DIIS WORKINGDIIS WORKING PAPER 2013:17PAPER
Decentralization and implementation of climate change policy in Uganda Esbern Friis-Hansen, Bernard Bashaasha and Charles Aben
DIIS Working Paper 2013:17 WORKING PAPER WORKING
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ESBERN FRIIS-HANSEN PhD, Seniorforsker, DIIS [email protected]
BERNARD BASHAASHA Dr., Principal at College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Makerere University, Uganda
CHARLES ABEN PhD Candidate, Dept. of Extension & Innovation Study, Makerere University, Uganda
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Climate Change and Rural Institutions is a four-year collaborative research programme which explores the role of district level institutions in providing an enabling environment for climate change adaptation. The programme is coordinated by DIIS in collaboration with partners in Nepal, Uganda, Vietnam and Zambia. The programme is funded by Danish Research Council for Development Research, with additional support from the Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security Programme under the CGIAR Partnership. For more information, please see www.diis.dk/ccri
DIIS WORKING PAPER 2013:17 © The authors and DIIS, Copenhagen 2013 Danish Institute for International Studies, DIIS Østbanegade 117, DK-2100, Copenhagen, Denmark Ph: +45 32 69 87 87 Fax: +45 32 69 87 00 E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.diis.dk Cover Design: Carsten Schiøler Layout: Allan Lind Jørgensen Printed in Denmark by Vesterkopi AS ISBN: 978-87-7605-625-4 (print) ISBN: 978-87-7605-626-1 (pdf) Price: DKK 25.00 (VAT included) DIIS publications can be downloaded free of charge from www.diis.dk
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CONTENTS
Preface 4 List of abbreviations 5 1. Introduction 7 1.1 Setting the scene 7 1.2 Study focus 8 1.3 Methodology 8 2. Genesis of climate change in Uganda 8 2.1 Geography of Uganda 8 2.2 Characteristics of climate change in East Africa 10 2.3 Gradual change in weather patterns in Uganda 11 2.4 Extreme climate events in Uganda 13 3. Recent economic, social and political change in Uganda 14 3.1 Economic development 14 3.2 Institutional change 15 3.3 Role of Eexternal Aactors/donors in development and climate change 16 3.4 Evolution of the political character of the Ugandan state 16 4. Decentralization as unique feature of Uganda 18 4.1 Evolution of local government 18 4.2 Local government capacity to deliver services 18 5. National climate change policies and their implementation modalities 20 5.1 Emergency assistance policy OPM 20 5.2 NAPA 22 5.3 NCCP and implementation framework 23 6. Discussion 25 6.1 Compliance of climate change policy and Decentralization Act? 25 6.2 Political nature of Ugandan state and policy reform 26 6.3 Drivers of climate change policies 27 6.4 Implication of the gap between climate change policies and decentralization 28 6.5 NCCP: bridging the gap between policy and practice? 29 6.6 Lack of understanding of climate change action by meso-level institutions 30 7. Bibliography 31 Annex 1 and 2 33-34
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PREFACE
This working paper is the first of two working papers that presentings findings from the Climate Change and Rural Institutions (CCRI) research program on how meso-level institutions in Uganda are responding to climate change and extreme climate events. This working paper analyses national policies that to support climate change mitigation and adaptation and their implementation modalities. The second working paper focuses on the meso-level institutional dynamics of how climate change action inside within as well as outside the framework of climate change policies. For more information about CCRI, see http://subweb.diis.dk/sw113176.asp The CCRI research program undertakes empirical fieldwork in Soroti, Amu- ria and Katakwi districts located in of Teso region, Eeastern Uganda. The research examines how extreme climate events such as the 2007 floods and subsequent severe floods and droughts , as well as the gradual change in weath- er patterns, are affecting meso-level institutions.
