Papers by Dennis Kateregga
International trade has major influence for climate change through the shift and production struc... more International trade has major influence for climate change through the shift and production structure. The environmental protection agency and the World Trade Organisation should vigorously debate the interaction between free trade regime and global warming mitigation regime. The paper attempts to deliberate the measures which would contribute to facilitate the global climate negotiations by bringing mutual benefit for both developing countries and developed countries, from the point of view of international economics. The paper focuses on foreign aid, and clarifies why international aid for developing countries is needed for sustainable mutual economic growth through more liberalized world trade, which is compatible with the climate change mitigation.
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) has been in existence throughout the 1970's and 1980's wher... more Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) has been in existence throughout the 1970's and 1980's where international treaties began to impose EIA requirements that were broad and more detailed. Presently EIA has become an aspect for both domestic and international environmental law, making states not to undertake activities without prior consideration of their environmental effects. This study is assessing Uganda's Environmental Impact Assessment compliance of its developmental projects: A case study of the Oil Palm project in Ssesse Islands
It was estimated that in 1989 world wood consumption was around 4,560 million m3 most of which... more It was estimated that in 1989 world wood consumption was around 4,560 million m3 most of which was from non-sustainable sources. A projected consumption of 2010 was at 6,860 million m3 which meant further loss of natural tree cover leading to desertification. There are indigenous species that can be used to control desertification but they are a difficult to establish. Fast growing species like Eucalyptus have been a quick fix, in producing firewood for charcoal reducing the rate at which vegetation is being cleared for firewood. An estimation of 25 million ha of fast growing trees are needed to satisfy the demand for fuel wood in Sub Saharan Africa.
Chemicals used by flower companies were banned internationally like Methly bromide which is ozone... more Chemicals used by flower companies were banned internationally like Methly bromide which is ozone depleting. The Montreal Protocol recommended to be phased out completely by 2005. Endosulfan which was banned under recommendations from Stockholm Convention is persistent in the environment. Greenhouse gas emissions that are contributing to climate change are generated during the production and transportation of flowers to the consumer. Uganda exported about 6.7 million kilograms of roses in 2013 up from 6.4 million kilograms in 2012, there has been an average annual growth of 20% over the past 8 years (UFEA Data). The concern is on the amount of carbon emitted by the aircrafts that carry the flowers to Europe every day.
Emissions from vehicles are the major source of pollution in Uganda. Where 100% and 80% of petrol... more Emissions from vehicles are the major source of pollution in Uganda. Where 100% and 80% of petrol and diesel are used respectively, petroleum products are responsible for about 75% greenhouse emissions. This has led to a compound temperature increase across the country. There has been an increase in occurrence of erratic rainfall, floods, storms and droughts, due to such events a negative effect on economic development has been felt in the country.
According to reports by the Uganda Energy Sector (2007) and United Nations World Water Development (2006) they estimated UGX 120 Billion annually to be lost due to water related climate change disasters, while transport related incidents were estimated at UGX 50 Billion annually. In 2007 the northern and eastern parts of Uganda were hit by floods, the hardest hit district was that of Amuria, where roads, bridges, crops, lives and buildings were destroyed.
The East African Community is composed of 6 countries with the newest member South Sudan that are... more The East African Community is composed of 6 countries with the newest member South Sudan that are economically, socially and culturally integrating as way of improving the wellbeing of its people. Agriculture is the largest sector in the region which is rain fed and its vulnerability to climate change is high. Making the issue of climate change very important to the region. A climate change policy has been developed to foster sustainable development through well organised mitigation and adaptation strategies.
