The contribution of river Nile to the livelihoods of the people of Uganda; case study, Namasagali sub county.

Abstract

The topic of study was the contribution of River Nile to the people of Uganda using Namasagali Sub County as its case study. The major objective of the study was to examine contributions of river Nile to the livelihoods of the people of Namasagali. The study was cross sectional where by both qualitative and quantitative approaches were used to collect data. To efficiently conduct the study, the researcher targeted 50 households located in Namasagali Sub county to make a more scientifically justifiable sampling frame. A stratified random sampling method was used. The data collected through conducting interviews and using self-administered questionnaires by respondents. The data was analysed using EXCEL and SPSS version 16 which facilitated the formation of frequency tables, graphs and cross tabulations. The research the found out that fishing on river Nile had greatly improved the livelihoods of the people through creation of employment, earning income through selling fish and provision of cheap animal proteins as a source of food, the tourism activities in the area had created employment opportunities for boat riders, relaxation and body refreshment through activities like swimming and site viewing, water transport had improved livelihoods through saving the income passengers since it was cheap and the saved income would be used to meet other social needs, water use had improved livelihoods through The conclusions were that the water was used for purposes like cooking, selling, drinking, irrigation; building bathing among others, the tilapia was the major type of fish Caught in the area which was used for eating selling or both. The tourism activities included swimming sunbathing, and site viewing. Water transport in the area was very cheap as compared to other transport means. Recommendations of the study were raised and these included; attracting mote private investors in recreational activities so as to improve tourism in the area, subsidization of the fishermen so as to increase on the level of fishing activities, co management Of the water resource, public sensitization to create awareness about the water resource.