River Nyamwamba at the verge of extinction. Will there still be life in Kasese?

A global forum for indigenous peoples, small islands and vulnerable communities

Submitted by Visitor on Mon, 17/08/2009 - 16:11.

Author: 

Twebaze Paul

River Nyamwamba is located in Kasese district in Western Uganda and is fed by melting glaciers from the mountains of the moon, (Rwenzori Mountain). It emerges from the mountain and flows to Lake George in the Albertine Rift. The once famous river known to support life and irrigational agriculture in Mubuku irrigation scheme has continuously been hurt by climate change and it is feared that soon its life will end. Until recently the people of Kasese area have entirely depended on the river as the main source of water for both agriculture and domestic use.

Previously the region had a bimodal climate, with two rainy seasons. One started in March and lasted until June. The second lasted from October until December. However these seasons have changed drastically to the extent that it is hard to predict the weather conditions and many dangers have come up as a result. Baluku Yofesi a farmer in Kasese District in western Uganda describes the changes as;-

"We used to have much more rainfall than we are having now, that's one big change, and to me this area is hotter than 20 years ago. Until about 1988 the climate was okay, we had two rainy seasons and they were very reliable. Now the March to June season in particular isn't reliable, which doesn't favor the crops we grow. On contrast the first rains come so hard and sweep away both crops and the soil causing massive land slides".

These changes mainly affected the subsistence farmers who depended on rain fed crops. The unreliability of rainfall made the area entirely depend on the river for irrigation where early mature varieties have since been emphasized leading to the disappearance of native traditional varieties.

The subsistence farmers who are experiencing the pinch of climate change have resorted to planting crop varieties which mature faster. Mr Baluku, a resident of Karughe says that because of the reduced rains, one has to go for fast-maturing varieties, and in the process, crops like pumpkin, cassava and beans have disappeared. Some of the farmers have stopped adopting seasonal planting and now try to plant all the time in case the rains come. They continuously plant seeds and this leads to wastage since not all of them produce crops.

The continued melting of glaciers from Mountain Rwenzori due to high temperatures is causing the river to carry more water down the stream as it dries up. During the morning, one can hardly see water in the river. In the middle of the hot day when ice has melted the water comes in large quantities with potential to sweep away bridges, crops and even flooding to people's houses down stream.

The people living around Mountain Rwenzori have cultural values attached to it, thus the effects of climate on these people do not only affect their activities but cultures as well. Kule Musinguzi, a resident of Kasese believes that the snow on top of Rwenzori Mountain is key to the survival of his tribesmen. The name 'Abanyarwenzururu', he says, means 'people from the land of snow'. This makes Musinguzi and his tribesmen more worried about the melting glaciers supplying river Nyamwamba. They believe that when the snow disappears completely the people will disappear as well.

The current climatic changes and behavior of the river is believed to be controlled by the gods who live in the mountain. It is believed that when the gods become un happy and irritated they release a lot of disastrous water at ago aimed at punishing the community for wrong doing. Residents remain uncertain of how they will live minus the river.

ByTwebazePaul,
Pro-biodiversity conservationists in Uganda (PROBICOU).