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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
CAADP Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development CAO Chief Administrative Officer CCD Climate Change Department CCRI Climate Change and Rural Institutions CCU Climate Change Unit CIF Climate Investment Fund DANIDA Danish Agency for International Development DDP District Development Plan DFID Department for International Development DNA Designated National Authority DRR Disaster Risk Reduction DSIP Development Strategy and Investment Plan EAC East African Community EC Electoral Commission EU European Community FAO Food and Agriculture Organisation GoU Government of Uganda GTZ Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit ICEDA Integrated Community Education and Development Association IGG Inspectorate of Government INC Initial National Communication IPPC International Panel KIDDP Karamoja Integrated Disarmament and Development Programme LGDP Local Government Development Plan LGs Local Government LRDP Luwero – Rwenzori Development Plan MAAIF Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries MDAs Ministries, Departments and Agencies MEA Multilateral Environmental Agreements MoH Ministry of Health MOLG Ministry of Local Government
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MoWE Ministry of Water and Environment NAPA National Adaptation Plan of Action NCCAC National Climate Change Advisory Committee NCCF National Climate Change Focal point NCCP National Climate Change Policy NCCPC National Climate Change Policy Committee NDP National Development Plan NEPAD New Partnership for African Development NGOs Non-Governmental Organisations NUREP Northern Uganda Rehabilitation Programme NUSAF Northern Uganda Social Action Fund OPM Prime Minister’s Office PRDP Peace Recovery and Development Plan SLM sustainable land management UHRC Uganda Human Rights Commission UN United Nations UNCBD Convention on Biological Diversity UNCCD United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification UNDP United Nations Development Programme UNEP United Nations Environmental Programme UNFCCC United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change USAID United States Agency for International Development USD US $ WB World Bank WFP World Food Program
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1. INTRODUCTION perience in adapting to unpredictable weather patterns, the type of uncertainty that is as- 1.1 Setting the scene sociated with climate change is beyond the The focus of climate change policies and scope of rural people’s capacity to cope with. action in Africa south of the Sahara differs They need help from outside the local com- from the global agenda. While most debate munity to adapt. within the United Nations Framework Con- Such assistance has been guided by three vention on Climate Change relates to assess- sets of policies that fall under the heading ing physical climate change and mechanisms of climate change. The policy that has been for mitigation, the main concern of most around the longest is the policy of emergen- African countries is how to adapt to the ef- cy assistance, reflecting the fact that natural fects of climate change. A growing number hazards have existed for far longer than the of projects addressing climate change adap- climate change agenda. Emergency assistance tation and government are formulating new policy is anchored in OPM. NAPA, which policies that seek to provide a framework to came into force in 2008, was the first policy guide these activities. Yet, discussion of the that directly addressed the challenges posed content of and driving forces behind climate by climate change and for the first time set change adaptation in national policies has priorities for supporting adaptation efforts. been limited. Even less is known about how NAPA is institutionally anchored across a such national climate change policies have number of central ministries. The most recent been implemented and their institutional set- is the NCCP, which addresses climate change ting within the country. This working paper in a comprehensive manner. The NCCP is in explores the driving forces behind the formu- the process of being accepted by government lation of climate change policies in Uganda and is led by a secretariate located within the and assesses its content and implementation Ministry of Water and Environment. modalities. The working paper explores the Local government in Uganda is the gov- extent to which there is a gap between policy ernance institution that is best suited to assist and practice at the district and local levels. farmers in adapting to climate change. Ugan- Climate change in Uganda is very real factor da undertook a comprehensive decentraliza- in people’s lives. Smallholder farming families tion reform in 1993 and has since built up with little or no mechanization, irrigation or government units at district and sub-county use of seasonal chemical inputs are particu- level with elected councillors and technical larly affected. While extreme climate change and administrative staff. In the decade follow- events, such as floods and droughts, are not ing decentralization reform the responsibility a new phenomenon in Uganda, they have for providing a wide range of services was become more frequent during the past dec- devolved from central ministries to the dis- ade. Meanwhile the long established weather trict level, including education, health, roads patterns around which farming systems have and agriculture. At the turn of the century evolved have gradually become more uncer- a second wave of reform took place aimed tain. In combination, these expressions of at ‘deepening democracy’ and leading to the climate change are causing already vulnerable establishment of new local institutions that rural people to become even more vulnera- linked users at the primary service units to ble. While small-scale farmers have long ex- local government institutions with the aim
