The landmark statue of a man pruning a banana stem that welcomes you as you drive into Isingiro district aptly captures the fact that agriculture is the major economic activity in the district.
The majority of Isingiro’s population of over 380,000 is engaged in agriculture with most of them growing bananas and keeping cattle. District statistics put the cattle population at about 180,000.
However, there is a new threat to the people of the district. As you drive further into Isingiro, the plantations bear the brunt of a drought that has caused despair among residents. What was previously lush greenery has dried up and the bananas are choking with heat.
Isingiro is one of the leading producers of matooke in Uganda but that exalted position is now threatened by the long drought
Fred Kajirita, a resident of Kahungye village, Mbaare Parish in Bukanga county has a banana plantation on eight acres. This was his only source of livelihood. Before the drought hit in March, Kajirita sold 800 bunches of matooke a month and would need two truckloads to take the produce to the market. But his dreams have literally been dried up by the drought and he can hardly get enough from is plantation to feed his own family.
Kajirita’s pain is shared by many other families in Isingiro. In neighboring Katonga village, 30-year old George William has been reduced to a beggar. He had to sell off his property to take care of his wife and eight children.
Many residents who previously had three meals a day now have to make do with cups of water to try to keep skin and bone together.
The severe drought has forced many cattle keepers to leave their permanent homes and travel miles away in search of water and pasture for their animals. NTV has learnt that given the strict immigration policies in Tanzania, hundreds of cattle have been impounded and Ugandans fined for crossing illegally and yet Tanzania offers the only hope for survival.
There is also a growing fear that the cattle crossing over from Tanzania may carry diseases or even return with diseases.
Those unable to move have to bear the pain of watching their cows starve and die slowly.
Many families are struggling to live and have resorted to desperate measures like selling off their prized possession, land, to buy a sack of posho. And as expected in times of desperation, the land is often sold for much less than it is worth.
Bukanga MP Steven Kangwagye who represents the area told NTV that the district leaders presented their pleas for disaster assistance to the ministry of disaster preparedness but they have not yet received a response.
And as the day winds down and the sun sets everyday, many families go into the night hoping that the heavens will open up soon and bring just a little rain to water their gardens and replenish the fast diminishing water sources.