Steven Bugiri Kashaka, a farmer in Kanyaryeru Sub County says that almost all the dams that have been constructed in the area have dried up due to the heavy drought. According to him, communal dams dried up first after being overwhelmed by the animals because farmers could not afford the cost of excavators and bulldozer machines to dig their own dams.
Cattle
farmers in Kazo and Kiruhura districts are struggling to find water for their animals as communal dams are drying up as a result of the drought in the area. The Ankole
cattle corridor has been hit by heavy drought since mid-May and it's feared that this may extend until late August.
Steven
Bugiri Kashaka, a farmer in Kanyaryeru Sub County says that almost all the dams that have been constructed in the area have dried up due to the heavy drought. According to him, communal dams dried up first after being overwhelmed by the animals because farmers could not afford the cost of excavators and bulldozer machines to dig their own dams.
//Cue in;
“omu bunaku bwomushana…
Cue out…aha bwobutagira maize.”//
He says that
this has been worsened by both the COVID-19 lockdown, an outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease -FMD and the resultant quarantine.
//Cue in;
“so far abantu…
Cue out…kutunga esente ezo.”//
Safari
Mugyenyi, a farmer from Sanga Town council says that their only solution during
the dry season has always been Lake Mburo National Park. However, farmers have now been blocked from accessing the park. He wants the
government to provide machines for farmers to dig more many dams for water harvesting.
//Cue in;
“Before when we…
Cue out…her own water.”//
James
Asiimwe, a Farmer in Kazo district says the movement of cattle to community dams
has always escalated the spread of Foot and Mouth Disease and
appeals to the government to provide water units at the local government level
so that farmers can access them and dig up their own water dams.
//Cue in;
“We are into…
Cue out…private water sources.”//
Kiruhura District Chairperson Dan Mukago says that they have secured one machine
from Kamwengye district to dig up at least 20 to 30
dams across the district. He says they
would want to construct five to six dams in every Sub-county. Kiruhura has 14 administrative Units.
//Cue in; “I
have called...
Cue out…he
goes back.”//
He asked
farmers who want dams to register with the sub-county and use this opportunity
to hire the government machine at a low cost of at least 3 or 4 million
shillings.
//Cue in;
“farmers should know…
Cue out…who want dams.”//
He says they
have allocated 1.2 billion Shillings to the agriculture department to construct
the dams and other issues and each financial year they construct two dams. Both Mukago
and the Kazo LCV Chairperson Rev. Samuel Mugisha say that the lack of these water
units is the reason they face water challenges during the dry
season.They
appealed to the government to provide the unit.
