Africa-Press – Uganda. The Ugandan government has launched a nationwide wetlands restoration campaign that seeks to replace destructive cash crop farming with aquaculture, a move experts say could save Uganda’s rapidly shrinking swamp cover.
The initiative, code-named Wetland Restoration, is spearheaded through the Office of the President and coordinated by Col. Frank Banana, a Senior Director at the Internal Security Organisation (ISO).
It targets communities that have for years cultivated rice and other water-intensive crops in wetlands, which environmentalists blame for accelerating degradation.
Under the new approach, farmers are encouraged to adopt fish farming—an environmentally friendly practice that maintains water levels within wetland systems while offering families a sustainable source of income.
Maj. David Muwanga, a fish farming specialist with more than 100 ponds in Greater Masaka and Mpigi, said the project’s goal is to restore wetlands without impoverishing communities.
“Aquaculture is a sustainable alternative because it allows wetlands to function naturally while still generating steady income for farmers,” he said. “By contrast, rice farming drains wetland soils, blocks natural water channels, and leads to siltation. Over time, this destroys biodiversity, disrupts fish breeding grounds, and reduces the wetlands’ ability to filter water and control floods.”
Project coordinator Dan Kiyaga cited reports from environmental authorities indicating that large-scale rice cultivation has been a leading driver of wetland destruction across Uganda.
The shift is already taking shape in Budaka District, where nine fish ponds have been established in Irambi Village, Lyama Sub-county, for former rice farmers from Mpologoma swamp. Early beneficiaries are beginning to see gains from aquaculture.
The campaign is currently being rolled out in Busoga, Bukedi, and Teso sub-regions, targeting more than 100 farmers before expanding countrywide. Earlier successes have been reported in Kigezi, Bukedea, Namutumba, and Budaka.
President Yoweri Museveni has consistently urged wetland occupants to vacate voluntarily and join restoration programmes, stressing that wetlands are critical to Uganda’s water supply, biodiversity, and climate resilience.
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