Ugandans will be hurt most by climate change because of proximity to the globe’s warmest points, a top finance expert has warned. 

This gloomy forecast put pressure on the government to consider striking a balance between the environment and investment.
Takatoshi Kato, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Deputy Managing Director, says that “recent estimates suggest the effects of climate change will be greater in countries located closer to the equator.”

He said that in some of the poorest countries, “the damage – when measured as a reduction in agricultural productivity – could reach devastating levels of greater than 50 percent.”
Uganda is among the 14 countries that the Equator crosses.
Climate change is caused by carbon emissions into the air, which disrupt the weather cycle leading to floods and long spells of drought. Climate change was partly the reason behind the falling water levels of Lake Victoria – blamed for the reduced electricity generation capacity. The shortage of electricity plunged the country in darkness in 2006 and almost brought the country’s economy to near breakdown.

Takatoshi’s statement comes at a time when the world faces a looming threat of a food crisis, partly caused by effects of global warming.

Prices of such foods like rice and wheat are selling at a cost last seen more than a decade ago. As a result of the increase in the price of food, riots have broken out in countries like Haiti, Egypt and most recently neighbouring Kenya. 

Recently, the world celebrated the World Environment Day focusing on the effects of carbon and energy use. Although the issue of climate change is yet to attract heated debates in Uganda, the recipe of a catastrophe lie there in. For example, donor support to the National Environment Management Authority is dwindling – a factor bound to make its regulation of the environment difficult.
Then again, 92% of Ugandans depend on firewood for cooking. This means that the locals are forced to cut down trees and emit more carbon in the atmosphere when the firewood is burnt.

Everisto Mugambwa Kizito, the communication officer at NEMA, notes that “After realizing that we depend on bio-fuels, we can’t wake up and say stop using firewood. What we are preaching is that it should be used sustainably.”

That message might have come too late for some people. In the dry region of Karamoja, the scarcity of food has seen the local population there carry out raids in neighbouring regions, targeting chicken, pigs, cows, anything edible. Those who cannot stand the situations are said to be crossing over to Western Kenya. 

The World Food Programme, which operates in Northern Uganda, is said to be short of money to buy food supplies. The UN agency estimates that $500 million is needed to feed the needy worldwide.
Takatoshi advises that one of the best ways to avoid effects of climate change is to increase the amount of income earned by the population. He explains that “rising income levels can create the fiscal space needed to meet additional demand on public spending, both on climate-related public goods and to protect programmes affected by climate change”.

But Takatoshi calls for caution.
“It is important to guard against the possibility that efforts to adapt to climate change would detract from wider developmental objectives.” This is an issue that Uganda’s government continues to grapple with. 

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

Show/Hide comments

Show/Hide comment form