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of enhancing social accountability. However, review combined with interviews of key in- during the past decade the momentum of re- formants at the Climate Change Unit and form has run out of steam and the national OPM. The geographical description and anal- political agenda has shifted towards recentral- ysis of national trends in precipitation and ization and a return to neo-patrimonial gov- temperature are based on a literature review ernance. of scientific reports and policy documents. In spite of the fact that decentralised gov- The analysis of climate change action at ernance structures would be the obvious the local government level is based on pri- choice as an implementation mechanism for mary fieldwork in Soroti, Amuria and Ka- creating an enabling environment supporting takwi districts, Teso region. The working rural people to adapt to climate change, until paper draws on information in unpublished now climate change policies have been imple- reports from three CCRI workshops with mented through central ministries and NGOs local government politicians and technical using project-based parallel structures. staff held in 2012 and 2013. Two workshops, held in Soroti and Amuria districts, involved 25-30 participants representing politicians 1.2 Study focus (district councillors), chief administrative of- The working paper seeks to understand why ficers (CAO) and technical staff from most climate change policies have remained cen- relevant departments. The third workshop tralized till now by analysing the nature of the involved participants from nine districts in state and government of Uganda. In particu- Teso and Karamoja regions, including CAU, lar, the paper examines the extent to which the chairman of the district council (LC5 climate change policies are being implement- chair), district NAADS coordinators (DNC) ed through decentralized political and admin- and district environmental officers (DEO). istrative structures in Uganda and how. Ques- In additional the section draws on thirty in- tions asked in the two working papers include depth interviews with key informants from the following: Soroti, Amuria and Katakwi districts. Available studies from Teso compliment • Are Uganda’s climate change policies con- the CCRI fieldwork, including two recent cli- sistent with the Decentralization Act? mate change adaptation studies carried out by • Who is driving the formulation of climate students from Makerere University (Kizauzi change policies, and how is this affecting et al. 2012) and LIFE (Epilo, 2011). their implementation modalities? • To what extent can the changing nature of the Ugandan state explain a gap between policy and practice? 2. GENESIS OF CLIMATE CHANGE • What is the implication of decoupling cli- IN UGANDA mate change policies and local government? 2.1 Geography of Uganda Uganda lies across the equator and occupies 1.3 Methodology 241,038 square kilometres, of which open Analysis of national decentralization and cli- water and swamps constitute 43,941 square mate change policies is based on a literature kilometres or 18.2% of the total area. Most
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Figure 1. Map of Uganda
parts of the country are at an average height the short period is between March and May of 1,200 metres above sea level. The lowest (McSweeney et al., 2008:1). The areas around altitude is 620m (on the Albert Nile) and Lake Victoria are wetter than other areas of the highest altitude (Mt Ruwenzori Peak) is the country and receive more than 2,100 mil- 5,110m above sea level. The climate is equa- limetres of rain annually, whereas the arid and torial, with moderate, humid and hot climatic semi-arid north receives 500 millimetres per conditions throughout the year. year, thinning out to as low as 200 millime- Uganda experiences a wet climate with two tres in the north-eastern corner (Encyclopaedia distinct rainy seasons in a year in the south- of Earth). Average temperatures in the cool- ern parts of the country, which merge into er regions of the southwest are below 20°C, one rainy season further north of the equa- and reach 25°C in the northernmost parts tor. The rainy period between October to De- of the country, also considered the warmest cember is described as the long period, and (McSweeney et al, 2008:1).
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2.2 Characteristics of climate change the 1980s, to over seven events per year in the in East Africa 1990s, and almost ten events per year from Climate change in East Africa manifests it- 2000 to 2006, with a particular increase in self as two phenomena: (i) gradual change floods, from average of less than one event of mean temperature, mean precipitation and per year in the 1980s to seven events per variation in precipitation; and (ii) increases in year between 2000 and 2006 (Shongwe et al. the intensity and frequency of extreme cli- 2010:3719). mate events, such as droughts, floods, heat Uganda has experienced an increase in the waves and lightning (GoU NAPA, 2007:xiv; frequency of droughts, with seven droughts GoU Climate Policy Paper, 2012:5). An analy- reported between 1991 and 2000. Also the sis of data from the International Emergency frequency of anomalously strong rainfall Disaster Database by Shongwe et al. revealed causing floods has increased (Shongwe et al, that there has also been an increase in the 2010:3719). A total of 4.11 million people in number of reported hydro-meteorological Uganda have been affected by climate-related disasters in the East Africa region, from an disasters of different kinds, such as floods, average of less than three events per year in disease outbreaks and droughts, since 1979
Table 1. Recent major climate hazards in Uganda
Type of Disaster Date Number of People Affected
Drought April-August >500,000 2013
Landslide (Mass movement) March 2010 338
Drought July 2008 1,100,000
Flood August 2007 718,045
Drought March 2005 600,000
Drought June 2002 655,000
Drought August 1999 700,000
Drought January 1998 126,000
Epidemic November 1997 100,000
Flood November 1997 153,500
Drought December 1987 600,000
Drought 1979 500,000
Source: Climate Policy Paper, 2012 and Climate Change Update 2013.
