Although environmental degradation has been linked to the cutting down of trees, encroachment on wetlands, and prolonged droughts among others, agriculture activities too have been identified as another cause.
According to Dr Antonio Querido, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Country Representative, agriculture practices contribute 30% towards environmental degradation.
He said this is done through poor soil management practices, excessive use of agriculture chemicals like pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, and poor handling of animal waste that led to the production of methane gas.
He added that when methane gas combines with carbondioxide, it increases the temperatures leading to prolonged droughts among others.
He said such practices are interfering with the efforts of development organizations and the government to ensure that there is adequate food production which is safe and nutritious for all.
“So, the challenge for us is how can we achieve better production for better nutrition without destroying the environment. This is the challenge,” Querido said.
He sounded the alarm on Thursday during a media dialogue at Onomo Hotel, in which FAO unveiled several programs that they intend to roll out in Uganda, working with the government through the different ministries, departments and agencies.
He also called on the media to exercise accuracy when reporting about the programs for the public to be informed with relevant and accurate information.
Some of the planned programs include; the Sustainable Wood-Based Value Chains in Uganda (SWB-VC) in which FAO and government through the Ministry of Water and Environment plan to restore degraded forests on private land, promote more efficient wood carbonization technology to reduce wood wastage, promote the establishment of woodlots to provide a more sustainable source of wood.
The other program is on Early Warning (EW) + Anticipatory Action (AA) in Uganda, where to date, a total of 340+ early warning bulletins have reached over 650,000 people across the Karamoja region accompanied with early warning information and advisories through various channels on drought, floods, crop/livestock pests and diseases among others.
Through the Cash and Voucher Assistance (CVA) program, in which cash transfers of about $3,248,328 have been sent to 22000+ households. In the near future, the plan is to encourage the usage of E-vouchers in future to support farmers and agribusiness.
Working with the Ministry of Agriculture, FAO plans to complete the 300-acre rice demo sites and 60-acre foxtail millet demos, launch 50 small biogas digesters and commercialize value-added products like rice wine, and millet snacks among others.
They also plan to finalize variety releases for sorghum and expand livestock and aquaculture hubs; introduce nine big ear goats to Uganda and also support Uganda’s Agro-Industrialization Program to align with the goals of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) whose aim is to transform African agriculture, achieve food security, and promote economic growth through agricultural-led development, with a focus on sustainable and resilient agrifood systems.
Other interventions will be in the livestock sector where attention will be on how to mitigate zoonotic diseases and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) risks and related threats in Uganda through the One Health approach;
Under the Climate change docket, the plan is to strengthen farmers’ resilience & adaptation to climate change through the promotion of community-based multiplication and dissemination of crop varieties that are stress tolerant, have better yields and can boost farmers’ incomes.
They also plan to promote Climate Smart Agricultural technologies that can lead to increased coffee yields by more than 4 times;
For the fisheries and aquaculture sector, the plan is to address causes of a decline in major commercial fish species, counter increased capture and trade in immature fish and use of prohibited fish gear and also find a solution to the high post-harvest losses now at 25% among others.
The dialogue that was organized by FAO was attended by officials from the Ministry of Agriculture, Media personnel and experts from the FAO.
LEAD PHOTO CAPTION: Dr Antonio Querido, the FAO country representative makes his case for accurate reporting. (Courtesy photo)
