Growing one type of crop season after season, also known as monoculture, coupled with overgrazing and excessive pesticide use are to blame for biodiversity loss across the country.
Through monoculture, more disease builds up in the soil and the soil nutrients get depleted, hence, low yield. It is estimated that agricultural practices globally account for 80% of worldwide deforestation.
This is because the practices expose the soil to fertility loss, affecting the growth of wild and indigenous plants, but also kills living organisms in the soil that support plant growth.
The observation was made by Alex Lwakuba, the commissioner of crop protection in the Ministry of Agriculture Animal Industry and Fisheries, while officiating at a biodiversity loss management meeting at Golden Tulip Hotel in Kampala, organised by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) recently.
In the meeting, stakeholders also discussed sustainable biodiversity management within agrifood systems, aligning with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework was adopted by 196 countries at the UN Biodiversity Conference in December 2022 and sets out an ambitious roadmap for a world living in harmony with nature.
Lwakuba noted that although Uganda is blessed with diverse resources, farmers’ agricultural practices have mishandled the soils.
While sharing his testimony, Lwakuba said he could no longer harvest 100 bags of maize from an acre.
“It is getting worse. Last season I planted 14 acres of maize; I harvested only 40 bags and yet I used inorganic fertilisers although I was a promoter of organic fertilisers.
“I started with DAP then later NPK but the prolonged drought due to biodiversity loss couldn’t allow me to harvest that much so the problem is real,” he added.
Lwakuba’s examples were further supported by the FAO deputy country representative, Charles Owach, who said conserving biodiversity enhances the resilience of the agriculture sector, reduces environmental impact and contributes to safe, healthy and nutritious food.
He added that agriculture-related drivers will account for around 70% of biodiversity loss and 50% of freshwater biodiversity loss by the year 2050, according to the PBL 2014 of the Netherlands Environment Assessment Agency.
Why act now?
In terms of losses, Owach added that FAO findings estimate that about 28% of the local domesticated animals are at risk of extinction while 38% of fish stocks are overfished and around 1,078 million hectares of forests are being lost globally.
Additional studies from 2004 suggest that Uganda loses about 1% of its biodiversity annually. Between 2000 and 2015 alone, Uganda lost approximately 1.8 million hectares.
“Many of the pressures driving this loss are linked to agrifood systems. This includes agriculture expansion into natural and semi-natural places such as forests and wetlands. Overexploitation of natural resources unsustainable agricultural intensification practices,” he said.
Managing loss
Paul Mugisha, the chief executive officer of Agape Innovations Limited, explained that most farmers use insecticides to control pests in their gardens not knowing that these also harm beneficial organisms, such as bees, contaminate soil by killing soil-dwelling organisms and make their way into the food sometimes causing health issues.
To help such farmers, they have come up with pheromone-based insect traps.
“These traps emit scents that attract only specific insect pests without harming beneficial insects. The male insects enter the trap, which has something like glue. While they get stuck, starve and eventually die, reducing the population and further damage. By using our traps, farmers can control pest damage effectively while protecting the environment,” Mugisha explained.
He adds that the traps can be used on various crops such as avocados, passion fruits, tomatoes, pumpkins, watermelons, flowers, onions, bananas, oranges, soursop and mangoes.
Solution to fertilisers
Mugisha explained that the over-reliance on synthetic fertilisers has led to the acidity of the soil and destruction of soil-dwelling organisms among others which he said can be addressed with the help of organic fertilisers produced from plant and food waste.
“Such fertilisers are not only nutrient-rich but also contain beneficial organisms, such as nitrogen-fixing bacteria, that enhance soil health,” Mugisha added.
What are the possible solutions?
Alex Lwakuba, the commissioner of crop protection in the agriculture ministry, said all stakeholders should identify nature-based solutions to restore and conserve biodiversity.
“We now need natural resources, conventional resources alone, we need multiple approaches to restore degraded land if we are to reverse this poverty,” he said.
He said the Government is determined to protect the country’s natural resources through policy reforms, including the National Environment Action Plan around 1994, and National Environment Management and related policies.
Other supportive policies that have been worked on include the land use policy completed in 2007, the agriculture extension policy, the national policy to conserve wetlands and associated policies among others addressing deforestation, desertification and biodiversity loss among other issues.
On behalf of development partners, FAO deputy country representative Charles Owach said through FAO’s mainstreaming biodiversity across the Agricultural Sector Project, they aim to strengthen policies that promote sustainable agriculture and food systems.
The project will also scale up sustainability and biodiversity practices to safeguard the livelihoods of small-scale producers, indigenous people and local communities.
“This initiative has supported several sector policy engagements like updating and aligning the project to the Uganda National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Forum which focuses on managing areas under agriculture, aquaculture, fisheries and areas under forests sustainably,” he said.
PHOTO LEAD CAPTION: Lwakuba (seated, third-left), FAO deputy country representative Charles Owach (seated, fourth-left) and other participants during ta biodiversity loss management meeting at the Golden Tulip Hotel in Kampala recently.