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(Heinrich Böller Foundation, 2010:22). In the of the climate data produced in the country past, up to 34 per cent of crop damage in does not meet the required standards due to Uganda has been caused by climate-induced the irregular monitoring of collection equip- stimuli such as a lack of rainfall, crop diseases ment, the few stations and poor station dis- and insect damage (Hisali et al., 2011:1245). tribution. There is also a significant lack of Hepworth and Goulden (2008) state that historical meteorological data in Uganda. For floods in Uganda during 1961/62, 1997/98 these reasons, as well as the limited modelling and 2007 caused widespread infrastructural work that has been done and the complex damage, displacement and the destruction interactions that exist between land cover, of livelihood assets. Droughts have taken a oceanographic changes and climate, Uganda’s significant toll with, for example, 1.8 million climate projections are thus still very unrelia- people affected through increased malnutri- ble (GoU Climate Policy Paper, 2012:14-15). tion, poverty, illness, asset loss and migra- Figure 2 show time series of rainfall (ten- tion in the 1993/94 event (Hepworth and year running mean) from 1900 to 2009. The Goulden, 2008:10). table indicates that “2000–2009 rainfall has been, on average, about 8 per cent lower (-0.65 standard deviation) than rainfall between 1920 2.3 Gradual change in weather and 1969. Although the June–September rain- patterns in Uganda fall appears to have been declining for a longer The availability and accessibility of climate period, the March–June decline has only oc- data are major challenges in Uganda. Most curred recently.” (USGS 2012:2)
Figure 2. Trends in rainfall and temperature in Uganda* 3 March-June temperature June-September temperature March-June rainfall
June-September rainfall + 0.8 2 degrees Celsius
1 Standard deviations Standard
0 - 8 percent rainfall
-1
1900 1955 2009 * Smoothed 1900-2009 March-June and June-September rainfall and air temperature time series for crop-growing regions
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Lyon and DeWitt conclude that since 1999 2008:2). Others report that rainfall in Ugan- the East Africa region has experienced a de- da has become more unreliable and uneven- cline in precipitation during the long rainy ly distributed (IGAD, 2010). An increase in season, which has continued since (Lyon and the intensities and frequency of heavy rains, DeWItt, 2012:4). Funk et al. (2008) state that floods and landslides in highland areas, as East Africa has seen precipitation decline well as outbreaks of associated waterborne since 1979 (Funk et al., 2008:11082). Fur- diseases associated with the floods, were thermore, overall future climate projections also observed and confirmed by a Participa- for East Africa show scientific disagreement tory Rural Appraisal (NEMA, 2008). Recent over total rainfall. Funk et al. (2008) suggest years have seen erratic onsets and ends to the that East Africa will expect a decline in total rainy seasons, and rainfall has been heavier rainfall, at least until 2030. The authors use and more violent (GoU, 2007; MWE, 2010). climate relationship data as opposed to raw These are being followed by long droughts, simulations (Funk et al., 2008:11083, 11085). which are becoming more and more fre- Conversely, the IPCC report Region Climate quent. El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) Projections suggests that there is likely to be an events have also been observed to be shorter increase in annual mean rainfall in the future and more irregular (IGAD, 2010). (Christensen, 2007:850). There are, howev- Shongwe et al. 2011 carried out a study er, disagreements among scientists. Accord- of possible changes in the intensity of mean ing to McSweeney et al. (2008) observations and extreme precipitation rates in East Afri- of rainfall over Uganda do show statistically ca. They state that ‘Evidence in support of significant decreasing trends in annual and a future positive shift in the rainfall distri- March to May rainfall (McSweeney et al. bution under global warming has been pre- 2008:2). sented for most models, with only a single According to a Climate Policy Paper model simulating a trend to less rain’. They (2012), prepared by the Climate Change Unit also conclude that ‘It is physically reasona- within the Ministry of Water and Environ- ble, therefore, to conclude from this ocean– ment in Uganda, changes have been observed atmosphere coupling pattern that global in rainfall patterns in Uganda. Rainfall has warming