By Oweyegha-Afunaduula

When we talk about environmental future of a country, we are trying to envision the state of nature and our human relationship with it in the future. We are interested in our human relationships with nature in all the dimensions of the environment: ecological-biological, sociocultural, socioeconomic and temporal.

However, since President Tibuhaburwa Museveni declared his philosophy of development emphasising infrastructure development at the expense of environmental development and nature, and extricating Ugandans from the environment and nature, environmental decay and collapse are rising supersonically, best seen in country-wide environmental poverty, climate change, food shortages and a snake-like hunger wave.

Interestingly, Omagor Markson(2022), citing Mafabi’s article“Government is ready for environmental restoration”, emphasising that the government will share strategies for the restoration of the environment and natural resources”. Mafabi was referring to President Tibuhaburwa Museveni’s statement that the dependence on rainfall and the degraded ecosystem poses jeopardy to Uganda’s economy in the face of climate challenges.

According to Mafabi, the President said “Government will come up with a plan to fully restore our environment here. Once we are done, you will see the environment (Mafabi, 2022). The President made the announcement during the closing ceremony of the National Scouts Camp that started on August 12th at the scouts’ home in Kaazi, Wakiso District. However, todate the President has not shown that he is ready to recant his development philosophy, which is responsible for most of the recent environmental degradation in Uganda.

Museveni in Environmental Decay and Collapse

Apparently, the President himself, by virtue of his decisions and actions, is at the centre of environmental decay and collapse. He has allowed people belonging to the nomadic pastoral energy system (the nomads of Rwandese extraction) to grab land everywhere in Uganda, destroying our time-tested agroecological systems, on which our food security has depended for centuries.

He has allowed soldiers to illegally log tress in our natural forests, including the only rain forest we have – Mabira Rain Forest. It was him personally who engineered the destruction of Mabira Rain Forest by giving 7100 hectares of Mabira ecotone land to Mehta’s Sugar factory. It was his who decreed that sugarcane be grown in the Bugoma Forest Corridor in Bunyoro, thereby destroying the migratory routes of wildlife.

It was him who decreed that 10,000 ha of natural forest be felled on Bugala Island in Kalangala District in favour of the false tree (oil palm) to produce palm oil at a time when the world is yearning for a fat-free diet. It was him who decreed that Bujagali Falls on River Nile be orated in favour of hydropower, reasoning thaw if the Uganda’s did not have money to buy the electricity he would sell it to neighbouring countries.

It was him who oversaw the springing up of numerous plastics factories in Uganda. Last but not least, it was him who decreed that industrial parks are established in swampy areas, thereby triggering the phenomenon of manmade floods for which there is no solution currently.

Therefore, it is difficult these days to explain environmental decay and collapse without evoking President Tibuhaburwa Museveni. His policies, which he initiates himself and then retrospectively legitimises as government policies by giving them legal force, are likely to be remembered as the real force behind environmental decay and collapse in Uganda towards and in the 21st century.

Wastage of Environmental Professionalism  

In my retirement, I frequently reflect on why I became the third professional conservation biologist in Uganda, and why I spent years training conservationists and environmentalists at Makerere University, Uganda. Because of the presidentialism of President Tibuhaburwa Museveni, whereby he is in everything small and big, these are unable to apply their professionalism to the conservation and management of Uganda’s environment. They only do the bidding of the President.

Nevertheless, the university education system continues to academicise the environment and environmental conservation and management just to produce papered graduates. As if this is not bad enough, President Tibuhaburwa Museveni controls the National Budget making, in such a way that military security, State House take far more money than health, social development, environment, environmental health, environmental security and environmental development.

Yet, everything else fails if the environmental foundations are weak or jeopardised. The political perception of environment as just something for exploitation to satisfy human greed and needs must change if we are to make any headway in the 21st century and beyond.

