Wetlands degradation and its impact on the livelihoods of people in Namasagali sub-county, Kamuli district.

Abstract

The major purpose of the study was to analyze the impact of wetland degradation to the livelihood of people in the study area (Namasagali sub-county). The objectives of the study were to; establish the impact of wetlands on people's income, access the contribution wetlands on the education status of people in the study area, find out the various causes of wetland degradation in the study area and recommend the best ways of conserving wetland resources in Namasagali sub-county. The study followed a descriptive research design and it employed both qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection where the qualitative methods enabled the study to identify variables used and the quantitative methods were used for quantifying variable for instance incomes of people. Field surveys were carried out in the four parishes of Kisaikye, Kasozi, Bwiza and Namasagali. A sample size of 120 respondents was selected and interviewed with 30 respondents from each parish to avoid bias in the research. To enable data collection, well designed questionnaires were presented for respondents to fill and give their opinions' towards the study where after data was checked, edited and coded. It was then entered in computer for processing several computer software and packages such as Micro-soft Excel and SPSS respectively where different descriptive frequency analysis was made. The findings of the study included; finding out the major wetlands in Namasagali Sub County which included; Nalwekomba wetland which is located to the south of Kamuli-Namasagali road from eastern Butansi sub-county, with a seasonal river flowing northwest past Namasagali downwards to R. Nile, Kisaikye wetland located within Kisaikye parish which is about 3500- 3450.ft, Buwampasa wetland located in Kasozi parish which is 3550-3500ft in altitude and Kakindu wetland located in the southern part of Bwiza parish (refer to appendix 4).I t was also found out from the study that; people's livelihoods depend on agriculture, livestock keeping, and exploitation of forest products such as wood for charcoal making and fishing in the seasonal rivers like river Nalwekomba found in Nalwekomba wetland. It was also revealed that many rich people in the study area had more access to wetland resources than the poor people because, of their cloaked ownership of the wetland resources (land lords). However, resource sustainability is a serious question due to resource degradation. Major conflicts were between the local people themselves over water use, livestock keeping and crop production. However, a number of strategies starting from grassroots level to higher level were coming up to minimize such conflicts. It was also found out that people's incomes do not depend on wetland conditions and there was no correlation between wetland degradation and education of the residents in Namasagali sub-county. The study therefore recommends the development of land use and management plans in order to enhance the use of wetland resources in the study area and in other parts of the country in a sustainable way.