Trade has been expanding in terms of volume for the past 50 years, and in this time it has been f... more Trade has been expanding in terms of volume for the past 50 years, and in this time it has been faster than the 19 th and 20 th century put together due to technological change and liberalization. This liberalization of trade has increased the number of countries taking part in international trade, where developing countries contribution has doubled to 34% since the early 1960s. A study to examine the environmental impact of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) broke down the effects into three (scale, technique and composition). The scale of greenhouse gas emissions will increase as of the result of expanded level of economic activity, this can be viewed in the increase in the value of production, increase in energy use like fossil fuels and cross border transport. In 2004 transport contributed about 23% greenhouse gas emissions, where 74% came from road, 8.6% from marine and 12% from air transport (International Energy Agency). Liberalisation will lead to improvements in the production process of goods and services, where emissions will be reduced during production. This will increase the availability of less emissions goods and services thus pushing their prices down. Incomes tend to increase in those liberalized countries, making them
In the absence of the National Biotechnology and Biosafety law dangerous GMOs are entering Uganda... more In the absence of the National Biotechnology and Biosafety law dangerous GMOs are entering Uganda unregulated which pose a substantial danger to biodiversity. Elsewhere in Sudan and South Africa they are growing GM cotton, Egypt is growing maize as a result their agricultural sector has grown but Uganda has had a decline. Using GM technology maize and rice resistant to drought or insects have been developed just to rot in research centres, because the National Biotechnology and Biosafety bill 2012 has not been passed into law. In 2012 studies showed that GM crops contributed to the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions by 26.7 billion kgs like removing 11.8 million cars from our roads per year.
Charcoal production is made possible by cutting naturally growing trees and undergoing a process ... more Charcoal production is made possible by cutting naturally growing trees and undergoing a process called pyrolysis which involves heating wood in absence of oxygen; a mixture of liquid, gas and charcoal is produced. The above process takes about 7 to 12 days in traditional kilns, where 8 to 12 kgs of wood are used to produce 1 kg of charcoal. With the above inefficiency in the production and the growing usage of charcoal suggests that greenhouse gas emissions associated with charcoal could reach 15 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide by 2050 (Steenblik, 2006). Which will be released into the atmosphere leading to climate change.
As women try to support their families than men (Pitt and Khandker, 1998), they are unable to do ... more As women try to support their families than men (Pitt and Khandker, 1998), they are unable to do so because of limits to credit, and commercial bank’s focus on men who form a large portion of the formal sector, this has pushed women into the informal sector. Little capital has made the charcoal business attractive to many women, the high dependency of households on wood fuel for cooking of about 96% of Uganda’s population has made the business lucrative. Charcoal production is mainly through cutting of trees increasing the deforestation rate to 1.8% implying that 227,137 acres of forest is lost per year from the total 8.8 million acres of forest cover in Uganda. Charcoal burning releases carbon dioxide in the atmosphere there by causing global warming.
In a recent UN report growing herds of cattle are the biggest threat to the climate, wildlife and... more In a recent UN report growing herds of cattle are the biggest threat to the climate, wildlife and forests. The 1.5 billion cattle is responsible for about 18% of greenhouse gases more than all kinds of transport put together. About 9% of carbon dioxide emissions is produced during cattle rearing preparations, which cattle produces methane gas (microbes by product) during digestion a greenhouse gas that warms the earth 20 times faster than carbon dioxide though less prevalent in the atmosphere. Ranching is the biggest deforestation driver known to man, it takes 990 litres of water to produce one litre of milk (The Independent, 2006). In a research done by Crown Research Institute in New Zealand, about 95% of the gas comes from the mouth than it’s behind, producing about 370.01 litres of methane per day (Allan F. Raymond, 2013).
Its use which dates back over 150 years shows the first 50 years, production was minimal for ligh... more Its use which dates back over 150 years shows the first 50 years, production was minimal for light and heating, from the 20th century the scale of production has been on the increase. In Uganda the oil has been discovered in the Albertine Graben covering about 500 kilometres by 45 kilometres next to DRC, in the south lies Lake Edward and South Sudan in the north. The area is estimated to have around 2.5 billion barrels of oil, which will produce 1,200,000 million kgs of Carbon dioxide, with the recent fall in prices Uganda has to back track production.
In the past politics has been linked to climate change but it’s not easily understood, there is s... more In the past politics has been linked to climate change but it’s not easily understood, there is some evidence to prove that exists. Drought in Syria between 2006 and 2011, which was the worst ever recorded destroyed almost everything including agriculture, which led to many families migrating from the rural areas to cities. This human influx added to the already stressed social structure by the refugees from the Iraq war. This added to other stressors leading to a full blown conflict in the region.
