Sarah Angolere, a mother of five children, who has benefiting from collecting the gum, says it is a very lucrative business and alternative source of livelihood for many women and men who could not afford to dig. "By now we could be harvesting the gum because this is the time but now all the trees that produce gum have been destroyed," she said.
Mr. Isaac Bwire the official from International Institute of Rural Reconstruction (IIRR) however, said the rapid degradation of range land can be stopped if the districts of Karamoja can pass by-laws against environmental destruction in the region.
Dr. Alice Lamwaka, a senior lecturer in the Faculty of Bio-Technology and Pharmaceutical Studies also the head of the center, says the money is needed to set up a structure to serve as a clinic, buy furniture, motivate staff and conducting trials for various herbal medicines.
