INTRODUCTION:
This chapter presents some of the development challenges facing Arua District. It gives an analysis and explanations regarding service delivery levels in the district. It further highlights key investment priority areas for collaboration.
Arua District local government is mandated to deliver quality services to the community so as to realise improved quality of life for the populace. However, the district is faced with a lot of development challenges in realizing its development goal. The development challenges are discussed as below.
POOR FARMING PRACTICES:
Over 80% of the district’s active labour force is engaged in agriculture and most of them are in rural areas. The goal of production department is to improve the livelihoods of the people through transformation of farming from subsistence to commercial farming. The department also aims at improving household food and income security. However, this goal has not been realised due to insufficient extension services, most farmers are still small holders who produce on small plots and using traditional tools that is responsible for poor yields. There is limited farmers’ access to improved planting materials. Above all the farming community heavily rely on natural weather which is not easily predicted. There have often been situations of late start of rain which often affected agricultural production. This unreliable rainfall both in quantity and timing is still a big challenge to farmers as it often results into crop failure and loss of livestock during adverse weather conditions hence household food insecurity. The Government of Uganda has focused on increase of production and productivity in the agricultural sector as one of the major ways of improving the livelihoods of the population. This is expected to address the challenges of low household incomes and food insecurity.
INADEQUATE AND LIMITED ELECTRIFICATION:
A greater part of Arua District lacks electricity. The old thermal generator with a capacity of about 1.5MW of electricity which provides power for only a few hours a day, has for the last few months been non operational. The Nyagak hydro electric scheme from which the District is expected to benefit is far behind schedule. Lack of a reliable and sufficient source of electricity has kept the District backwards in terms of attracting investments in spite of its strategic location to the two neighbouring countries of the DRC and the Sudan; the high potential of the area of agricultural production and agro processing; and the high population which constitutes a big market for manufactured products among others. Only 0.8% of the households had access to electricity by 2002 population and housing census report. Lack of reliable power in the district is a big disincentive to investors and hampers value addition to agricultural products. The district has got a number of potential sites for hydro electricity generation. The district is now faced with the challenge of attracting investors and needs to intensify its efforts in lobbying from the government through the rural electrification programme to develop the various sites for hydro electricity supply in the region.
Environmental degradation and poor natural resource utilization practices
Given that the majority of poor people depend on the environment for their livelihood, the state of the environment has a huge implication for poverty reduction: Over 89% of the population of the district lives in the rural areas and depends on natural resources for their livelihood. 80 percent of the population is employed in agricultural sector. Ninety nine percent (99%) of the population rely on wood fuel for their domestic energy needs. Degradation of the environment leads to low productivity of the natural resources and consequently poverty.
The sector's efforts to improve environmental conditions contribute to productivity and poverty eradication.
PRESENT SITUATION:
Arua District has high natural resource potentials such as fairly fertile soils forests, wildlife, water resources, wetlands, and a favourable climate with rainfall ranging from 900mm to 1500mm per year. However, several factors have led to the degradation of the Environment. These factors include high population increase and unsustainable utilization of natural resources, poverty, desire to increase per capita, low levels of technology, low levels of environmental awareness, introduction of tobacco growing in the district and influx of refugees.
The above strain has resulted into a number of environmental issues
(a) Soil degradation:
Soil degradation is one of the most disturbing environmental problems affecting the district. This is particularly so in lower Ayivu, some parts of Vurra and Madi counties.
(b) Deforestation:
The District has 39 gazetted forest reserves totalling 60 425 Ha. Between 40 to 60 percent of the forests has been removed. However, deforestation is mainly taking place in communal and private lands.
(c) Poor waste disposal/sanitation:
Solid waste management is one of the major problems in the district both in the urban and rural areas. Arua Municipal Council is currently not in position to manage the waste properly as stipulated in the Public Health Act of 1964 and Local Government statute of 1997.
Equally, most households do not have disposal pits. Latrine coverage in the district is still low (58 percent). Waste is disposed of in unhygienic manner.
