Land use and population pressure within and adjacent to Mount Elgon National Park: Implications and potential management strategies
 
 
 

        Population growth and land shortage, fragmentation and degradation have been identified by Mount Elgon National
        Park (MENP) and the Mount Elgon Conservation and Development Project (MECDP) as key problems in the
        development and conservation of MENP and its adjacent parishes.  Parishes on the northern slopes of the mountain are
        of critical importance due to a conflict of interests between management authorities and the local people, many of whom
        have been relocated from National Park land. Although a comprehensive survey was recently carried out by MECDP
        quantifying forest resource use, there has been no research into many of the key problems of forest-adjacent communities
        or communities within the park. This study examined population pressure through a demographic survey and questions
        related to the use of and attitudes towards family planning. Land issues were examined through a survey of current land
        uses and the use of and attitudes towards a range of sustainable agricultural techniques. Despite a relatively high
        awareness of modern family planning methods (63%), only 10% were practicing and 24% planned to practice family
        planning in the future. 37% were not aware of family planning, three-quarters of respondents wished to recieve more
        information. Despite the low usage of family planning, an examination of the population age structure shows that the
        proportion of the population under five is decreasing. This correlates with an rise in family planning awareness
        campaigning in the last five years. Current land uses varied according to a range of environmental and socio-economic
        factors, but people living in the park were generally pastoralists practicing subsistence agriculture, and people in adjacent
        parishes were predominantly agriculturalists. The proportion of households using sustainable agricultural techniques was
        generally low. People living in the park practiced considerably fewer sustainable techniques than people living outside the
        park. This was probably due to insecure land tenure (fear of eviction). The management implications of these findings are
        assessed and recommendations are made.
 
 

In the past decade, approaches to resource conservation and management have evolved towards a greater consideration of local community needs and opinions.  If conservation is going to succeed in the long term, it must involve local people directly and actively in all stages of the management and decision making process:

 (Cernea, quoted in Wells and Brandon, 1992, p42)

Sustainable resource use is essential to support the rapidly expanding populations that exist in developing countries such as Uganda.

The management of Mount Elgon has changed considerably since Mount Elgon National Park (MENP) was formed in 1992 from its former status as a Forest Reserve. Since this time, the Mount Elgon Conservation and Development Project (MECDP)  have been assisting management authorities with in-forest and community issues, and more recently, UWA-Face have been involved in the development process. In the last eight years, management policies have shifted from the protection and extraction of forest resources, to an increasing involvement of local communities in management decisions, and an emphasis on sustainable utilisation of resources. This culminated  in a new management plan for the park in 1995. To facilitate this, a "resource use assessment" was carried out between 1993 and 1994 by the MECDP (Scott, 1994). The survey covered resource use in six of the 58 forest-adjacent parishes in MENP.

Population density outside the park is high, making land shortage and fragmentation an ever increasing problem (Scott, 1994), and bringing into question the sustainability of communities adjacent to the park. The MENP management authority and MECDP have identified population growth and land use practices as the two most important factors affecting the degradation of natural resources within and adjacent to the National Park. This study aimed to critically examine these two factors, and examine their possible causes, solutions and management implications. Firstly, population growth was examined through a demographic survey and possible causes and solutions to the problem were examined through a study of the use of and attitudes towards family planning. Secondly, it was aimed  to assess the sustainability of current land use practices, to look at attitudes towards a number of viable sustainable land uses which had been identified by the National Park management authority and assess management implications. All objectives were formed from discussion with the members of the National Park management authority.

The Survey

The survey team studied communities in the parishes of Piswa, Kwoti and Benet, situated in Kapchorwa district between Kamunargut and the Benet grasslands between 1200-2900m. The area was selected due to recommendations by the National Park and its accessibility. A general description of the climate and physical features of the study area is provided.

The people in the study area were mostly from the Sabei tribe, and spoke Sabei and Swahili, although those reaching higher levels of education could also speak English. Most interviewees either dwelt in the forest, were descended from forest dwellers, or had been evicted from the forest. There is animosity between much of the local population in this area and park authorities due to previous evictions (Scott, 1994), and there is a widespread fear amongst previously evicted communities that they will be moved again. This makes people reluctant to invest time or money into their land, creating conflict between the short term objectives of land occupiers and the management objectives of the park. Population density is high and land shortage is an increasing issue. Scott (1994, p6) observed that:

Lack of all-weather roads denies access to the larger markets for most of the communities near the forest, especially in the extensive wet season. Kamunargut is the only trading centre in the study area. It is small and no roads extend above it.

Amanda Ingram, a BSc Environmental Geography student from Aberdeen University, was the project co-ordinator. Her role was to design the project, supervise and partake in its implementation, and carry out the data analysis and report production. She was assisted in the field by two research workers, Christine Namegadde, a member of staff at Makerere University Botany Department, and Chemangei Awadh, an MSc Forestry student. All researchers provided substantial input to the design stage of the project, and Chemangei Awadh also acted as an interpreter for the time he was working in the field. In the absence of Chemangai Awadah, a Park Ranger was employed as an interpreter. Mark Reed assisted in the report production.
 

