Travelling
the Eastern Uganda route all the way to Karamoja is no exception to these elations
and immersions. There are normally plentiful
of things to enjoy while on this beautiful route. Fresh and affordable foodstuff are usually
flooded at the roadsides, from Iganga to Katakwi before one enters Napak
district in Karamoja.
Surely,
one needs no entry into a supermarket for fresh foods while going or coming
from home via this route. Things we enjoy along this road are quite many. They range
from reasonably priced local chicken to clean and glittery rice and beans.
Others are; fresh water melons, sparkling and spotless mangoes, oranges and
passion fruits. The thick-weighty and fresh tubers mainly; sweet potatoes,
Irish, yams and cassava.
My
own experience as a frequent East-wards traveler, has enabled me befriend
several members of the roadside vending communities. One of them is Elizabeth
Akiror (I use Eliza) from whom I always buy sweet potatoes and tasty cassava. Eliza
is an Itesot woman in her late 60s if not early 70s, at least looking at her facial
mien.
While
travelling home a fortnight ago, I found Eliza selling mangoes instead of
potatoes. This was strange. Strange, because this elderly woman has been dealing
strictly in fresh tubers or sliced and dried sweet potatoes and cassava. Under normal
circumstance, this is the season for fresh harvest of sweet potatoes,
groundnuts, maize and beans. So, I stopped at Eliza’s spot with expectations of
picking up some fresh tubers to take away for my girls.
Reader,
I noticed that no roadside vender had most of these goodies by the roadside. At
first, I thought it was the effect of the 42 days’ lockdown that the president
had imposed in a bid to flatten the COVID-19 infection and death rates in our
beautiful Country. No, not really, I realised quickly that the president
actually gave exceptions to dealers of foods or produce generally.
The
only challenge that the small scale food dealers could grapple with is transportation
to the market. Wait, but again, the motorcyclists were given heads ups to do
transportation of foodstuff. The last condition was that market vendors should
spend nights within market premises, yet also, this wouldn’t affect my good
friend Eliza and her colleagues who simply walked some five to 10 meters to get
to the roadside with their merchandise. So, what is the real issue? I had a short interaction
with Eliza who shared with me what I now believe is the real problem.
With
her blood flecked eyes beaming miraculously from a craggy skull, this woman of chocolate
and rugged complexion, predicts a desolate future full of hunger and death. “We
need to pray to God my son, if not, I see we shall all die of hunger this year”,
she said while shrugging to the sky. “Eheehee, this year, there is no life,
even the mangoes have not done well, don’t you see?” Eliza continued, “how do I
sell what is not there my son. I tell you, next time we shall come here to beg
instead of selling”.
Eliza
told me that the first rains deceived farmers by making them plant and then it disappeared
suddenly resulting to drying up of crops. “Maybe if this current rains
continues up to November, then we may get some sweet potatoes, but I have lost
hope”.
Indeed,
this year, most farmers who planted early and are expected by now to be
controlling space in the markets, have really bungled. The promising drizzles in
the early month of March stirred farmers into early planting, but vanished off suddenly.
The months, April -May were under full sunshine that burnt off most of our crops.
According
to the Uganda National Metrological Authority (UNMA), the period from June,
July and August is normally characterized with a dry spell over most parts of; South-Western,
Central, Lake Victoria basin and Eastern regions. This period usually marks the end of the first
season and is as well a time for harvest of most crops in the Country.
UNMA
postulates that some physical conditions are likely influencers of the current unpredictable
pattern. These includes; the neutral state of EL Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) over
tropical Pacific Ocean and the current neutral and weak Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD)
expected to develop between the months of July to August. The other factor is
the influence of regional circulation patterns, topographical features and
large inland water bodies.
We
need to keep trying in the last half of the year. Our farmers need to be told
to remain in the farm until Christmas. The current rains in most parts of
Eastern and North Eastern region might be sustained for the next three months. The
message should thus, go to our farmers not to lose hope, but take advantage of
the drizzles to plant first growing crops that might end up rescuing the
situation.
www.owiny.blogspot.com
