News on Land

Two people have been sentenced to six months in prison for encroaching on Mount Kei Central Forest Reserve on the border between South Sudan,  Koboko and Yumbe districts.

Thirty-one others were charged with carrying out prohibited activities in the forest and remanded until June 24.

Writing in the Daily Maverick Citizen Tatenda Mazurura reports on the finding of the Hunger Hotspots report highlighting that in parts of Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Madagascar, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, many people are experiencing a 

THE government is losing billions in uncollected revenues due to slow pace in planning, surveying and leasing land, the House heard yesterday

Debating the 2021/22 budget estimates for the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Human Settlement Development in Dodoma, the lawmakers said land is the only resource that if well managed, can earn the government fortune.

Jerry Silaa—Ukonga (CCM) argued that the government is losing big time by not putting enough
resources in planning, surveying and leasing of land.

A lot of serious thought appears to have gone into the agriculture budget for 2021/22 as tabled in Parliament on Monday by Prof Adolf Mkenda, the minister in charge of the docket.

The budget covers most of the areas that need to worked on so as to genuinely revolutionalise the way Tanzania’s agriculture is conducted.

The fresh drive in the sector seeks to prioritise several areas, including seed development; improving extension services, and increasing the size of land for irrigation farming.

Longonjo — The agricultural project "AGROLIVE" is investing 100 million Kwanzas (Akz) in mechanization and promotion of maize and bean crops in the municipality of Lépi, Longonjo (Huambo).

The information was given this Monday to the press by the director general of AGROLIVE, Inocêncio Katiavala, pointing out that 62 direct jobs are expected to be created in the agricultural year 2020/21.

With this, he explained, a production of 500 tons of maize and 100 tons of beans is expected.

The Uganda Railways Corporation (URC) has given about  3,000 mechanics in Jinja City a six-month ultimatum to  vacate land on which they are operating to pave way for revamping of the railway.

This is contained in a letter from URC to the mechanics under their association, Jinja City Mechanics and Artisan Association Cooperative Saving and Credit Society Ltd.

A cyclone, known as Jobo, made landfall near Dar es Salaam in late April. By this point it had weakened to a tropical depression and impacts were, thankfully, minimal.

Land-falling tropical cyclones are rare in Tanzania so past events are outside the memory of most. It had even been suggested that Cyclone Kenneth, which occurred in 2019, was the first tropical cyclone to make landfall in Tanzania. The largest impacts of cyclone Kenneth were felt further south where at least 38 lives were lost and almost 35,000 homes were damaged or destroyed.

Dodoma. The ministry of Agriculture yesterday outlined seven areas the government will prioritise in the 2021/22 financial year to boost growth of the key economic sector.

They include research, seed development and extension services. Others are increasing the size of land for irrigation farming, strengthening markets for agricultural crops, improving access to inexpensive loans for funding agricultural, and improving preparedness against invasion of pests and crop diseases.

In Uganda, more women (88 per cent) than men (78 per cent) are primarily engaged in agriculture [UBOS 2020]. Yet, women working in agriculture face more challenges than their male counterparts. 

This is in part due to discriminatory gender norms which are limiting women’s access to productive resources such as land, labour, equipment and economic capital.  Dismantling stereotypes about women’s work within the agricultural sector is, therefore, vital to improve agricultural productivity in Uganda and spur development. 

More than 400 people, mostly from the Alur tribe, who were affected by floods last year at Kalolo Landing Site in Buliisa District, have been asked to vacate land on which they had put temporary shelters.
The stranded locals had pitched camp at Kisiimo Cell in Buliisa Town Council. 

Rhino Fund Uganda (RFU) has finally left the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary in Nakitoma, Nakasongola District.

The organization has been embroiled in a misunderstanding with Capt. Charles Roy, the owner of the land where rhinos are being bred which forced the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) to take over the sanctuary. The UWA says that the move was for the rhinos’ safety.

Livestock farmers in Gomba District have asked Parliament to swiftly intervene and block attempts by National Forestry Authority (NFA) to parcel out the remaining part of two central forest reserves of Kalombe and Nsowe to private investors.
NFA is mandated to manage all central forest reserves in the country.