could enhance the likelihood of become lower, more unreliable and uneven- anomalously strong short rains’ (Shongwe et ly distributed, and where rain does fall, it is al, 2010:3728f). heavier and more violent. In general, wet- Since 2000, extreme rainfall conditions ter areas are tending to become wetter and have been regularly experienced in eastern droughts more frequent. The main concern Uganda, where there has been an increase is not the total amount of rain, but instead of approximately 1500 mm in precipitation its distribution, seasonality and intensity, the in the December to January rainy season policy paper concludes (GoU Climate Policy (NEMA, 2008). Teso region has particular- Paper, 2012:5). ly been affected by these trends. According Trends in the variation in precipitation to the Uganda Department of Meteorology, based on daily rainfall data are, however, rainfall seasons have become more variable as mixed. McSweeney writes that there is no depicted by the analysis of cumulative average significant trend towards heavier and more ten-day totals. Although western, central and extreme rainfall events (McSweeney et al. northern Uganda experienced good rainfall,
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the eastern region experienced dr-oaughts in The increased frequency and duration of 1997, showing the complexity of these var- droughts is the most significant climate-re- iations. lated change being experienced in Uganda (GoU, 2007; MWE, 2010). See Figure 3. Recent floods in Uganda. Uganda experienced 2.4 Extreme climate events in above normal rainfall in 1998 (an El Nino Uganda year), resulting in floods that had serious neg- Recent droughts in Uganda. The western, north- ative impacts on several sectors, particularly ern, and north-eastern regions have been ex- health and transport. The flooding of 1998 periencing more frequent and longer-lasting was followed by a severe drought in western droughts than seen historically (GoU, 2007). region, with Mbarara district being most af- Between 1991 and 2000 there were seven fected. From 2007 to date, the Teso sub-re- droughts in the Karamoja region, and the gion in the north-eastern part of the country years 2001, 2002, 2005 and 2008 also saw ma- has experienced major floods in November jor droughts (GoU, 2002; GoU, 2007; EM- that have continued to be intermittently fol- DAT, 2011). While there have always been lowed by long droughts and floods during droughts in Uganda, evidence suggests they traditional planting seasons. This has virtually are becoming more frequent and more severe derailed the planting strategies in the sub-re- (IGAD, 2010). An example of such a severe gion. These analyses show that the impact drought was the 2000 widespread drought in of climate variability and climate change has the eastern and northern regions, with Arua not been consistent across the whole country, district being worst affected, although the thereby posing serious implications for the western region experienced good seasons. efficiency of the national-level response. In
Figure 3. Drought occurrences in Uganda 1911-2000
8 Frequency 7 Decade of drought
6 1911-20 1 1921-30 1 5 1931-40 1 1941-50 0 1951-60 1 4 1961-70 0 1971-88 3 3 1981-90 2
Frequency of drought Frequency 1991-00 7 2
1
0 1911-20 1921-30 1931-40 1941-50 1951-60 1961-70 1971-80 1981-90 1991-00 Decades
Source: GoU 2007
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September 2010, further flood disasters hit to 25 per cent. Overall budget deficits were the Teso region, leading to rotting cassava, reduced from 2.8 per cent of GDP in 1981 to sweet potato tubers and groundnuts (GoU 0.6 per cent in 1983 but rose to 11.9 per cent Climate Policy Paper, 2012:13). of GDP in 1984. Thereafter, the civil strife and political instability that ensued, especial- ly in the central part of the country, negated the achievements made. As a result, negative 3. RECENT ECONOMIC, SOCIAL GDP growth rates were recorded during the AND POLITICAL CHANGE IN period between 1984 and 1986. UGANDA In 1987, the government launched a minimum Economic Recovery Programme 3.1 Economic development (ERP) followed by a series of other reforms Uganda’s economy performed remarkably aimed at restoring macroeconomic stabili- well from independence to 1970, when the ty to provide a favourable environment for country experienced relative political stability. economic growth and private-sector devel- Inflation was maintained at an average of 3 opment. The key reforms included a cur- per cent per annum, real GDP grew by 5.2 rency reform, changes in tax and fiscal pol- per cent per annum, and fiscal deficits rarely