Uganda has lost 41.6% of its forest cover in the last 100 years (1921-2021). In 1900, Uganda’s forest cover stood at 54% and by 2017, it stood at a miserable 12.4%. There is consistent pressure on land for cultivation and settlement and increasing demand for wood fuel. While efforts have been made to restore the forest cover, the population has not been adequately involved in this restoration process.

It is against this background that we address climate change and deforestation as global problems that require a global response. 94% of Ugandans rely on unsustainably sourced fuel wood, with gas being prohibitively expensive, the vast majority of Ugandans rely on charcoal or firewood that has been harvested from national forests or the private lands of impoverished farmers. There has been a 180% charcoal price increase in the past six years (Tukwatanite, 2023). 

Academicisation of the Environment  

When one academicises something, one makes it unreal. Therefore, when one academicizes the environment one turns it into an academic concern, which does not necessarily benefit the environment in terms of effective conservation and management. In fact, it introduces academic elitism in what was a social and cultural enterprise. Elitism is a vice not, a virtue or value. This can explain why many men and women with academic knowledge have failed to conserve and manage the environment effectively when they have been assigned the responsibility to do so. They are not men and women of reality but unreality, yet the environment is real (Oweyegha-Afunaduula, 2023).

Unreal environments, resulting from the academicisation of thinking and action (conserving and managing), end up being artificial environments, not greatly different from urban environments or plantations whose problems and solutions continue to be academicised. As such they are outward-looking, with wandering minds that are more comfortable externally than internally. They need mind liberation”. I may add that so disoriented, they are unlikely to be curious enough about nature to conserve and manage it for posterity as our ancestors did. They are likely to work in the interests of environmentally destructive forces (Oweyegha-Afunaduula, 2023).

Extractives -A Threat to Uganda’s Environmental Future

There is nothing which is destroying the environment of Uganda and poses to be the most environment-jeopardising factor well in the future as the extractives sector. The foundation in Uganda’s extractive sector is Karamoja and Busoga, which are also reputed to be the poorest regions in Uganda – financially -but are very rich mineral-wise, Unfortunately, their minerals are being clandestinely mined by people of extraneous origin (Chinese, Indians, Rwandese or former refugees connected to power) and exported without any beneft to the two regions.

Uganda’s extractives sector is rapidly transforming from small-scale and artisanal mining to large-scale industry in rural areas of the country. Extractives include oil, gas, and the accelerated licensing of mining operations as vast deposits of gold, uranium, copper, and rare earth minerals have been discovered, particularly in Busoga.

Such operations are accompanied by mega ‘infrastructure’ investments – roads, pipelines, power lines, and dam projects – which serve the industry and displace local communities, but not so in Karamoja and Busoga. Women bear the brunt of this. Extractivism is defined as the large-scale extraction of raw materials such as oil, minerals, or industrial agricultural and monocultural products intended not for local consumption but for export, which entails many countries’ integration into and dependency upon the capitalist world market (NAWAD, 2021).

Land Grabbing – A Threat to Uganda’s Environmental Future

In Uganda, the land rush has displaced communities to make space for intensive monocrops, oil exploration, and infrastructure projects. Government purchases land, often providing landowners with no choice and limited compensation, and then leases it to investors, including foreign companies. The economic ideology espoused by governments throughout Africa and beyond is that increased foreign direct investment will create a more developed and prosperous economy with jobs, wealth, improved social services for all, and better living conditions (NAWAD, 2021).

Due to land grabbing, native forests and local biodiversity are being lost, people are being evicted from their homes and forced to give up their lands, along with all the other problems linked to the large-scale use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers. Some individual cases are reported in the booklet ‘Let’s expose Land Grabbing’ published by Slow Food and available for free download on the Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity website. Slow Food projects in Uganda aim to empower local small-scale food producers and aid them in their fight against land grabbing (farmlandgrabbing.org, 2017).

