facebook and other sites or blogs. These must be strengthened.

Besides, mere writing down the genesis of one's troubles could help create very big difference in an individual or whoever does so. The differences could be in form of resuscitated energy, self-discovery, gained self esteem and confidence.

With the energy got, individuals would be encouraged to form or share and action-plan to pursue. Any thought or plan to create positive change can therefore, not be under-estimated since that alone provides the beginning -which of course; is most important.

Sustaining action, however, is another. This would be characterized by off and on the “track.” But undying vision could, nevertheless bring hope and later re-ignition of actions for positive global change.

Resilience studies have showed that such (resilience) is well; born, sustained by community but also a process started, and a struggle -whose positive results tend to be gradual, in bits or once in a long time.

The focus could then be; belief or faith that sustains actions. That (belief or faith), simply must be kept burning. Without pushing much far, why shouldn't we pick Barrack Obama as a model here? He used faith to steer his vision to success.

Actions must start now rather than later to help ourselves and environment in totality since the more we continue to watch, the more bad fate watches us instead.

All we have to do is begin with the nearest resources at our disposal -which is ourselves -may be our hobbies and interests as medium for channeling important messages, creating positive social causes and pursuing them as long as life allows.

The implication might be that all institutions would be penetrated and injected with awareness of human challenges and positive actions to work on. From one individual showing concern in a locality, we could create a new peaceful, environmentally-mindful and cooperative community in search of goodness and natural rights.

For impact realization or just an action, we must seek support, cry out if need arises, seek partners, create new positive and supportive relationships, break into closed -yet helpful social systems -as decisions we should never tire acting on.

Individual values must be carefully considered and projected to help save lives, protect nature from degradation and cause a smile to the lives of many, or helping to share individual successes with those in the process of self-liberation as well as the physically and mentally handicapped.

As a community with a common destiny and related struggles as being channeled to goodness of living, we ought to do and show love, care and support for one another. This would be the single way to defeat terror, nazi-like tendencies in families and communities as well as the could be “normal” challenges of life.

They ought to be guided with such values as long as they live. In case of death, let it me for goodness of self and others, rather than seeking to suffocate others out of life for some form of gratification.

And of course, too, where there is goodness of thinking, intention and practice, evil ones or nazi tendencies panic, get humiliated and weak. It is such a line that we could only nurture in ourselves. Believable peace and harmony belongs to such persons.

The beginning of trouble would always come from the kind of thoughts we invest in ourselves through actions or relationships interactions -as with the intellect we use to apply them. In that regard, we must cease the chance now and as others continue to manifest, or hope that they would later.

Global citizens could perhaps consider about two to half day meditating over goodness that the World peoples should nourish themselves with. Such could help sustain energies for positive change activism.

But considering a community (ies) approach in all interventions, indeed, it would not only help heal wounds of individuals or reduce their vulnerability, but also make situations easier for them (vulnerable groups to adjust through. In fact, the same approach would be key in matters of urgency in as far as interventions are concerned.

Agreeably, with the rising and taking of individual and community responsibility, respectively -and cooperation in strategic planning and actions, or interventions -towards such human afflictions as wars, diseases, poverty, greed or corruption, famine -sometimes as a combination, we can help reduce damage whilst in a solid block working for positive global change.


Waiswa Jacob
Situation Health Analyst
+256774336277 or 0754890614
DECISION MAKING AND SITUATION HEALTH MANAGEMENT -DISHMA
www.situationhealthanalysis.blogspot.com