Data was collected between July and September 1996 through a series of semi-structured interviews based around questionnaires constructed with the assistance of staff from the National Park. Eighty households were interviewed. The number of households interviewed was determined by the availability of time and resources, co-operation of interviewees, weather and accessibility limitations and distance between households.

A systematic sampling programme was employed in which every third homestead was sampled in dense settlements, and every household encountered was sampled where homesteads were spaced more than 1km apart. Through preliminary questioning, the principle land worker in the household was selected for interviewing. If the principle land worker was male, family planning questions were directed to the reproducing females in each household.

Extended interviews were conducted with Park Rangers and National Park management staff. These were aimed at collecting qualitative information about the management of the park.
 

Results and discussion
 

The eighty household sample represented 3% of the households in the three parishes studied (based on 1992 population Figures). With the current rate of natural increase, this sample probably represents slightly less than 3% of households. The age of interviewees ranged from 16 to over 70. Most respondents were aged 26-50 and the majority of these people were married (most people marry between the ages of 14-20). Many of these marriages were polygamous, with men married to an average of 2-3 women.. The average number of children per family (determined as the number of children per male) was 7. The number of children per father generally increased with age, but men in the 46-50 age group had the most children (average of 13) (the Figures for fathers over 70 years of age may be unrepresentative as they were based on answers from only one respondent). Most mothers in each family resided with their children in separate homesteads.

Information about husbands, wives, children and other dependants was collected from each respondent in order to examine the age structure of the population in the communities studied (Figure 1). Information about the ages of these people was approximate, as it was collected from one respondent from each of the eighty households, and the number of people covered (676) was relatively few (4.3% of 1992 population Figures for the three parishes covered in the survey). This shows a "bottom-heavy" population where the majority of the population is under the age of 15. In the past, population structures such as this caused researchers to warn of a "population bomb" (Erlich & Erlich, 1970) which would occur when the youngest and largest section of the population reached reproductive age. As medical services have improved in the study area for the last ten years (since the restoration of democracy in Uganda), it may be presumed that child mortality has been declining during this time. At this stage it is not possible to predict what proportion of the population under 15 years of age will reach reproductive age, or to predict what effect they will have on future population growth. Figure 1 also shows that life expectancy is low (only 7% of the population live beyond the age of 45). It is not possible to tell whether this has improved with better healthcare in the last ten years, due to a lack of reliable Figures before this time. Inaccessibility of hospitals to the majority of people may explain low life expectancies. Over half the population lives more than 16 kms from the nearest hospital (in Kapchorwa). The paths are very steep in some places, and particularly treacherous in the wet season when they turn to mud. Better accessibility to the hospital may improve life expectancy significantly.

The proportion of the population under 5 is significantly lower than the proportion of the population between 5-9 or 10-14 (figure 1). Due to improved healthcare, the reduction in the size of this sector of the population cannot be attributed to higher child mortality. However, the reduction correlates well to a  significant increase in family planning campaigning in the last five years. Due to the small sample size, these results must be treated with caution, but they suggest that the MENP and MECDP campaign to increase awareness of family planning methods has begun to have an impact on the age structure of the population. It will however take at least 15-20 years before this results in any reduction in population increase (it will take this long for under 5s reach reproductive age).
 
 

Fifty-eight people were asked if they were aware of, used or planned to use family planning methods. The smaller sample size for this section of the study was due to the unavailability of many women for questioning. In some instances, male householders answered questions relating to family planning.

Few families were using family planning methods at the time of the study (10%) (figure 2). However, 29% of those questioned were planning to use family planning methods in the future (usually after they had produced the desired number of children). A number of married women who had no plans to use family planning methods (24%) were aware of the methods available but did not want to use them (fig. 4.3). These people gave a number of reasons for this behaviour. Many only knew about contraceptive Tablets and they did not believe they worked, or believed they had unpleasant side effects. Although contraceptive injections were more trusted, some would not use the method because they were afraid of needles. A number of people refused to use family planning methods due to religious beliefs. Some women were not using family planning methods due to objections from their husbands. These women were generally keen to receive more advice about family planning.  The majority of women who knew about family planning methods and were not using them wanted to receive advice about family planning.

A significant proportion of women surveyed (37%) were not aware of family planning methods (figure 2). Approximately half of these people did not want to receive any advice about family planning. The most common reasons given for this decision were the people’s religious beliefs, as they wished to allow God to choose when they should stop having children. If they had asked God to stop them having children when he wished, they would be going against God’s will if they were to choose themselves. As most women married at a young age (96% had done so between the ages of 14 and 20 years) the reproductive span is increased for females not practising family planning. In addition to this, numerous children are seen as "insurance" against child mortality, and for the care of elderly parents. Numerous children are also valued for their labour, and sons are seen as a status symbol by many men. The benefits of a large family are increasingly being offset by the cost of school fees for a high number of children.