Caring for the environment is not among Ugandan government priorities, this is true for most of ... more Caring for the environment is not among Ugandan government priorities, this is true for most of developing countries around the world. Climate change impacts will be adversely felt because the well being of Ugandans is tightly attached on climate. With the poorly mainstreamed climate change issues at the national level, plans are only on paper, give little acknowledgment to the effects of climate variability and little is done to promote actions to support adaptive capacity.
Fish Farming has been practiced since the 1950’s but it has never gone beyond small subsistence l... more Fish Farming has been practiced since the 1950’s but it has never gone beyond small subsistence level. China in partnership with the National Fisheries Resources and Research Institute (NaFIRRI) in 2012 started a pilot project of cage fish farming in Uganda, It was ascertained that it supports over 4.2 million farmers, and yielding around $116 million a year through fish exports. There is room for expansion to other water bodies like Lake Kyoga in Uganda, supported by another pilot study done by NaFIRRI the technology is environmentally safe. Commercial Fish Farming in Uganda has a high potential due to vast fresh water bodies and rivers if tapped. Unfortunately fish farming has not been promoted, 40% of the global fish is farmed, where Africa contributes less than 3% which is contributed by Egypt, growing more fish than the fish caught in Uganda. A former deputy Prime Minister Kirunda Kivejinja said that Lake Victoria commercial potential has not been tapped, through cage fish farming livelihoods will be promoted and more revenue generated for the government.
Uganda has two rainfall seasons, the first one in March and June characterized by more intense ra... more Uganda has two rainfall seasons, the first one in March and June characterized by more intense rains, the second one is from October to January with lighter rains, and this behavior is influenced by the El Nino and La Nina trend in the Indian Ocean (LTS International, 2008). There has been severe weather situations recorded in 1961/62, 1997/98, 2007(rains) and 1993/94 (drought). Reports suggest that Uganda will become wetter and by 2080 temperatures will increase by 4.3 degrees Celsius (Ministry of Water and Environment, 2007). There is a National Adaptation Plan of Action (NAPA) which coordinates all activities locally and nationally, a list of the most important sectors affected by climate change which include the following: Water, Tourism, Health, freshwater fisheries, Agricultural food production, Cities, and Energy.
Environmental tax can be used in form of a market based instrument to address environmental probl... more Environmental tax can be used in form of a market based instrument to address environmental problems, these can include taxes on polluting inputs, and emissions,the tax burden can be shifted from goods to economic bads like environmental pollution
This research study investigates the effects of wetland degradation on the socio – economic welfa... more This research study investigates the effects of wetland degradation on the socio – economic welfare. In Uganda, wetland degradation has been going since 1940’s on a small scale; it was not until in the 1980’s that wetlands become a subject of large scale interventions, most notably for crop cultivation. In the Rubaga division, wetland degradation started in the late 1970’s.
The study revealed that wetland degradation has resulted in serious effects such as changes in micro – climate and hence loss of biological diversity, lowered water tables leading to drying of wells, shortage of raw materials for handcraft and some medical plants. The study revealed a number of factors that influence wetland degradation such as high population densities and declining yields on land. Hence the influence on education levels, awareness and shortage of land could not be confirmed.
Ferry exhaust emissions are going to be added to the drivers of global warming and climate change... more Ferry exhaust emissions are going to be added to the drivers of global warming and climate change in Uganda, an estimation of 537.1 Kilogram carbon dioxide eq per journey (P&O Ferries), there are 4,900 trips made a year. The above statistics will strain the already difficult to implement climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies. A Blue Water study of San Francisco bay shows that marine diesels are dirtier than bus and car. Vessel movement especially during the undocking and docking produce a lot of noise this has affected the use of beaches and noise produced scare away water animals.
