Continuities in environmental narratives, Kabale, Uganda ... - Foodnet

access and d) enhancing household utilization of food, particularly by women and children.’ 103
Africare notes that ‘the project started by undertaking a baseline survey in 1997 that revealed the
magnitude of food insecurity in Kabale district.’ 104 In fact this baseline survey did not even
attempt to measure food insecurity, nor did it measure rates of nutrition or food production. 105
Rather, the existence of food insecurity in the district was identified as an assumption of the
survey, as well being one of the conclusions of the survey. 106 This can be seen as an extreme
example of the ‘misuse’ of data to support policy decisions that have already been made, and
adopting the familiar narrative Africare notes that ‘due to high population density and intensive
land cultivation, soil degradation has continued to threaten food security in the district.’ 107
Conclusion
This paper has shown that the narratives that were established in the colonial period have
continued after Independence. The colonial legacy is apparent in the rhetoric around the
environment in Kabale today, although this is rarely acknowledged. Indeed few references are
made to colonial efforts around the environment. When reference is made to soil conservation
measures introduced in the colonial period it is to explain that soil conservation measures have
been abandoned since Independence as these policies were associated with colonial rule. Thus,
for example, it has been observed that
There was a strong element of coercion in enforcing conservation programmes in Kabale
…district during the colonial era. This policy is partly responsible for subsequent neglect
of conservation practices after independence, because the local communities did not
identify with it, leading to the removal of terrace raisers. Erosion became very intense as
a result. 108
But this misses the point that these measures were modifications to the indigenous system of
agriculture and for this reason were not rejected by farmers. 109 Furthermore in colonial Kigezi
significant efforts with regard to education and propaganda were made resulting in a high degree
of understanding of the reasons behind the policies. But these explanations of the reasons behind
policies themselves rely on the Malthusian environmental degradation narrative and these have
‘fed-back’ into the local population. The very same phrases first used by colonial officials, and
then by post-colonial officials have been adopted by the local population who repeat them back
to development workers today. Thus, through a process of iteration, the narrative has become
deeply embedded in the local population. This has major implications for policy, given the
increased focus on farmer participation, which means that the perceptions of local people carry
more weight. The perceptions of farmers, as much as outsiders, are influenced by the narrative.
Furthermore, the understandable desire to be chosen as recipients of development projects may
encourage people to both say what they think development workers want to hear and to stress
difficulties today compared to the past. Thus with the policies of participation and
decentralization the tendency for these narratives to be perpetuated continues.
103
Africare, ‘The Status of UFSI’, mimeo (2000), 2.
104
Africare, ‘The Status of UFSI’, mimeo (2000), 1.
105
Africare Baseline Survey (1997), 45. The baseline survey also did not measure – or attempt to assess – changes to
forest cover, despite concluding that deforestation ‘widely practiced’.
106
Africare Baseline Survey (1997), 3 and 45.
107
Africare Baseline Survey (1997), 4.
108
NEMA, ‘The draft National Soils Policy for Uganda’ (1998), 13. See also NEMA, State of the Environment
Report for Uganda 1998.
109
Carswell ‘Soil conservation policies in colonial Kigezi.’
D:\_Uganda Land Use\SW land use and soils\Carswell papers\Carswell- Narratives paper-17 Dec.doc
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