The majority of people had found out about family planning methods from  the hospital in Kapchorwa (50% of people). The next most common source of information was friends (20%), followed by health extension staff or travelling midwives (10%), school (5%), IUCN project workers (5%), the Family Planning Office in Kapchorwa (5%) and radio (5%). Due to the important role of the hospital in increasing awareness of family planning methods, and due to the increasing proportion of women giving birth at home further away from the hospital, it was hypothesised that awareness and use of family planning methods would increase with increasing proximity to the hospital. While none of the women furthest away (>17kms) from the hospital were using family planning methods, this sample group was very small (11 women) and so little weight can be given to this finding. The sample groups of women in settlements near to the park and in the trading centres were larger (28 and 19 respectively). 16% of the people questioned in the trading centres (nearest the hospital) practised family planning and 10% of people questioned in areas between the trading centres and the park boundary used family planning.  The sample size for both these communities is too small to draw any firm conclusions. There did not appear to be any relationship between age, level of education or wealth and the awareness/use of family planning methods.
 
 

Human settlements in the National Park are dispersed over a wide area with homesteads frequently over a kilometre apart. Households were sampled in the park between altitudes of 2100-2800 m. The park is dominated by forest in this area. The dispersed settlement in the forest around the Benet grasslands at 2800m is the highest altitude human settlement on the mountain. The community was much larger before 1983 when most of the people from the village of Benet were evicted from the area by park authorities (a detailed description of the dwellings and pastoral economy of the community prior to this time was made by the Brathay Exploration Group in 1962 (Thomas, 1962)). Grasslands meander through the forest at approximately 2800 m and are used to graze animals by small communities of people who live in the park and by animal owners at lower altitude who travel to the grasslands regularly for grazing.

Land use by local communities in the park is centred around pastoral activities as the high altitude prohibits large scale production of crops. In addition to cattle, a smaller number of goats, donkeys and chickens are kept. Subsistence crops are grown in small gardens next to the houses. These gardens were usually burnt prior to their creation, and they are fertilised with cattle manure. Potatoes (Solanum tuberosum) are the main crop grown in addition to a small amount of matoke (Musa sapientum) and other vegeTables. Cash is mostly obtained from the collection and sale of forest products, the production of bamboo baskets and the sale of meat from cattle, goats, donkeys and chickens. These products are also exchanged for maize and other goods which cannot be grown at this altitude. Many of the people who live in this area have a second home at a lower altitude outside the park where agricultural production is based. They live in homes near the grassland while they look after the cattle.

Outside the park, fewer animals are kept as there is little grazing land available at this altitude. The main crops grown are maize (Zea mays), potatoes (Solanum tuberosum) and matoke (Musa sapientum) with a number of other seasonal vegeTables. The main source of cash is from the sale of maize. Cash is also obtained from the sale of forest and animal products. The proportion of income derived from the sale of forest products decreases with distance from the park boundary (Scott, 1994). Towards the trading centres (furthest away from the park boundary) the collection of forest products decreases and the amount of people purchasing forest products increases (Scott, 1994).

According to Scott (1994), the most important forest resources (more than 50% of households closest to forest collect them) are firewood, ropes, polewood, vegeTables (including mushrooms), bamboo shoots, bamboo stems, crop stakes and grazing (Figure 3). Some of these forest resources are collected by a small proportion of people in and around the trading centres (Figure 3), but the only forest product sold by over 10% of people living far away from the forest is bamboo shoots (17%) (Scott, 1994). Firewood is collected by the highest proportion of households. Although most people only collect dry wood, some admit to felling live trees when dry wood is scarce. Although the proportion of people using on-farm trees for firewood is increasing (38%), the forest is still the main source of firewood. Ropes are mainly used in house and granary construction. Vine species and bark from particular tree species are used for this purpose. Polewood is also used for the construction of houses. In this area, polewood is usually made by felling and splitting mature trees. Sustainable methods of pole production such as coppicing and pollarding are rarely used. The collection of many vegeTables, especially mushrooms, coincides with periods of food shortage (during the early rains, just after planting), and as such represents an important source of nutrition (Scott, 1994). Bamboo shoots are collected each year. They are smoked and eaten as a seasonal delicacy or sold. Bamboo stems are collected primarily for the construction of houses and granaries, ceremonial purposes, crop staking and they are weaved into baskets. Basketry is historically common in the Kapchorwa district, but it has been gradually declining with the increasing availability of plastic utensils. Some families rely on basketry for their main source of income. Baskets can be exchanged for maize or cash. Crop stakes are used primarily to support matoke trees. Demand for stakes is lower in the Kapchorwa district than in other parts of the mountain because matoke production is lowest in this district (Scott, 1994). However, matoke production is increasing in the area and the demand for crop stakes is likely to increase accordingly. In addition to the forest resources shown in Figure 3, a number of edicinal plants are collected from the forest. These are harvested sustainably by medicinal specialists. The forest is also used for a small amount of illegal hunting (mainly Black and White Colobus monkey (Colobus guereza) for circumcision ceremonies), collection of thatching grass, fruit, drinking tubes, white ants and caterpillars, sand for smearing houses, rich soil used as fertiliser for cabbage crops, mineral deposits used for salt-licks by cattle and charcoal. Traditional sites in the forest are used for circumcision ceremonies and the graves of ancestors (Scott, 1994).

