Environmental impact of structural adjustment programmes in Uganda

Environmental degradation in Uganda pre-dates the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) initiatives which began in 1981. In the 1970s the alarming incidence of deforestation drew attention to environmental management. Both external and internal changes had culminated in a deep economic crisis for Uganda. Fixed income earners were compelled by economic difficulties and agricultural producers by the declining terms of trade to seek new livelihood options through exploiting the forest resource. The break down of law and order during that period complicated the enforcement of environmental laws. Some forest reserves believed to be habitats of bandits were destroyed by the Amin regime. When Indians of Asian origin who managed the sawmills were expelled in 1972, a vista was opened for environmental abuse by pit sawyers who encroached on the forests. Increasing costs of electricity and paraffin made most urban workers to switch to the relatively cheap charcoal. This boosted the trade in charcoal with a negative backlash on the forest reserves and the savana woodlands. Amin's double production campaign also resulted in de-gazetting some of the forest reserves in order to boost agricultural production and ensure food self sufficiency. The difficult financial situation that professional foresters were faced with led to them to abandon professional ethics. They either condoned encroachment and attendant deforestation by accepting bribes or directly destroying forests to make money. These were the inheritance of the second (Obote II) regime. Faced with serious economic crisis, it had to accept SAP conditionalities in order to benefit from multilateral aid from World Bank and IMF. SAP therfore exacerbated rather than caused environmental degradation. The manner in which some SAP conditionalities have contributed to soil degradation, rather than deforestation, and neglect of precaution to ensure that development and investment activities do not harm the environment are highlighted in this paper. The implications of these tendencies for sustainable environmental managemant are discussed in terms of the needed changes in laws and behaviour of custodians of the environment. Such changes are needed in order to positively influence the perceptions, attitudes of users of environmental resources. Decentralisation endeavours in the country are deemed beneficial since they return power to the people and encourage them to manage environmental resources sustainably