200809182089 | Uganda being turned into a desert

Uganda being turned into a desert

The food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) have predicted that unless the current climate changes are addressed, Uganda risks being turned into a desert and that 80% of the Country would become a desert within 100 years.

"Uganda has been experiencing climate changes, which have caused the disappearance of water bodies, decline in food production as well as droughts since 1990". Percy Misika the Fao representative has said. He has attributed it all mainly to global warming and green house gases effect. but he has also blamed Ugandans for cutting down forests and trees without replacing them.

This was at a sensitisation workshop for journalists at Hotel Africana in Kampala. Misika said in Karamoja, seven droughts hit the region between 1991 and 2000 as opposed to the usual one every 10 years.

He warned that the promotion of bio-fuel could lead to environmental degradation. “Bio-energy can mitigate climate change, but not when forests are cleared to cultivate energy stocks, or when it competes for land and water resources that would otherwise go to food production,” he said.