A number of approaches to the sustainable use of resources have been identified by the management of MENP. Many of these have focused on sustainable agricultural techniques, as well as sustainable harvesting of forest products and the use of fuel saving stoves. The awareness, usage and attitudes towards these measures were assessed in communities lying inside and outside the park. The management of MENP recognise the importance of identifying needs, priorities and attitudes within the forest-adjacent community in order to effectively educate and develop these communities and protect resources within the park. It is therefore important to assess the extent to which resources are being used sustainably, assess attitudes towards these techniques and to identify areas in which there is potential for improvements to be made in the sustainable use of resources.

A decreases in crop yields has been identified by most farmers (82%) during the time they have farmed the land. Most farmers (71%) identified "soil quality" as the most important factor determining low yields. Many of these farmers further specified soil erosion and decreasing soil fertility as the two most important components of poor soil quality. A small number of the farmers that had identified soil quality as the main factor causing declining yields did not know how to improve the soil quality.

Morgan (1986) describes the main factors influencing the rate of soil erosion as rainfall, runoff, wind, soil, slope, plant cover, population density and the presence or absence of conservation measures. Precipitation levels in the study area are volumous and intense, most areas are sloping, tree cover is generally low, population densities are high (outside the National Park only), and few conservation measures are used. As environmental conditions in the area are likely to exacerbate soil erosion, the limited use of soil conservation methods by most farmers is probably a significant factor relating to soil erosion, declining soil fertility and decreasing crop yields. Use of soil conservation methods decreases with distance from the trading centres, and with the exception of contour ploughing and terracing (the use of these is determined by the slope of the land) soil conservation methods are used least by farmers within the National Park (Figure 4). Farmers living in or around the trading centres (far from the park) use far more soil conservation methods. The low proportion of farmers using soil conservation methods in the park may be due to these people attaining lower levels of education than people outside the park. This may be because children from these families have to walk further to school. However the distance is not significantly higher than that walked by children living outside the park. It is more likely that people reaching  higher levels of education migrate out of the park in order to pursue non-agricultural careers or to obtain land with secure tenure. There was little difference between the level of education reached by people near to the park and far away (in or around the trading centres). Interviews with farmers in the park showed that the most important factor preventing the use of soil conservation methods was insecure land tenure. There was a widespread fear of eviction amongst people who lived in the park, and until they were certain that they would not be evicted, they were not prepared to invest resources in improving the quality of their land. Scott (1994) came to the conclusion that settling land tenure conflicts in the Benet parish was of prime importance if sustainable resource use was to be adopted by the inhabitants of the area.
 

Mulching, rotation, agroforestry, fallow and  fertiliser (organic and inorganic) were all used by less than half of the sample population (Figure 4). Awareness of these methods was generally very high however. A number of people interviewed stated that a lack of capital or land prevented them from using many of these methods. Fallow land was only set aside by more wealthy families with the largest areas of land. People with smaller areas of land used the whole area for food production to supply their families and could not afford to leave any of their land fallow.  Lack of capital prevented many farmers from using inorganic fertilisers. Organic fertilisers (manure) were much more widely used (49% of respondents used it).
 

Fruit trees and legumes were planted widely in all areas, though a number of farmers did not know about the beneficial effects of these plants on the soil. Their widespread use may be due to the multi-purpose nature of both these crops, as they can be used for food, fodder, mulch, firewood, shade, nitrogen enrichment of the soil and protection from soil erosion (effect of a litter layer protecting the soil from the effects of run-off and roots maintaining the structure and stability of the soil) (Pandley, 1981; Ayensu, 1981, Scherr, 1995). 63% of people planted fruit trees. These are consumed at home and sold. Agricultural extension workers are currently propagating fruit trees in nurseries and these will be distributed to the local people to grow on their own land in the near future. A number of people who were not aware of nitrogen fixing plants were unknowingly planting them on their land. Legumes were commonly planted in all areas but usually at very low densities (83% of respondents were planting leguminous species). A number of farmers used nitrogen fixing plants in an inter-cropping system. Many of the potential benefits of leguminous crops (e.g. fodder, mulching to improve soil fertility and prevent soil erosion) are not being exploited by many farmers. The most commonly grown legumes were Sespania sesbans, beans and peas. In addition to its effect on soil fertility, S. sesbans is a rapidly growing tree and can be used for fuel and fodder, thus reducing reliance on the forest for fuel-wood.
 

iii) Agroforestry

MENP has been actively encouraging people to plant a variety of tree species for the production of fuel-wood, fodder and poles and to improve farming systems by providing nutrients to the soil (legumes), provide shade for crops and cattle, act as wind-breaks and reduce soil erosion (El Swaify et al., 1982). Eucalyptus grandis has been widely planted, but a number of farmers have complained that the species uses too much water and prevents crop growth as a result. Others found that trees impeded crop productivity due to their shading effect and encouraged monkeys which predate crops. Many did not see the need to plant trees on their own land when the forest provided adequately for their needs.
 

