Uganda, a small country located on the East African plateau, faces many environmental problems as the nation as a whole struggle in poverty and lack of technology. Out of these many problems, the three biggest of them all are the deforestation, land degradation, and the water pollution. All three can be seen as a chain reaction as deforestation, the least important issue of the three, can causes land degradation while land degradation can also lead to water pollution which is the most critical of them all. The reason for water pollution to be regarded as the most important is because Uganda is a nation at a brink of water crisis with a third of its population without access to safe water. As a nation that is already geographically challenged for access to pure water, the people of Uganda must react quickly solve these environmental issues that they have created.
One environmental issue that Uganda encounters is deforestation. At the current state, many experts argue that Uganda is facing is not just deforestation but the risk of losing all of its forests. The studies show that ñdeforestation has already seen Uganda's 5 million hectares of forest in 1990 dwindle to 3.5 million by 2005î (Kelly, pars. 1) which equates to losing two-thirds of the forests in Uganda. At this rate, Uganda is on pace to pose all of its forested land by the year 2050 bringing severe repercussions especially for its poorest people in the land. The farmers and people in poverty are the main victims because desertification tampers with the country's food security as rainfalls becomes erratic, floods rampant and the poor people who have reclaimed wetlands will be unable to raise the ground for their homesteads. The National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) recently revealed in their report the main causes of this devastating deforestation as the expansion of farmland, population boom, and increased urbanization. The report also warns that unless this situation is quickly reversed, the consequences ñwill be catastrophic, contributing to and exacerbating soil degradation, declining food security, disease and conflict.î (Kelly, pars. 4) Deforestation in Uganda is the result of poor decisions by the government and its people as the destruction of the natural environment is becoming more of a global action.
Another substantial environmental problem in Uganda that is stemmed from deforestation is the land degradation and low productivity on farms as poverty and land fragmentation has led to over-exploitation of the land with inadequate soil and water conservation practices. Also, increasing rural population densities with few non-farm income opportunities and little farmer knowledge of improved agricultural technologies caused the soil erosion with insufficient agricultural research and lack of effective agriculture extension that is needed for resource constraints of farmers. The research shows that ñfarmers' yields [in Uganda] are typically less than one-third of potential yields found on research stations, and yields of most major crops have been stagnant or declining since the early 1990s.î (Pender 1) as the farmers in Uganda use their inappropriate traditional farming practices and systems that include deforestation, bush burning, and overgazing causing land degradation in their own land. Unfortunately, Uganda's economy is heavily reliant on its agriculture meanwhile it is ñestimated that 4% - 12% of Gross National Product (GNP) is lost from environmental degradation with 85% of this from soil erosion, nutrient loss and changes in crops.î (Olson 3) The loss of soil productivity and the land degradation is not only affecting the economy of Uganda but the people of its land who consume the harvests daily.
Despite all these environmental issues, the biggest concern of them all is the water pollution in Uganda as the water in Lake Victoria, which supplies the majority of the fresh water in Uganda, is threatened by toxic industrial pollutants such as mercury from mining activity and the hyacinth growth. Lake Victoria supplies water to millions in neighboring Kenya and Tanzania, and supports fishing communities in all three countries yet it is at risk of dying off from pollution. By some estimates, ñthe hyacinths covered 6,000 ha (14,820 acres) of water, still less than 0.1% of the lake.î (Kampala, par. 9) However, these hyacinths not only pollute the water but when the masses of hyacinths drift into Uganda's ports and coves, they impair the local fishing, trap small boats in ports, and keep fish under the plants. Even worse, experts believe that the lake pollution will only worsen while only "roughly 80% of the nation's city dwellers and 47% of the people living in rural areas have access to pure drinking waterî (Kampala, par. 6) in Uganda.
The relationship between products of information technology and water pollution in Uganda can be seen as a cause and effect because the pollution in Lake Victoria is not only due to hyacinth growth but also from the toxic industrial pollutants from mines, factories and industrial plants that produce the necessary parts such as copper, gold, and aluminum for products such as the computer. Uganda is widely regarded to have large quantities of natural resources with a lot still left to be explored for the true extent of its potential. However, as much as the country tries to revive the industry to its full potential, it is doing a poor job in taking care of the environment at the same time. In Uganda, ñpoint sources and non-point sources such as deficient sewage and industrial wastewater plants, small-scale workshops, waste oil from parking lots and car repair garages are major sources of pollution load for the lake.î (AWE, par. 2) Most of these deficient sewage and industrial wastewater plants are the results of rising numbers of mines and factories in the land with poor sewage system to take care of its waste and Lake Victoria is suffering tremendously by it.
According to Gartner Dataquest's statistics, the billionth personal computer was shipped in April 2002 with the second billion mark was supposedly reached in 2007. However, ñwith PC adoption in emerging markets growing fast, it is estimated that there will be more than two billion PCs in use by 2015, Forrester predicts. Therefore, whereas it took 27 years to reach the one billion mark, it will take only 7 to grow from 1 billion to 2 billion.î (Gartner, par. 8) Because we are now living in a world that cannot function without products information technology such as the computer and smartphones, it is impossible to meet the demands of these products while still keeping the environment free from pollution. Especially in third-world countries such as Uganda, the mining and the production of such parts needed for the computer are done without serious intervention measures for pollution and a system in place to keep the environment around them safe. This is clearly shown by the water pollution that is happening in Lake Victoria with the people of Uganda as the ones who are left to face the devastating consequences from it alone while everyone else around the globe enjoy the luxury of information technology provided by the computers.
Many of Uganda's natural ecosystems are undergoing conversion, degradation, and decline in a totally unplanned and uncontrolled manner especially with the country making substantial efforts to expand the mining industry. However, the ones that are affected by these environmental issues the most are the marginalized people who rely disproportionately on the environment for their basic needs. Thus, it is crucial for the country to quickly devise a plan to save not only the environment but also themselves.