I have already mentioned elsewhere in this article that land grabbing is erasing our time-tested food security-imparting agroecological systems Mourice Muhoozi (2023) wrote that agroecology can help to restore Uganda’s lost green cover. However, what is going on in the country in the area of land grabbing, sometimes as if government allows it, and mostly by government agents, does not give much hope for agroecology. Therefore, the erosion of our 7 or 8 agroecological systems is likely to worsen with the passage of time.

In one short sentence Uganda’s environmental future is jeopardised.

What Is the Way Forward?

The environmental future of Uganda is and should be squarely in the hands of the youth. Our country’s population is more than 80% youthful. Unfortunately, thousands of our youth are being ferried out to the Middle East to work as external slaves. Environmentally speaking they re being taken out of their environment to a foreign environment where they are no more than environmental pollutants. When they come back, they will find a completely different environment where they will also be environmental pollutants.

This is environmental sabotage because Uganda needs its youth to ensure that Uganda has a secure environmental future of which they are a part and can work in to create a secure, productive country. The Basoga of Ugnda say “Emiti Emito N’ekibira” (Young trees make the forest). If we are to ensure a sustainable future for Uganda and its people, we must depend on our youth to who the future belongs. There is, therefore, need to focus on the youth when building a sustainable environmental future. Mahdi Kolahi (2023) has given 10 essential skills that the youth should be equipped with and which they must master in building sustainable futures. These are:

1          Environmental literacy is the understanding of the natural world, ecosystems, environmental issues, and human-environment interconnections. It enables individuals to analyze, evaluate, and take responsible actions to protect and sustain the environment, contributing to a more sustainable and environmentally conscious society.

2          Critical thinking and problem-solving skills involve analyzing information, evaluating evidence, and making reasoned decisions. It includes logical reasoning, objective evaluation, and the ability to identify and solve complex problems. These skills are essential for navigating the complexities of the modern world and addressing issues effectively.

3          Collaboration and communication skills involve effectively sharing ideas and information in teams. Collaboration requires pooling resources, active listening, empathy, and constructive contribution. Effective communication involves conveying ideas clearly, actively listening, and fostering open dialogue. These skills are crucial for achieving shared objectives in diverse and dynamic environments.

4          Leadership and advocacy skills empower individuals to drive positive change and influence others toward a common vision or cause. Effective leadership and advocacy require strong communication, strategic thinking, empathy, and the ability to navigate complex systems. These skills play a crucial role in promoting sustainability, addressing environmental challenges, and creating a more just and equitable world.

5          Innovation and creativity drive progress and spur new ideas and solutions. Both are crucial in finding sustainable solutions to complex environmental issues and fostering a more resilient and inclusive future.

6          Cultural competence and inclusivity involve understanding, respecting, and effectively engaging with diverse cultures and communities. Embracing these skills fosters cross-cultural understanding, collaboration, and social equity, leading to more sustainable and harmonious interactions between human societies and the environment.

7          Resilience and adaptability are crucial qualities for individuals and communities to thrive in a rapidly changing world. Cultivating these qualities helps individuals and communities respond to changing environmental conditions, promote sustainable practices, and build a more resilient future.

8          Systems thinking involves understanding the interconnectedness of different parts of a complex system and is crucial for addressing complex problems. Developing systems thinking skills involves analyzing complex systems and identifying feedback loops, enabling young people to contribute to a more sustainable and just future.

9          Data analysis involves examining and interpreting data to gain insights and make informed decisions. Data analysis skills are essential for making evidence-based decisions in various fields. Developing these skills helps young people make informed decisions and contribute to a more data-driven and evidence-based world.

10        Being action-oriented involves taking initiative and being proactive in addressing challenges and opportunities. This skill is crucial for personal and professional success and contributes to a more sustainable and just future. Developing these skills helps young people become effective problem solvers and agents of change.

For God and My Country

Oweyegha-Afunaduula is a member of Center for Critical Thinking and Alternative Analysis