In 2019, an unidentified UPDF officer driving a salon car knocked dead three pedestrians in Namayiba trading centre along Mukono-Katosi road as he trailed illegal fishermen riding a motorcycle loaded with fish from Katosi destined for Mukono town.
The soldier, whose car had overturned before it settled in a garden on the lower side of the road, sustained serious injuries and was whisked away by a boda-boda rider to an unknown medical facility in Mukono, saving him from being brutalized by the angry bazzukulu.
Such deadly operations risk lives of fishermen, communities around them, and law enforcement teams; yet, for instance in Namayingo district in eastern Uganda, government has used Mulwandha small-scale irrigation scheme as a magic bullet to uplift illegal fishermen’s livelihoods. The Mulwandha fishing community now lives without fears of being involved in running battles with the UPDF Fisheries Protection Unit, jail terms, and confiscating their illegal fishing gears on lakes and landing sites.
The Mulwandha solar-powered small-scale irrigation scheme was constructed by Ministry of Water and Environment in 2022. It draws water from Lake Victoria and it is distributed to the 10.5 acres demonstration farm in Mulwandha village, Lubango parish in Mutumba sub-county.
The modern irrigation scheme provides alternative sources of livelihood to 23 former illegal fishermen who grow high-value crops such as; green pepper, watermelon, tomatoes and onions whose ready market is in Namayingo and Busia districts.
Income from vegetable growing is three times higher than what they were getting from illegal fishing. An average vegetable grower makes sales worth Ugshs3.5 million compared to Ugshs2 million a farmer would earn from the 5-acre maize growing per year. Farmers are economically empowered and thus they are able to access better social, education and health services.
In that area, farmers highly appreciate the government’s commitment towards their economic liberation and social mobilization. There are other community benefits such as; mainstreaming gender and facilitating HIV/AIDS awareness through Water Users’ Associations (WUAs) / Farmer Based Management Organizations (FBMOs) formed by the Ministry of Water and Environment.
The irrigation scheme being near the lake, has further effectively addressed adverse effects of climate change by enabling communities to fully rely on Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) such as cultivation of vegetables and fruits.
In other parts of the country such as; Isingiro, Rakai, Arua, Moroto and Kasese, the adverse effects of climate change still manifest through low food production, increased food prices, food insecurity, water scarcity for agricultural production, and degradation of ecosystems. As a result, these factors continue to have direct and indirect impacts on agricultural production in Uganda.
When compared with her neighbours in the East-African region, Uganda is fairly gifted with enormous natural water bodies, major sources of water needed for huge irrigation projects. These major water bodies include; Lakes Edward, Albert, George, Victoria, Kyoga, and while major rivers include Aswa, Mpologoma, Manafwa, Kafu, Katonga, Rwizi, Kagera and the Nile river. Yet Uganda’s ratio of cultivated area under irrigation to the irrigation potential is very dismal compared to Tanzania, Kenya and Burundi, according to our National Irrigation Policy.
Therefore, this is an urgent call to the government to increase resource allocation towards modern irrigation to convince more bazzukulu to abandon illegal fishing practices. This would increase Uganda’s working population employed in agriculture which currently stands at 68% as estimated by the UBOS.
As a result, more illegal fish farmers will adopt knowledge transfer and the skills to contribute to the agriculture sector which, in the FY 2022/23, accounted for about 24% of Uganda’s GDP and 35% of export earnings, according to the International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce.
By Noel Muhangi
The writer is a media researcher
Email: noelmuhangi@gmail.com
