Ugandan private sector asked to back green efforts

The National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) has asked Uganda’s private sector to effectively participate in the protection of Uganda’s ecosystem because rates of degradation are reaching alarming levels and the government cannot take preventive action by itself.

Presenting a paper on the role of the private sector in addressing today’s environment challenges in Kampala during the Corporate Social Responsibility Day, the principle Environment Economist at NEMA Ronald Kagwa said Uganda is losing huge ecosystems.

This is due to rapid economic growth and the increasing population. He said both were exerting pressure on the country’s natural resources 

“Balancing the need for rapid economic growth and environmental sustainability is becoming a big challenge, Uganda’s rapid economic growth has been achieved at the expense of her Environmental Natural resources for example huge chunks of the country’s natural forest have been harvested to meet the demand for timber and charcoal whose demands increase as economic growth expands in the country,” he said.

He said Uganda is losing about 88,000 hectares/year (1.8% per year) due to deforestation thus reducing the country’s forest cover which is estimated to be at only 14% of the total land area. 

Kagwa said rapid economic growth has also created pressure on other natural resources such as the fisheries resources whose stocks in the country’s water bodies has decreased especially the Nile perch. 

“Overfishing of fish stocks and catches is responsible for the declinine of fish tons caught in the previous year’s from an estimated 1.9 million tonnes (mts) in 1999 to 0.35 mts in 2009. This has a negative impact on the country foreign exchange because fish used to be a larger contributor to the country’s GDP that is why the private sector should join the fight to restore the degraded natural resources without which some of the companies will collapse,” he said.

The CSR Day is a platform involving government agencies NGOs and corporate organization operating within Uganda.

The basic intentions are to drive forward the CSR agenda 2015. CSR Day were sponsored by organisations like Nile Breweries, Airtel Uganda and Centenary Bank among other companies. 

Natural resources such as water, forests, fish, and wetlands play a vital role towards the development of the private sector. Some of these resources are used as raw materials for factories such as the fish processing factories. The water resource is vital in the generation of hydro-electric electricity which all Industries depend on for the running of their factories.

In Uganda, many fish processing plants have been forced to shut down because of the depletion of fish stocks in the major water bodies such as Lakes Victoria and Kyoga thus rendering many Ugandans unemployed. 

NEMA believes there are huge business opportunities in participation in environmental conservation.

Some of the business opportunities which the private sector can benefit from, according to Kagwa include; competitive advantages due to lower per unit costs, participating in the emerging markets such as the carbon sequestration and new revenue streams from company owned natural resources.

Responding to NEMA’s call for the private sector to effectively participate in the restoration of the degraded country’s ecosystem, representatives from various companies said they are willing to participate in massive tree planting campaigns, but the government should also play the vital role of enforcing environmental laws. 

“You cannot tell a private company to plant a forest when government forests are being deforested. Let the government enforce the laws then we shall not see more felling of trees in governmen protected forest as it is now,” said one participant who preferred anonymity.

Senior Executives from Airtel and Standard Chartered Bank said they have invested millions of financial resources in their CSR. These resources have been used to fund CSR projects that aimed at improving the social welfares for the marginalized Ugandans such as the blind and the fight against cancer in the country . They have also planted trees in the forest degraded regions in the country. 

“We have been on the fore-front of improving the learning condition for the Ugandans pupils especially in the rural areas through construction of classrooms and providing text books. This has improved the learning environment for the country’s future generation,” Tom Gutjahr, Airtel Uganda’s Managing Director said.

Meanwhile, according to the International Potash Institute, degradation worldwide costs an estimated $10.6 trillion every year and presents a huge challenge to future global food security. 

In sub-Saharan Africa, including Ethiopia, soil nutrient-depletion is directly related, where fertiliser use and agricultural productivity rates are the lowest in the world. Many African countries use little or no potash fertilisers, which are crucial for balanced fertilisation and sustainable cropping systems.  

-Business Week