Water Portal / Rainwater Harvesting / Rwambu Uganda Hills

Problem statement

Current situation

The pilot area consists of several hillsides of different soils and inclination that have all seen an increase in agricultural activity but a dropping water table. Current agricultural practices are proving unsustainable as new sites of cultivation are generally too steep and prone to erosion. Additionally, even though this area receives ample rainfall of 700 to 1000 mm, the water table has dropped considerably the past years and springs and shallow wells have dried up, possibly due to the rapid increase in agricultural land. Local people attest that in past years the rains are more erratic than they used to be, indicating that this area also suffers from the effects of climate change.

Cultural and socioeconomic conditions

A feasibility study carried out in 2011 indicated that 75% of the people in the area live on less than one euro a day. The staple food is plantain which grows in abundance in the area, but is under threat of bacterial wilt. Cash crops are on the increase, like coffee, groundnuts and also some cabbage. There was a high influx of migration of people from the south, near the Rwandan border bringing in different ethnic groups. Islamic and Christian faiths are followed in the region.

Pilot landscape

The landscape is grass-covered and hilly (highest approx. 1550 meters above sea-level) with valleys of 1250 meters above sea-level, and other hills are with rocky surfaces. The slopes of the hills consist of loamy and clay soils reaching down as thick as 4 meters. In the valleys, a wetland or marshland follows the Rwambu river.

Pilot purpose

The uphill areas require protection measures for erosion and runoff and would benefit from the increase in recharge produced by these protection measures. Due to the variety of slopes and soil types, 5 different technologies are going to be implemented.

Location and partners

• Location: The Rwambu area is in the West of Uganda on the boundary of the Ibanda and Kamwenge districts, Latitude: 0° 1'33.03" North of the Equator. Longitude: 30°24'55.54" East of Greenwich Meridian.

• Main partner: Joint Effort to Save the Environment (JESE)

• Role and responsibility of main partner: JESE proposed the intervention area, worked with RAIN and Wetlands International and URWA on the program development and is the sole implementer of the project.

• Other partners: Wetlands International and Uganda Rain Water Association (URWA)

• Role and responsibilities of other partners: Technical advice, program advice, capacity building.