iv) Zero grazing

The proportion of people practising zero grazing was relatively low (37%), despite a high level of awareness about the practice (86%). Zero grazing involves the restriction of cattle to a small grazing area with the provision of fodder. When the restricted grazing area is moved to another area of the owner’s land, the grazed area can be cultivated, and productivity is increased by manure left by the grazing animals. Fodder can be obtained from trees or as a by-product from food crops. A number of characteristics of the fodder plants can be beneficial to the productivity of the cropping system, for example input of nitrogen to the soil by leguminous trees and crops, and fodder trees can provide shade for cattle and protection of the soil by forming a litter layer which helps prevent soil erosion through rain-splash effects and surface run-off, and the effect of roots maintaining soil stability and aeration. Fewer people practised zero grazing in the park and near the park. This correlates to the widespread use of the forest for grazing by people in the park (pers. obs.) and near the park (Figure 3) in comparison to the low use of the forest by people furthest away from the park (Figure 3). Although there was little difference in the use of zero grazing between different areas (42.5% of people using zero grazing furthest away from the park in comparison to 35% near to the park and 32% and in the park), much fewer people kept cattle furthest away from the park, so the number of people using zero grazing furthest from the park represents a large proportion of those who keep cattle.  The results from this survey may suggest a change in attitude towards zero grazing from the time of the study by Scott (1994). The 1994 survey stated that "people are not interested" in zero grazing in the Benet parish. In this survey, 32% of people in the Benet parish were practising zero grazing.

Increased use of zero grazing has the potential to significantly reduce the impact of grazing on plant and animal diversity in the forest zone of the National Park. Many people would not use zero grazing because they had herds which were too large in comparison to the area of land available to use this technique, or because of the intensity of labour required to initiate such a system. Others said that they could not afford to set aside cropping land for grazing when they could obtain adequate grazing land in the forest or the Benet grasslands. Their land only provided enough food and cash for those who were dependant on it.

Advances in animal husbandry have produced cross-breeds of cattle which produce a higher biomass per unit of input than the indigenous species of cattle. This allows people to obtain equivalent or higher yields with fewer cattle and a lower input of labour. A reduced stocking level would also reduce the impact of grazing on the forest zone of the National Park. A small proportion of people were using improved breeds of cattle in the study area (27%). The practice was most common in areas near the park. This is probably because more cattle are owned by people in this area in comparison to people living further away from the park, and
 

An innovation which has the potential to reduce deforestation for fuel-wood  is the fuel-saving stove. Aside from encouraging tree plantations to improve soil stability and reduce deforestation, another alternative is available to reduce stress on the forest.  92% of the households visited used traditional 3-stone fires for cooking. These are estimated to burn 5 bundles of firewood per week. However, the new ‘Multi-pot stove’ uses only 3 bundles per week (promotional poster). This significantly reduces labour costs, time spent collecting firewood, the amount of money spent by those who do not collect wood and the number of trees felled for fuel-wood. The stoves are also claimed to have an indirect effect on the health of families that use them by reducing the amount of smoke in the home (by using a chimney) and  by reducing the number of fire-related accidents (the fire is contained and pans rest safely on top). Because the fire is contained, less heat is lost to the surrounding area, the food cooks more quickly and the stove uses less wood. The average family using a three stone fire burns approximately 1 mature tree per month, totalling 12 trees each year (promotional poster). An average family using a multi-stove is estimated to use less than 7 trees per year (promotional poster). Therefore for every 100 families switching from traditional stoves to multi-pot stoves, 500 more trees would be conserved per year.  In such a densely populated area, it is clear that widespread adoption of the stove would cause a dramatic decrease in deforestation rates. Despite the obvious benefits to the users and to the forest, the survey showed that although 71% of the people were aware of the multi-pot stove, only 8% actually used one. Several reasons for this were identified. Some complained that it is difficult to reach markets where the stoves are sold, and that it is difficult to transport the heavy stoves uphill and along poor paths to their homes. Others commented that the stoves did not allow any heat to escape into the house and so the home would require additional heating. In many areas, due to high accessibility to forest wood, savings in labour, wood collection time were negligible and reductions in the amount of wood consumed by multi-pot stoves were not perceived as a significant benefit. If tighter controls on the use of wood from the forest were to implemented, the benefits of multi-pot stoves would be more relevant to more people, and if adequate access to markets was provided, the proportion of families using the stoves would probably increase significantly.
 

