Access to Rural Non-Farm Livelihoods - Natural Resources Institute

in the west of the district, and between 15.0 and 17.5°C in the east, where they are
ameliorated by Lake Victoria.
There has been no official exploitation of forest resources since Asian owned businesses
closed down during the Amin regime, and the relative inaccessibility of the main forest areas
has protected them to some extent 3 . However there is an unknown but probably large amount
of charcoal production in the savannah woodlands (“bush”) in the west of the district, and the
grazing lands are regularly burnt by pastoralists to provide new growth grass for their cattle.
There are 151 km 2 of gazetted Forest Reserves, and very many stands of privately owned
eucalyptus which are harvested for sale as far away as Masaka and Kampala.
It is of some concern that while RDDP documents address financial and institutional
sustainability, they appears to be less emphasis on issues surrounding environmental
sustainability, particularly the environmental impacts of the various infrastructural
developments undertaken. In addition, efforts by the district administration to maximise
revenue in the short-term, such as through the promotion of fishing, may run counter to
efforts to conserve fish stock for maximum yields in the long-term. Currently elected
politicians tend to have more influence than district-level civil servants, and in any case there
was no District Environmental Officer until mid-2000.
1.4 Population and settlement
The last official national census was undertaken in 1991, and the period since then had seen
great change, so figures must be used with caution. It enumerated a population of 383,501 for
Rakai District, with an average annual growth rate for the intercensal period 1980 – 1991 of
3.04%. However, increased mortality as a result of AIDS is likely to have reduced this
significantly, and the official estimate for 1999 is only 442,000 4 . The 1991 figures show that
60% of the population was under 20, and 49% under 15, indicating high dependency ratios.
Furthermore, the data show that 22% of children under 15 had lost one or both parents 5 , and
12% of people over the age of 24 were widowed.
Overall, in 1991 75% of those ten and older described their primary activity as agriculture.
Of these, 78% were primarily self employed, with 22% primarily employees (farm
labourers). Although only 46% of farmers were women, 66% of farm labourers were women.
Relatively low population densities 6 in much of the district have attracted and continue to
attract migrants from other parts of Uganda and even other countries who come in search of
land for farming, or pasture for their animals, or to escape the effects of war and political
turmoil in their home areas. In 1991 25% of the population was born outside the district,
primarily Banyankole Bahima pastoralists. The main ethnic group is the Baganda, followed
by Banyankole Bahima pastoralists, particularly in the grazing lands of Kabula and Kooki
Counties, but there are also important numbers of Banyurwanda and Barundi, as well as
Bakiga. In very general terms it can be said that most farmers and fishermen are Baganda,
while pastoralists are Banyankole Bahima, or, to a lesser extent now, Banyurwanda Batutsi.
3 The timber used in the district is, for the most part, brought in from elsewhere.
4 This represents an average annual growth rate of less than 2%.
5 12% had lost their father, 7% their mother, and 3% both parents.
6 50 – 100 people/km 2 overall.
4