MBARARA – The Uganda National Meteorological Authority (UNMA) has asked farmers in the Western region to plant perennial crops to fully utilize the anticipated heavy rains during the months of April and May 2022.
These remarks were made during the National Meteorological Day celebrations which were held in Mbarara City.
According to Abubakar Kalema, the Senior Meteorologist, the authority issued a seasonal forecast on 23rd February, 2022 showing lots of rains to be received in Mbarara and its neighboring districts and calling upon farmers to prepare their gardens.
“We gave a weather forecast and it was like Mbarara and nearby districts of Kabale and even in Kiruhura, were supposed to start receiving rain around late February but later we got into a dry spell which was a little bit prolonged. This was caused by some cyclones (pressure systems which pulls most winds wherever they are and drained). But now we are back to our normal rains and around mid-April towards mid-May is the period we expect a lot of rainfall in this region and then a dry spell around early June,” Kalema explained.
“Let us use this time to plant perennial crops like coffee, mangoes and bananas that require a lot of water at germination stage so that by the time we get into the dry season they have already grown,” Kalema adds.
“We expect to have normal rains which are sufficient enough to cater for the perennial crops to sustain them to reach that maturity stage,” he said.
The weather analyst adds that the February early season forecast was impactful to the Office of the Prime Minister which secured Shs 20bn funds to support affected farmers.
Kalema says, UNMA is mandated with monitoring weather and climate but with other institutions where the forecast is disseminated to play other advisory roles such as the Office of the Prime Minister which has the National Emergency Coordination and Disaster Preparedness (NECODP).
“We don’t work in isolation; we work with departments of other sectors of agriculture and food security such as MAAIF to come up with advisories that are tendered to their expertise. We also work directly with the Office of the Prime Minister to come up with anticipated disasters,” he explained.
The weather expert however appealed to the government and stakeholders in the Office of the Prime Minister to immediately release the reserved funds totaling to Shs 20 billions to support the farmers who are badly hit by the weather calamities.
“As we talk now in the beginning of this year, when we produced the forecast, the disaster and preparedness department was able to put aside about Shs 20bn as a contingency fund for our people who will be affected by weather calamities. Funds are there and if you get your gardens or homes destroyed, you report and you can tap into that support,” says Kalema
He also encouraged farmers to embrace rainwater harvest which can always serve a purpose during the dry spell.
“Uganda being an agricultural country, we put this information into actionable points for the farmers to take appropriate decisions. Like in Western Uganda, they are more into banana production, so let us mulch so that we don’t lose this water so easily,” Kalema emphasized.
“When we produce the forecast, we emphasize the issue of water harvesting, whenever we get any rains let us maintain water in our gardens and also harvest water using the water harvesting technologies like tanks,” he added.
Kalema also advised livestock farmers to stock animal drugs saying ticks, pests and diseases do escalate during the rainy season.
“When it comes to animal keepers, rainy conditions are favorable for ticks, pests and diseases to manifest and develop so let us stock drugs and also consult extension workers for local advisory services,” he said.
Also, Lillian Nkwenge, the Principal Public Relations Officer of UNMA added that the forecast extends health advisory to the health experts.
“Vectors and organisms can’t live without weather, so when we produce this information, we reach experts like the medical doctors, the agricultural experts and the veterinary doctors to come up with sector advisory,” Nkwenge said adds>
Solomon Manwen, Manager Engineering, and ICT department confirmed that the authority has so far procured 3 radars to detect weather in the entire country.
“We now have a radar in Mwizi-Rwampara, another in Entebbe and another one in Lira University covering the whole country. So, I can comfortably confirm that with such sophisticated technologies, we are the weather giant in the East African region, and we cannot fail to detect severe weather issues that come at any point,” says Manwen.
Kabunduguza, both a banana and a dairy farmer in Kashari says, the early weather forecast should reach the intended users in time to act and reduce the impact of disasters.
“Forecasts are given at national level instead of being tailored to the village level, yet we want our farmers to understand this information and receive early warning for early action since we are more interested in the season’s performance to plan for each crop to plant and which kind of the diseases will affect our crops.”
David W. Elweru, Executive Director UNMA, challenged his staff to embark on impact-based forecasting and indulge in serious research to improve weather monitoring systems.
“Let’s have an impact but not just to forecast for the sake of forecasting because we are trying to understand what weather is likely to be,” Elweru said
He also warned the public to desist from exploiting natural resources which has led to climatic change and global warming.
“Uganda experiences several disasters caused by nature like landslides, floods and others induced by human factors such as land mismanagement, deforestation, destruction of wetlands, poor drainage system, and worsened by the human population,” UNMA boss said.
Lt Col James Mwesigye reported that swamp reclamation and restoration of wetlands has been interfered with by corrupt leaders in the government.
“Why should River Rwizi dry up when there is a concerned ministry? Why should it get contaminated when we have a fully constituted water and environment department in place? So, its corruption which is ruining our environment,” says Mwesigye
“How can we fail to have rain? We are enemies of the environment by ourselves because those with animals normally clear farms and are cutting trees without replacing them,” Robert Kakyebezi, Mayor Mbarara City added.
Kakyebezi encouraged the city leadership and Ministry of Water and Environment to restore R. Rwizi which is the main source of water in Mbarara.
In a speech read by David Mugabi, representing Hon Beatrice Anywar, the State Minister for Environment asked Ugandans to embrace environmental conservation.
“Weather and climate have no boundary to the last person who is breathing his last because weather is needed in all our activities,” reads part of the speech.
She also challenged UNMA to make sure that early weather warnings reach the last mile to the most vulnerable who need them most.
David Mugabi, acting Commissioner Environment Sector support service encouraged Ugandans to live in the adaptation mode to solve the looming climate crisis.
“Unless we guard our wetlands, protect riverbanks and water sources, we are going to have scarcity of water which will result into scrambling for the little resources and eventually turn into insecurity and conflicts as people start fighting for the little resources,” he said.
The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Gutierrez said, in his state of the planet speech in New York last December 2021, that humanity has been waging a war against nature, and that the time has come, before it is too late, for us to make peace with nature.
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