ENTEBBE — Environmentalists have camped in Uganda for a week-long retreat— discussing and offering solutions to challenges affecting fresh water sources in Africa under the Blue Heart of Africa Initiative.
The closed door meeting being held at Protea Hotel in Entebbe, South East of Ugandan capital Kampala is being attended by stakeholders from twelve African countries including Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Madagascar, Rwanda, Tunisia and Egypt.
Other participants include the donor community from Europe, Asia and the Americas.
Speaking to reporters at the sidelines of the meeting, Mr. David Duli, the Country Director, World Wide Fund for Nature Uganda Country Office said the Blue Heart of Africa Initiative unites freshwater work across Africa, to build partnerships and projects that deliver real progress.
Duli told reporters that fresh water sources are under significant risk and intense pressure—citing a sharp increase in demand due to high population growth and increasing agriculture/industrial activities, demand from rapid urbanization with inadequate governance strategies and innovation.
“The Blue Heart of Africa Initiative seeks to unify freshwater conservation activities across African landscapes and across stakeholders by providing an overarching framework that addresses Africa’s key freshwater challenges,” Mr. Duli said.
“We need to make sure that some of the government development or initiatives programmes that are coming in don’t encroach or affect negatively our water basis. It has to be sustained,” he said.
“The resilienceness of fresh water is exacerbate by the climate vulnerability. We have serious impact on Agriculture that we don’t have enough water to sustain our agricultural productivity or the food production and our land productivity has gone down,” he said, noting that this has impacted on the provision of labour and jobs for the young people.
Agriculture employs about 80% of the country’s people, with conservationist reasoning that “if it is affected by not having enough water for irrigation, it’s such something to worry about”.
Mr. Stuart Orr, the Practice Leader, Freshwater WWF International told reporters the initiative seeks to look at emerging issues in Africa that “we as WWF could support and work towards.”
“[The Blue Heart of Africa Initiative] focuses on Nature-based solutions and climate adaptation, inland fisheries but also connected to food security, water and sanitation challenges,” Mr. Orr said.
He explained that the initiative also seeks to support African countries to meet national, regional and global commitments towards water security and climate change— using a resilience lens, leveraging innovative finance, investing and building with nature, engaging the private sector and protecting vital freshwater biodiversity.
“We are trying to bring attention of water resources which is often missing in the conservation around climate change and the biodiversity crisis especially the species, climate and fresh water and make that connection to livelihoods, food security and other issues that are of importance to governments”.
Uganda hosts among the biggest fresh water towers in Africa. Mt. Rwenzori, the Greater Virunga and the Mt. Elgon Landscapes are sources of many rivers that do not only serve Uganda but the greater part of the continent.
These resources provide innumerable benefits to nature and biodiversity, freshwater resources support thousands of households through water for drinking, fresh water fishing, irrigation, transport. Water is also a key component in agricultural activities, generation of hydroelectricity and production of industrial goods and services. Uganda’s economy is directly and indirectly driven by the water sector, with about 24% of its GDP coming directly from agriculture activities.
Florence Grace Adongo, Director of Water Resources at the Ministry of Water and Environment, however revealed that 40 percent of Uganda’s wetlands have been lost since 1994, threatening biodiversity and reducing wetland infiltration capacity to protect water quality in lakes.
“Urbanization and agricultural expansion are rapidly degrading extensive wetlands. Over 40 percent of Uganda’s wetlands have been lost since 1994, threatening biodiversity and reducing wetland infiltration capacity to protect water quality in lakes. Existing irrigation plans aim to sustain agricultural development in wetlands,” Adongo told the meeting.
She however said government of Uganda has since instituted adequate policy, regulation and institutional frameworks to address management of water in the country, citing a designate Directorate of Water Resources Management (DWRM) charged with managing and developing water resources of Uganda in an integrated and sustainable manner.
This, she said will provide water of adequate quantity and quality for all social and economic needs for the present and future generations.
