{UAH} Is Uganda a Tropical Region - Country? Thank you NRM

 

Is Uganda Still a Tropical Region - Country?

Your guess is good as mine.  It is November and the heat is enormous. Uganda appears to have lost the two Maxma that is the two wet and hot seasons. Grasshopper vendors are counting loss as the indexical insect has not come in time at all. Be careful with planting in March or August, no one appears to be in the know of the current climate patterns.

It rains or it doesn't.

But let us look at given parameters by posing a question, what is a tropic region, what this means to Uganda and what Churchill really meant by the pearl of Africa.

The road from Kampala to Fortportal has only two visible forests. One largely degraded central forest reserve between Bujuko and Mityana and another as one enters Fortportal town with Basajjabalaba's tea platations.

The road from Kampala to Mbale has only one forest parches of what remains of Mabira forests, the rest of the vegetation can only be classed as savannah grasslands or better still NRM's sugar cane.

The road between Kampala and Atiak has no forest apart from parches of bushes in between  Kawanda and  Luwero and shrubs around Karuma bridge. A good part of what is Bulemezi and Acoli land is grassland.

From Kampala to Kabale the only forest one can see are the forest between Mpigi and Rwera these go up to Butambala area – the rest are savannah grasslands and marshes.

The above implies that Uganda within the next 20 years, if politicians do not act up, will effectively have turned Uganda into a semi-arid region and a great savannah grass land.

It is good for cattle rearing!

Loss of the tropical vegetation implies loss of good humus soils, loss of the dependant flora and fauna that comes with it. But more dangerously the loss of good humus soils made through a process termed as elluvitation can result into dangerous irrevisible agriculture set backs.

One will reason but the climate?

Yes, It really doesn't matter even if we are in a tropical climatic region. But there is nothing like climatic zones for climate is a factor of vegetation cover and global currents. The two are changing rapidly on a local, regional and global scale.  

 Good soils have a direct effect on vegetation cover. Vegetation cover can directly contribute to increased precipitation hence rainfall. So where is Uganda now?

With Kigezi forests gone, there are limited chances for global currents will bring in enough rainfall from the Atlantic Ocean. With low rainfall, the vegetation cover will change drastically hence all that we are used to know; in agriculture, sleeping under a blanket etc.

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Daniel Bwanika

www.idrc-ug.com

http://www.siup.ac.ug/wordpress/