developed countries - Uganda Multimedia News & Information

Despite its effect to Lake Victoria,the water hyacinth has enormous benefits to communities

Agnes Tumuheire — Thu, 10 Aug 2017 09:12:49 +0000

Ugandan fishermen pushing their boat stuck in water hyacinth at Lake Victoria

When talking about the water hyacinth on Lake Victoria, most people pay much attention to its negative effects on the aquatic and human life. However, it must be noted the the water hyacinth despite its negative consequences, there are a number of people who derive their livelihood from the plant.

As for Kevin Kawuki, a resident at Ggaba landing site, the green weed has no any noted positive importance for the case of Uganda even when he believes that they are of great importance in European countries.

“For the years I have lived on this landing site, I have never seen or noticed anything useful out of this weed. It just only makes the lake water dirty. I have seen it affecting transport and even prevents people from fetching water as they cover the entire end sides of the lake,” said Kawuki.

However, in many developed countries, many communities have now resorted to looking at how to exploit the advantages of the plant rather than looking at it as a dangerous plant.

Benefits of the water hyacinth to the community

products are made from water hyacinth (or locally known as water lily)? The water lily stalks are dried, dyed and processed

Even though it is still hard in Uganda, the water hyacinth can actually be used for a number of purposes which among others includes; making paper, ropes, charcoal briquetting and water purification.

According to online information, Bangladesh, Philippines, Indonesia and India are using water hyacinth stems to make paper. Although it cannot stand alone, the water hyacinth fiber is blended with waste paper or jute to make paper.

The fiber can also be used to make rope. The stalk from the plant is shredded length ways to expose the fibers and then left to dry for several days. The finished rope is treated with chemicals to prevent it from rotting. The stalks can also be properly dried and used to make baskets and matting for domestic use.

hand woven water hyacinth product range in teal blue

Water hyacinth can also be used to aid the process of water purification either for drinking or for liquid effluent from sewage systems. In agriculture, the root structures of water hyacinth provide a suitable environment for aerobic bacteria to function. Aerobic bacteria feed on nutrients and produce inorganic compounds which produce food for the plants.

The water hyacinth is believed to have come to Africa from South America as an ornamental pond plant due to its beauty. Its broad, thick, glossy, ovate leaves, allows it to rise above the water surface up to a meter high. Being strong and impenetrable, these leaves heavily damage boat engines thereby affecting water transport.

As commonly known, the water lily is considered the most productive plant on earth as it yields more than 200 tons of dry matter per hectare annually under normal conditions. On water containing high concentrations of sewage, it yields up to 657 tons of dry matter per hectare

In East Africa, the water weed is a regional problem affecting all the East African Countries that share Lake Victoria. It has affected fisheries, water supply, human health, transport, hydro power and agriculture on the shores of Victoria making it hard for some people to carry out some human activities.

As fodder for the animals, water hyacinth can be mixed with a variety of vegetable wastes to facilitate weight gain especially in pigs.

However, it has been discovered that feeds containing 30 percent more hyacinths can reduce weight gain by over 90 percent. Therefore water hyacinth should be treated with maximum care when used in animal fodder.

Men clear water hyacinth plants from Lake Victoria, Kisumu, Kenya

Fish feeds from water hyacinth stimulate fast fish growth for instance; the Chinese grass carp is a fast growing fish which eats aquatic plants. It grows at a tremendous rate and reaches sizes of up to 32 kilograms.

Therefore sincerity is human activities that brought about the spread of water hyacinth, why don’t we employ the same activities to get rid of the plant.

The post Despite its effect to Lake Victoria,the water hyacinth has enormous benefits to communities first appeared on Uganda Multimedia News & Information.

Environmental CSOs fear for agreements made that were not binding

Gerald Businge — Tue, 09 Feb 2016 14:51:57 +0000

Environmental Civil Society Organizations are castigating the agreements that were reached upon between developed countries and developing countries during the December Conference of Parties (COP)21 Paris conference which the CSOs say were not binding and fear that the developed countries will not meet their obligations as agreed upon. But the head of the climate change department in the Ministry of water and environment, Chebet Maikut who also represented government at the same conference assures the nation that though the agreement was not fully binding, the commitment made by developed countries will be respected according to some of the agreed positions that were taken at the conference in Paris.

Giving the evaluation report for Uganda at the post COP21 meeting held in Kampala today, Chebet emphasized that this can be realized through the 120 Million dollar the nation receives annually to facilitate climate change adaptation and mitigation from developed countries. While reading the environment minister’s speech at the meeting, the National Planning Authority chairman, Dr. Kisamba Mugerwa noted that such meetings are crucial to countries like Uganda and need to be respected as they are intended to give a platform to developing countries like Uganda to air their issues.

In the just concluded COP21 conference in France it was agreed that the world’s biggest polluters contribute billions towards climate change mitigation and adaptation through the carbon emissions fund to all developing countries among other commitments.

The post Environmental CSOs fear for agreements made that were not binding first appeared on Uganda Multimedia News & Information.

Developed countries should honor pledge on climate change mitigation – Kamuntu

Isaac Senabulya — Tue, 07 Jul 2015 13:25:29 +0000

The water and environment minister Hon. Ephraim Kamuntu stated that developed countries should honor their pledge of contributing funds towards climate change mitigation to developing countries which contribution has not been honored.

The minister, who attended a high level meeting of ministers at the UN in New York, says Uganda reminded countries like China, USA, Japan among others that are leading in polluting the environment to fund mitigation programmes in developing countries like Uganda adding that Uganda among other growing countries contribute less than 4% towards global warming and need to be helped to save the environment.

The minister also continues to say that climate change effects have got a huge negative impact on the country’s economy thus the need to be addressed.

The post Developed countries should honor pledge on climate change mitigation – Kamuntu first appeared on Uganda Multimedia News & Information.

UNFPA Special Youth Programme Grants

Gerald Businge — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 12:54:13 +0000

This programme is designed to give young people from developing countries opportunities to engage in policy development and programming; to help build the capacity of young people; and to sensitize both the young people and UNFPA staff on partnering to address adolescent and youth issues.

Grants/Financial Support

All selected candidates will be provided:

– Cost of return travel from country of origin

– Assistance with travel documents and visa requirements

– Health insurance

– Housing arrangements

– Subsistence allowance (for meals and other basic needs)

– A workstation and internet access

– Opportunities to be mentored by UNFPA staff on issues of interest<

– Administrative assistance as required

Candidates should:

– be between 20-24 years old during the fellowship

– be residents and nationals of a developing country (Applicants from developed countries will not be considered for this programme, but are invited to apply for UNFPA’s regular internship programme)

– have established interest and dedication to development issues through previous experiences or affiliation with a youth network or NGO working on development issues

– have basic leadership and advocacy skills

– have basic understanding of issues of importance to UNFPA and what the organization stands for

– have English language skills (written and oral)

– have a commitment to return to home country to undertake follow up work with young people For more information and application: awasthi[at]unfpa.org & website: UNFPA Special Youth Programme Grants