Namutumba farmer groups get Shs1.4b from EU to leave wetlands

At least 886 farmer groups in Namutumba District are to benefit from Shs1.4b livelihood support from the European Union (EU) as alternative income after the government requested them to leave wetlands.

Reports indicate a more than 30 percent decline in the national area of wetlands in Uganda in the last three decades.

The District Natural Resources Officer, Dauda Ikaba, said the beneficiaries of the EU funding are farmers who joined farmers’ groups – and have had wetlands as their livelihood.

“Affected farmers from 14 villages and three sub-counties who have been practicing rice farming along River Mpologoma are the targeted beneficiaries because they have been evicted from wetlands,” Ikaba told Monitor on Wednesday.

He added: “The Sub-counties of Ivukula, Kiwanyi and Mazuba are the most affected because they border River Mpologoma. Government is not giving out cash, but the affected farmers are going to be given cattle, goats, piglets, turkeys and chicken.”

According to him, government has already procured 434 cattle, 413 goats, 71 piglets, 27 turkeys and 375 chicks to support the affected farmer groups in the district.

He further explained that mapping of wetland boundaries and placing mark stones began in the district two years ago and already affected farmers groups in Mazuba Sub-county got their support and their enterprises are profiting.

However, Mr Peter Bagaga, a farmer in Bugumura Village, Ivukula Sub-county, said he expected government to compensate individuals with cash, not livestock.

“The government is not valuing the land we inherited from our fathers and forefathers. Which type of business are we doing by exchanging land with chickens, piglets and turkey?” he asked.

Ms Margret Nalubega, an official from the Ministry of Water and Environment, however, clarified that the government is not compensating the farmers, but giving them alternative livelihood support because wetlands belong to government.

She added that: “Namutumba is among the 12 districts in Busoga Sub-region and Eastern Uganda whose farmers were ordered by President Museveni to stop growing rice in wetlands and preserve them for fish farming and other activities.”

According to Ms Nalubega, the mapping and demarcation of wetland boundaries is ongoing in Namutumba and other districts, and that the demarcated areas are now a “warzone” for rice growing.

Namutumba Woman Member of Parliament Mariam Naigaga called for more sensitisation of affected farmers, especially those who chose poultry and piggery as their valuable enterprises.

“The first disbursement in the district went to farmers in Mazuba Sub-county, but farmers lost cattle, goats, turkeys and chickens because they were not sensitised on how best to look after them.”