Honey production has been identified by the MENP authority as highly sustainable and profitable. Hives are constructed locally using 1m long logs which are split longitudinally to give equal halves. These are then hollowed out and put together again by the use of ropes and grass to deter rain water entering.  They are then hung or put on forked branches of trees approximately 100m from the home or in the forest. Impact on the forest appears to be low as the species used (commonly Erythrina abyssinica) is common and regrows rapidly. Families use honey for their own consumption, sale or exchange for other goods, or for making beer (this practice has become less common recently due to the increased availability and popularity of maize beer). 38% of people surveyed kept bees in hives near their homes or in the forest. Families which practised apiary generally supported 2-3 hives. The practice was mostly limited to people living in or near to the park. This may be due to their proximity to the forest (some people do not considered it safe to keep bees close to homes as children and animals may have been stung badly by bees in the past). 47% of people near the park keep bees and 50% of people living in the park keep bees. The higher proportion of people practising apiary in the park may be due to the lack of other sources of cash available to them.
 

The cultivation of sunflowers has been promoted by the National Park in recent years, particularly in the Kapchorwa district, as a sustainable and profiTable cash crop. They require less soil nutrients than the more commonly grown crops, and plant waste products can be used for mulching and fodder. However only 13% of people in this area are currently planting sunflowers despite a high level of awareness about the crop. Above approximately 2500 m the crop is unable to grow due to low temperatures. If people living above this altitude are excluded from the sample, the proportion of people planting sunflowers is still very low (15%). Those who cultivate the crop do so on a relatively minor scale. The crop has not been taken up by many farmers and has not been expanded by those farmers which currently plant the crop due to problems experienced by many of those who have planted sunflowers. The most important of these problems were heavy seed predation by birds and flower heads rotting in heavy rains.
 

viii) Pesticides and inorganic fertilisers

One means of increasing agricultural productivity is to reduce losses to pests. Pesticides were used by 68% of respondents. However, the majority of those who were using pesticides did not know which type of pesticides they were using, or how to apply it properly. Similar results were obtained when those using inorganic fertilisers. Little was known about application techniques or timing. As a result, farmers are unlikely to obtain optimum results from their pesticides and inorganic fertilisers, and they may cause harm to themselves, their families and to animals which are not pests. Far wider implications would result if pesticides and fertilisers were to reach the water system.
 

Bamboo (Arundinaria alpina) is locally common in the bamboo zone of the mountain. The zone is almost continuous around the mountain between 2400 and 3000 m, covering 219 km2. Approximately 96% of this area is undisturbed (Howard, 1991). Although the shoots are smoked and eaten widely by the Bagisu tribe, the majority of people surveyed were from the Sabei tribe and did not consume bamboo shoots. Bamboo is largely used in the construction of houses, crop staking and in basketry. Baskets are used for storage, carrying, sifting and sieving locally made maize beer, and in traditional ceremonies. Some households depended on baskets as their main source of income. Those who were most dependent on basketry were elderly or had limited access to cultivation or other resources which could provide income. Basketry was most prevalent among households in the park or very close to the park. This was probably due to the location of bamboo far away from the lower forest edge. The importance of basketry has declined in communities which have been resettled to lower altitude areas, as time and labour resources are concentrated on the cultivation of maize. In addition to this, most of these communities now live too far away from the bamboo to make basketry profitable.

Households that are dependent on baskets produce an average of twenty baskets every month, using four bamboo canes for every three baskets produced. The resource use survey by Scott (1994) found that bamboo harvesting levels were sustainable. However, the use of bamboo baskets is declining with the increased availability of plastics. Although basketry is in the craft curriculum of many schools, few students take up the skill after leaving school. As a result, many local people are concerned that the skill may soon be lost. Many are concerned about the declining availability of bamboo baskets and would be prepared to pay higher prices if they were available again (Scott, 1994).
 
 

Due to the diverse range of needs, attitudes, and environmental and socio-economic circumstances present in the study area, it is not possible to apply a single solution or set of solutions to the problems encountered. Advice needs to be given to individual land users in order to address individual problems within the unique set of environmental and socio-economic factors present at each farm. At present, 50% of farmers had received advice about sustainable land use practices. All those questioned were keen to receive further advice. Those who had received advice, had obtained it from agricultural extension workers and radio programmes. Agricultural Extension Officers, employed by the government’s Department of Agriculture, travel to settlements to educate land users about various agricultural techniques through seminars and dramas. Drama has become a popular and effective tool for communication. In recent years Agricultural Extension Officers in the area have incorporated education about other issues, such as family planning and women’s rights, into their programmes. Although Agricultural Extension Officers travel widely, the bulk of their time is spent in the main trading centres as this is where population is most concentrated.

The willingness of people to put advice into practice is determined by a number of factors. In the case of land use techniques, poverty and lack of adequate land area are significant factors preventing many families from implementing sustainable land use techniques. Some methods require an initial input of capital (e.g. buying new breeds of cattle, tree planting) and some methods require a minimum area of land (e.g. land available to leave fallow or to use for cattle enclosures (zero grazing)). Respondents from settlements which within the National Park were generally unwilling to adopt sustainable land use techniques as they feared eviction in the future and therefore any investment of time and money could be wasted. People in this area are generally uncooperative and suspicious of National Park staff and Agricultural Extension Officers. In some areas, many of the techniques outlined in this study are not necessary (e.g. contour ploughing on flat land).