Water supply in Arua District is equally not very good. Only 65% percent of the people in the District have access to safe water.
(d) Wetlands & river bank degradation:
Wetlands cover approximately 2.8 percent (87 km2) of the total land area of the district. This allows water to stay in one place long enough to maximize infiltration. The water holding capacity and buffering effect of wetlands ensure that rivers and streams continue to flow during the dry season and ground water is sustained. There has however been a lot of wetlands and river banks degradation through drainage for cultivation, brick making, sand mining and burning of vegetation. Unless the above trend is reversed, the district’s wetlands will be completely destroyed in future.
(e) Loss of biodiversity
Arua district contributes very little to the wildlife resources of the county in spite of the fact that the district has Ajai Game Reserve that covers an area of 15,800 hectares and is located in the south-eastern part of the district. Ajai, the main wildlife area was initially gazetted as a White Rhino Sanctuary in 1937. Other fauna included elephants, hippopotamus, buffaloes, monkeys, baboons and many birds. By 1981, some of these animals were reduced to extinction including; (e.g. white rhinoceros, elephants, hartebeest). This was as a result of poaching. The current wildlife present in the reserve is hippopotamus, antelopes, bushbucks, warthog, and monkeys (Vervet,Potas Dorcupine Monkeys), Cane rats, Baboons, birds and reptiles. The main causes of poaching are: Political turmoil and lawlessness which prevailed in the district in the 1980; Poorly managed resource base; Ill-provided for and demoralized game workers; Lack of awareness on the importance of wildlife.
The negative attitude of the local people to conservation.
Poachers have taken advantage of all these leading to severe poaching and extinction of some animals. People should also be educated about the advantages of conserving wildlife so that they are not alienated from their conservation.
The maintenance and management of wildlife resources is often affected by varied and often opposing view points and interests especially where matters of resource allocation an accessibility are to be decided. Many times the local community surrounding game reserves are not involved in the protection of reserves. Information on community participation in the management of wildlife resources in Arua district is inadequate.
Some encroachment has been reported in the game reserves. Human activities taking place in the reserve are cultivation and grazing which is seasonal. Squatters have occupied a few localities in the reserve. There has also been legal settlement of inhabitants who were residents in the reserve prior to 1964 who were issued with certificates. There is no record of the number of livestock, huts and human settlement to show the exact impacts of human activities in the reserve. As a result of encroachment, the wildlife habitat has been disturbed. In some areas it has led to complete loss of habitat forcing animals to migrate. All these together with poaching have not only caused reduction in number of wildlife but even led to complete extinction of some species.
As a result of the above state of affairs, Arua District is not exploiting the potential of income generation and employment from the wild life reserve as much as it should have done.
GENDER INEQUALITY:
Gender imbalances still do exist in the district especially in ownership and access to productive assets such as land. Generally women do not own nor control land. They only have access to the land but the decisions on what to produce and in what quantities remain the domain of men. Furthermore, women do not control proceeds of neither what ever is produced nor what they sell in the market. This explains why many women are poorer in Arua District than men. Gender Based Domestic Violence (GBV) is also common although there is no clear statistics on this matter. The existing gender disparity still remains a challenge to development of the District. A more detailed analysis is presented in Chapter Three.
POOR ACCESS TO SOCIAL SERVICES:
Availability and access to quality social services (health, education, extension services, clean and safe drinking water) translates directly into the quality of life of the people. In Arua district, access to quality social services is still undoubtedly limited with the following implications for the quality of life of the people.
The key actions in this Sector shall include,
• Capacity building of the Communities to demand for services in a participatory manner.
• Improve and promote social mobilisation for development planning and management at all levels amongst the community.
• Support the Youth, the elderly, and the cultural groups to participate fully in all development initiatives.
More detailed analysis and current service levels are presented in sectoral analyses.
The District intends to squarely address these challenges in the short and medium term using strategies and objectives outlined in the Arua DDP Policy 2009 - 2010 available at the Local Government offices on Adumi Road.