Since 1987, the government of Uganda has been implementing economic policy reforms under the comm... more Since 1987, the government of Uganda has been implementing economic policy reforms under the commonly called Structural Adjustment Programme. Among other policy measures, price controls and the monopoly of marketing boards were dismantled and export duties were virtually eliminated.
This study examines Ugandan farmers’ socio-economic backgrounds farm resource availability and farmers’ perception towards SAP, It also analyses the effects of SAP on output, household income. Most specifically, the study determines how and to which extent trade liberalization policies should be implemented, the capability of the liberalized economy to withstand unfavourable world market price changes.
Results from a field survey in Mukono district where questionnaires were administered on a sample size of 45 farmers, indicate that there was a decline in farm production and changes in farm production.
This study also analysed the vulnerability of the liberalized economy in case of unfavourable changes in external market conditions. Given the fact that farmers respond to changes in market conditions, appropriate policy measures should be undertaken to increase the flow of benefits that accrue from adjustment policies to the farming community. If such measures are not in place, efforts of carrying out structural adjustment will be rendered fruitless.
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Papers by Dennis Kateregga
According to reports by the Uganda Energy Sector (2007) and United Nations World Water Development (2006) they estimated UGX 120 Billion annually to be lost due to water related climate change disasters, while transport related incidents were estimated at UGX 50 Billion annually. In 2007 the northern and eastern parts of Uganda were hit by floods, the hardest hit district was that of Amuria, where roads, bridges, crops, lives and buildings were destroyed.
The study revealed that wetland degradation has resulted in serious effects such as changes in micro – climate and hence loss of biological diversity, lowered water tables leading to drying of wells, shortage of raw materials for handcraft and some medical plants. The study revealed a number of factors that influence wetland degradation such as high population densities and declining yields on land. Hence the influence on education levels, awareness and shortage of land could not be confirmed.
This study examines Ugandan farmers’ socio-economic backgrounds farm resource availability and farmers’ perception towards SAP, It also analyses the effects of SAP on output, household income. Most specifically, the study determines how and to which extent trade liberalization policies should be implemented, the capability of the liberalized economy to withstand unfavourable world market price changes.
Results from a field survey in Mukono district where questionnaires were administered on a sample size of 45 farmers, indicate that there was a decline in farm production and changes in farm production.
This study also analysed the vulnerability of the liberalized economy in case of unfavourable changes in external market conditions. Given the fact that farmers respond to changes in market conditions, appropriate policy measures should be undertaken to increase the flow of benefits that accrue from adjustment policies to the farming community. If such measures are not in place, efforts of carrying out structural adjustment will be rendered fruitless.
According to reports by the Uganda Energy Sector (2007) and United Nations World Water Development (2006) they estimated UGX 120 Billion annually to be lost due to water related climate change disasters, while transport related incidents were estimated at UGX 50 Billion annually. In 2007 the northern and eastern parts of Uganda were hit by floods, the hardest hit district was that of Amuria, where roads, bridges, crops, lives and buildings were destroyed.
The study revealed that wetland degradation has resulted in serious effects such as changes in micro – climate and hence loss of biological diversity, lowered water tables leading to drying of wells, shortage of raw materials for handcraft and some medical plants. The study revealed a number of factors that influence wetland degradation such as high population densities and declining yields on land. Hence the influence on education levels, awareness and shortage of land could not be confirmed.
This study examines Ugandan farmers’ socio-economic backgrounds farm resource availability and farmers’ perception towards SAP, It also analyses the effects of SAP on output, household income. Most specifically, the study determines how and to which extent trade liberalization policies should be implemented, the capability of the liberalized economy to withstand unfavourable world market price changes.
Results from a field survey in Mukono district where questionnaires were administered on a sample size of 45 farmers, indicate that there was a decline in farm production and changes in farm production.
This study also analysed the vulnerability of the liberalized economy in case of unfavourable changes in external market conditions. Given the fact that farmers respond to changes in market conditions, appropriate policy measures should be undertaken to increase the flow of benefits that accrue from adjustment policies to the farming community. If such measures are not in place, efforts of carrying out structural adjustment will be rendered fruitless.