There were many more general factors which influenced the attitudes and use of sustainable practices in the study area. These factors fell into five main groups. Human factors included differences in farmer’s levels of education, ages, labour power, sex of the head of the household and number of children. Physical factors included differences in soil conditions, the slope of the land, shade, aspect, water supply and micro-climates. Different biotic interactions existed between the crop, weed, tree, livestock and pest components of farming systems on different land-holdings. Off-farm enterprises frequently made significant differences to the household economies of different farms. Unpredictable circumstances such as sickness, market prices and  temporary changes in climate, affected different farms to different extents. The impact of many of these perturbations depended on such factors as the labour power of a household and the environmental, genetic and economic complexity and diversity of the farming system.

In the case of family planning, 75% of respondents wished to receive more information. Many of those who did not wish to receive further information were generally elderly, had been sterilised, or felt they already had enough information. A small number of respondents did not know about family planning methods and did not wish to receive any further information. This attitude usually originated from religious beliefs.

Overall, it was found that the vast majority of the population in the study area would like to receive further advice about land use techniques and family planning.
 

The size of the survey was limited by time and personnel restrictions. An increased sample size would give more weight to these findings. People were sometimes unsure of ages, land areas and dates. In these circumstances estimates were made in relation to the dates of other occasions e.g. circumcision ceremonies. Some respondents were suspicious of the research objectives, and may have with-held information for fear of eviction. Two different interpreters were used during the course of the study. Both interpreters had attained very different levels of education, and probably came to the study with different assumptions and perceptions. One of the interpreters was a former Park Ranger, which intimidated a small number of people and may have prevented them from giving accurate information. Some information was probably lost in the interpretation process. More information was generally obtained when interviewees were fluent in English. When the main land-worker was absent, another family member was sometimes interviewed instead. Information from these people may not have been as accurate as information gathered from the main land-worker. None of these problems are likely to significantly alter results.
 
 

Rural development work has been ongoing on Mount Elgon for the last eight years, and some of the benefits of this work are already being seen. Whilst producing some very positive findings about the results of the current development programme, this study provides fresh insights into areas where development work needs to be prioritised in the future.

A demographic survey showed that the majority of the population are under the age of fifteen and that only 7% of the population lived beyond the age of forty-five. Despite improving healthcare services in the area over the last ten years over half the population lived over 16 kilometres away from the hospital, along steep and dangerous paths. It is postulated that the inaccessibility of the hospital to such a large proportion of the population may be a critical factor determining life expectancy. Improved paths would increase accessibility to the hospital and markets and could help solve a number of problems associated with the current inaccessibility of these services, as well as attracting more tourists to the area. This type of solution would be very expensive however. Diverting more hospital resources to travelling clinics may be a more viable option. Hospitals involved in a number of rural development projects have found that by identifying times of the year when particular diseases are most prevalent and the hospital is most busy (e.g. wet season), they can distribute staff and medicines spatially and temporally to maximise efficiency and target diseases (Chambers, 1993). By identifying areas of need as well as times of need, the hospital at Kapchorwa could maximise efficiency and target diseases and groups of people that are poorly provided for at present. For example, during times when the hospital is least busy, resources could be diverted to travel clinics visiting outlying areas, including settlements within the park. At busy times of year (e.g. the wet season), resources could be diverted back to the hospital. Many diseases could be targeted with immunisation programmes carried out by the travel clinic. Poor housing conditions are another likely source of disease.

The costs of sickness are high - to the community in terms of lost agricultural production, and to the individual and the family in terms of lost food and income. In addition to income lost due to inactivity, hospital treatment can drain a family of money and assets (e.g. a family may have to sell livestock quickly at a low price to pay for treatment), initiating a cycle of poverty and illness which is often difficult to break. If agricultural staff and health workers in the area were brought together to identify local linkages between health, nutrition, agriculture and poverty, this would increase the effectiveness of current and future development programmes.

The majority of women surveyed were aware of family planning measures. However, only 10% of these people were practising family planning and 29% were planning to practice it in the future. Nevertheless, the proportion of the population under five is decreasing, and this correlates to an increase in family planning campaigning over the last five years. This suggests that family planning programmes in the area have begun to have an impact on birth rates. Continued campaigning is required if more people are to adopt family planning measures. 37% of the population were unaware of family planning methods, and 24% were aware of family planning but were not practising it or planning to in the future. Reasons for not using family planning included moral objections, fears based on inaccurate information, and the practical benefits of having many children such as labour and care for elderly parents. The majority of people surveyed wanted more information about family planning, and those who did not want further information were generally elderly, had been sterilised, or felt they already had enough information. The results of this survey present a mandate for further family planning education programmes to be implemented in the area and for current family planning programmes to be extended. Results suggested that awareness and use of family planning related to distance from the hospital, where most information about family planning was obtained (none of the respondents furthest away (>17kms) from the hospital were practising family planning). It should be noted that the sample size for this section of the study was relatively small and results should be treated with caution. If travelling clinics were to be implemented in the area (in addition to current health extension workers), the clinics could offer advice and practical help implementing the appropriate measures. Alternatively, the message could be taken to outlying areas by the other trained professionals such as Agricultural Extension Officers. This is currently being done, but more trained people are required if all areas are to be covered adequately.

