As Uganda aims for a 24.7 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, some stakeholders are concerned about the low adoption of mitigation measures in the country’s cattle corridor areas, where methane emissions are concentrated.
Nakasongola District is one of the areas with high concentration of greenhouse emissions. The livestock farmers are reportedly questioning some of the mitigation measures, such as reduction in numbers of animals kept, cultivation of improved pastures, and planting of trees in areas where vegetation clearing is rampant.
Under the Support to Rural Sustainable Transformation project, a programme funded by the European Union between 2021 and 2024, targeting the cattle farming population in Nakasongola District, a study revealed excess methane gases (greenhouse gases) emitted into the atmosphere from domestic animals, including cattle, and the rampant bush clearing by the farmers.
The findings from the research, according to Nakasongola District Production Officer, Ms Sarah Nakatte, revealed excess methane gas release into the atmosphere in areas where the livestock farmers are concentrated.
‘The methane released into the atmosphere is from the cow dung, animal belching, with a suggestion that farmers adhere to modern farming practices like improved farm forages, and plant trees near their farms,’ she says.
Ms Nakatte advises farmers to start converting the excess cow dung into biogas since the dung left at the farm contributes to excess greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere. Environmentalists say the amount of methane produced by the animals is related to the quality of feeds that the animals consume.
In Nakasongola District, like many other cattle corridor districts, the animals feed on natural tropical pastures which are low in crude protein content.
Dr Alfred Baker Namika, a veterinary practitioner in private practice and a farmer, says the low adaptation to modern farm animal feeds largely contributes to the high methane gas release into the atmosphere.
‘Our farmers in areas of Nakasongola still believe that the modern pastures grown on the farm are expensive and not very nutritious for the cattle. The farmers are still stuck on the communal grazing methods, where the animals feed on local grasses on free range. The poor feeding mechanism contributes to the high methane gas released by the animals,’ he says.
Dr Namika suggests that the possibility of convincing farmers to buy into the idea of reducing the number of animals kept at their respective farms to mitigate methane gas release may not be the viable option for farmers in the cattle corridor areas.
‘We need to preach the improved farming practices that encourage growth of modern grasses for animal forage including conserved feeds such as silage and hay. These grasses can be grown at the farmer’s respective farms,’ he advises.
Through the promotion of climate-smart agriculture practices, farmers in Nakasongola are being sensitised and encouraged to graze animals in controlled areas where forage grasses will be cultivated for animal feeding.
Many farmers in Nakasongola believe in having large herds while still stuck on the indigenous and rudimentary farm practices. Mr Sam Kigula, the Nakasongola District LC5 chairperson, says the farmers need more sensitisation.
Farmers not aware
While the government, in partnership with the European Union, commissioned a project between 2021 and 2024 to provide accurate data on carbon emissions from the cattle industry, including climate-smart agriculture practices as a mitigation campaign, a section of farmers has significantly stuck to unsafe farming practices.
Mr Abel Ssemudu, a livestock farmer who owns 76 cows in Nabiswera Subcounty, Nakasongola District, says the modern farming practices demand that animals remain in paddocks and graze on improved grasses that are not easily available to the local farmers.
‘We have limited land and lack the highly needed technology to produce processed foods for animals at the paddocks. The type of grasses recommended, including the Napier, Rhodes, and Guinea grasses, demand bigger land and enough water for cultivation,’ he says.
Mr Wilson Wasswa, another farmer at Kimage Village in Nabiswera Sub-county, Nakasongola District, says the land in Nakasongola has become bare because of bush clearing and tree felling targeting charcoal burning.
‘The campaign to mitigate climate change should target tree planting that partly contributes to the mitigation measures in a healthy environment. The farmers are struggling with extra high temperatures and a lack of water sources for the survival of animals at the respective farms,’ he says.
But State Minister for Animal Industry Bright Rwamirama says the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries has been sensitising farmers about the need to shift to improved farm practices that target improved production through growth of forage grasses.
‘It is not true that the forage grasses, such as the Napier, grow on special soils. The farmers who are growing the forage have already started testing the fruits of the good farming practices. Nomadic farming has no place in modern farming. The pasture grasses are available. We also have trained extension workers to advise farmers,’ he says.
Deforestation in Nakasongola
Conservationists say Nakasongola is among the areas that have suffered forest depletion as a result of human activities linked to high greenhouse emissions.
The forest cover is a mitigation measure for greenhouse emissions. Global Forest Watch report indicates that Nakasongola lost 44.9Kha of forest cover, an equivalent of 2,000 hectares of tree cover between 2002 and 2024. This translates to 18.4 metric tonnes of methane emissions (greenhouse gas) released into the atmosphere.
The forests act as carbon sinks, absorbing the methane from the atmosphere. Experts say deforestation, a characteristic in many livestock farming areas, exacerbates the greenhouse effect and contributes to climate change. It is estimated that about 97 percent of Uganda’s land area is suffering from some form of human-induced degradation.
The uncontrolled tree felling, poor livestock farm practices are contributory factors to the higher amounts of methane released into the atmosphere in Nakasongola District.
Soil erosion, extreme heat and reduced water, and long dry spells experienced in parts of Nakasongola have been linked to the poor land use activity by the mainly pastoral community in the area.
Projections indicate a significant increase to 148.8 million tonnes of methane (greenhouse gas emissions) by the year 2030 and 235.7 million tonnes by 2050 if the country fails to adapt to the set mitigation measures. Under the new climate change plan, Uganda’s target is a 24.7 percent greenhouse gas emissions reduction by the year 2030.
The previous update was 22 percent. This will be built through adaptation
plans and resilience in sectors such as agriculture, health infrastructure, and ecosystems.
A section of climate change activists and conservationists say key players, including the Local Governments, are yet to prioritise intervention plans that should be part of their respective budget processes.
Mr John Mary Kabyanga, a conservationist attached to Awake Nature Concern Disciples Uganda (ANCODU), urges both government and district leaders to actualise their intervention plans and mitigation measures through budget allocations targeting climate change mitigation measures.
‘Many of the local governments lack special budgets for climate change mitigation intervention plans. It is not a priority. Even in the most affected regions that include the cattle corridor areas, the respective district budgets have no special budget allocations for climate change activities,’ he says.
Adaptation to modern feeds.
Our farmers in areas of Nakasongola still believe that the modern pastures grown on the farm are expensive and not very nutritious for the cattle.
The farmers are still stuck on the communal grazing methods, where the animals feed on local grasses on free range.
The poor feeding mechanism contributes to the high methane gas released by the animals- Dr Alfred Baker Namika, a veterinary practitioner in private practice and farmer.