By Prossy Nandudu
Regular monitoring and continuous sensitization of oil palm growers in Kalangala district will lead to sustainable production, according to Donal Brown of the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD).
That way, farmers will for instance stick to the rule of planting oil palm 200 metres off the shore.
Brown said such practices in oil palm growing areas around Lake Victoria would help to protect the lake as well as ensure sustainable livelihoods of the islanders.
He is the associate vice-president of IFAD’s Programme Management Department.
Brown made the comments in an interview at the end of a one-week visit to oil palm growing areas and livelihood projects in northern Uganda.
“You always need to continue to be very vigilant but there are very strict rules which even the farmers cooperatives can enforce,” he said.
Brown said local authorities should work closely with the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) to ensure that activities of farmers protect the environment and lakes.
“From our observation, enforcement seems to be working very well and farmers told us on Thursday that they don’t want the soil to get eroded into the lake because it pollutes the lake.
“They actually understand the consequences of degradation.”
Brown has been part of an 11-strong IFAD executive board team that has been in Uganda to witness IFAD’s work on the ground.
In Kalangala, the team was accompanied by Uganda’s agriculture state minister Fred Kyakulga Bwino while in the north, the group was accompanied by the agriculture ministry’s permanent secretary, Maj. Gen. (Rtd) David Kasura Kyomukama.
They were also in the company of other officials from the agriculture ministry, especially those working on the IFAD-funded projects.
The projects include the National Oil Palm Project, National Oil Seed Project and the Project for the Restoration of Livelihoods in Northern Region (PRELNOR).
The projects have so benefitted many rural households by improving production and increasing incomes at household level.