The majority of households surveyed were using few sustainable agricultural techniques or none. The use of most soil conservation techniques was most common in areas furthest away from the National Park (in and around trading centres), and lowest within the National Park. In addition to this, the majority of farmers had noticed declining crop yields during the time they had been cultivating the land. It seems likely that declining yields are a result of current land use practices. Indeed, most farmers believed that declining yields had been caused by declining soil quality but did not know how to improve soil conditions (other than adding manure which was not available to everyone). Despite awareness of most soil conservation methods, few seemed to understand their benefits or were using them. However, all farmers surveyed were keen to receive more information about sustainable techniques.

Many suggestions have been made in the past about sustainable practices and their benefits. Some have clearly succeeded, for example legume and fruit tree planting. Others have not caught on for various reasons but may yet be successful, for example zero grazing and mulching. Others appear to have failed, for example  sunflower cultivation. Any new suggestions must be selected and tested by local people. This study has also shown that it will be important to invest time showing people the reasons for and benefits of using these techniques. Coppicing and pollarding are used to a small extent on Mount Elgon (Scott, 1994), but could be used on a much larger scale to provide a sustainable source of poles for building, crop stakes and fire-wood. Pollarding (in which regrowth is above the reach grazing animals) is most viable in this area, due to large number of cattle and other grazing animals which are kept. Pollarding could also provide fodder for animals in zero grazing systems.

Zero grazing systems using new, more efficient breeds of cattle, have the potential to significantly decrease the impact of cattle on the park. At present indigenous cattle species require areas of land which are too large to make zero grazing viable on a large scale. An exchange system where the National Park exchange new breeds of cattle for the equivalent number of indigenous species, combined with tighter restrictions on forest use for grazing could lead to many more people practising zero grazing. Reduced labour costs and residual benefits to agriculture may make this system more profitable than the traditional system whilst affording protection to the ecosystems within the forest. A veterinary surgeon would need to be employed in the area to care for the new breed of cattle, and this could make the system even more profitable. Although this would require capital initially, increased revenue from cattle (increased productivity and decreased mortality) would pay for veterinary fees on a long-term basis. Alternatively, artificial insemination programmes have been highly successful in some areas of Kenya, producing hybrids between high yielding breeds and indigenous breeds which are more hardy than pure new breeds.

Mount Elgon has the potential to attract and support many more tourists than presently visit the area. Tourism represents a potentially rich source of revenue to the park and the surrounding area, and should be developed (providing numbers are kept within acceptable limits). An assessment of the potential impact of tourists on the park is required in the near future. A tourist centre in Kapchorwa could attract more tourists to the area. The sale of locally made crafts such as bamboo baskets could make such a centre self-sustaining. This would also encourage traditional crafts which have been becoming more and more scarce as modern, mass-produced goods have progressively replaced them. The centre could present information about the plants, animals, places of interest, the value of the mountain’s biodiversity, and provide information about minimising the impact of tourists in the area. Local schools would also be able to utilise the information provided by such a centre. The amount of capital required for a project such as this could be probably be obtained from the Kapchorwa District Council (O. Satya, pers. comm.).

It is essential for local people to be involved in management decisions regarding the National Park. The majority of people acknowledge the value of the forest, but when the forest is perceived to be owned externally by the National Park, there is no incentive for people living adjacent to the forest to monitor or intervene in illegal or destructive activities being carried out in the park. In agreement with Scott (1994), "joint management" between local communities and the park, and the exchange of rights for responsibilities is strongly recomended. Access to areas further inside the park are required for the collection of some resources, for example medicines, and for grazing on the Benet grasslands. Further studies are required to assess the stoking densities that these pastures can sustain, and in-forest grazing would have to be prevented.

Although many factors which have contributed to the low use of sustainable land use techniques and family planning, it is clear that increased availability of information regarding these issues will be a vital step towards increasing the sustainability of settlements in parishes adjacent to Mount Elgon National Park. The key to developing sustainable practices amongst communities within the park lies in settling long-standing land tenure problems. The park authority recognise the needs and concerns of the local people and recognise that they have been and if possible should remain an integral part of the park. The complete bans imposed on settlement in many National Parks may not be necessary on Mount Elgon if participatory  management strategies can encourage sustainable resource use by people living in the park. Until people living in the park have secure land tenure rights, they will continue to live under the fear of eviction and will have no incentive to use resources sustainably. It is becoming a matter of urgency for the Park authorities to make decisions about the future of these communities.
 
 

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Project co-ordinator: Amanda Ingram
Field work team: Christine Namigadde, Chemangei Awadh and Amanda Ingram
Project advisors: Dr. M. D. Swaine and Dr. M. Pinnard
Report Writers: Amanda Ingram and Mark Reed