icy geared towards improving revenues and exceeded 2.5 per cent of GDP. Real interest restraining expansion in Government ex- rates were positive for most of the period, penditures, while maintaining a strong focus the current account balance was in surplus, on economic recovery and growth. Between and domestic savings averaged 15 per cent 1987 and 1996, GDP grew at an average an- of GDP. In the same period, the growth in nual rate of 6.5 per cent, translating into 3.4 exports averaged 5 per cent per annum while per cent growth in per capita terms. The de- that of imports was 6.2 per cent. cline in monetary growth led to a substantial From 1971 to 1979, Uganda’s economy reduction in inflation. was seriously damaged by economic misman- Over the period 1997/1998 to 2000/2001, agement and civil conflicts that negatively im- GDP growth averaged 7.2 per cent per an- pacted on the gains made during the previous num. Between 2000/01 and 2003/04 it aver- periods. The rate of inflation averaged 30 per aged 6.8 per cent and between 2004/05 and cent per annum between 1970 and 1980, as 2007/08, it was 8 per cent. As a result of the government financed public expenditure the global recession, which reduced the de- through bank borrowing. During the same mand for Uganda’s exports to Europe and period, GDP declined at 1.6 per cent per an- America, GDP growth declined slightly in num, exports by 8.5 per cent and imports by 2008/09 to 6.2 per cent at basic prices but re- 9.8 per cent. This led to a decline in export covered in 2011/12. The fiscal deficit stood revenue, which subsequently impacted nega- at 10.2 per cent and 7.9 per cent of GDP tively on the balance of payments and exter- on average during 2000/01 to 2003/04 and nal debt positions. 2004/05 to 2007/2008respectively. Inflation Growth in GDP was temporally restored was kept in single digits for most of these between 1981 and 1983, when an average periods, foreign reserves covered at least five annual growth rate of 5.6 per cent was reg- months of imports, and exchange rates were istered. Inflation declined from 111 per cent competitive.
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There has been a significant increase in both 3.2 Institutional change foreign and local investment flows into the Uganda has established a number of institu- economy. As a percentage of GDP, pri- tions to enable effective public-sector man- vate investment rose from 12.2 per cent in agement. These institutions are responsible 2000/2001 to 20.6 per cent in 2006/2007. for policy formulation and implementation Public investment averaged 5.1 per cent of and public service delivery. However, there GDP over the same period but has been are opportunities to improve the structure more or less stagnant over the last decade. of the public sector, in particular with regard Furthermore, the investment pattern of re- to the allocation of roles and responsibilities cent years shows rising private construction, in service delivery. Most of the public insti- especially of residential buildings, modest- tutions were formed in the early 1960s, be- ly increasing investment in machinery and fore the liberalization policies of the 1990s. equipment, and low levels of public con- The organization of some public institutions struction. This indicates issues with low is not suitable and impedes the delivery of capital investment in industries, services and policy, regulation and public services. Oth- labour productivity. er issues include overlaps and duplication The global downturn has to some extent of mandates, weak oversight of institutions, negatively influenced investments through poor corporate governance and weak regula- reduced private remittances, foreign direct tory frameworks. The civil servants are still investment and loans, although recent global poorly remunerated, and this limits their pro- economic trends, coupled with the resilience ductivity. Furthermore, the coordination of of Uganda’s economy, have subdued the in- public-sector institutions is still a challenge. itially perceived risks. Foreign Direct Invest- The progress made in both public admin- ment (FDI) dropped from 5.3 per cent of istration and public-sector management is be- GDP in 2007/2008 to 4.6 per cent GDP in ing hampered by corruption at various levels 2008/09 and was projected to remain slow in of government. Government recognizes the 2009/2010. However, the anticipated nega- devastating socio–economic effects of cor- tive effects on aid were marginal, as most de- ruption and is committed to taking corrective velopment partners continued to meet their and deterrent measures in order to fully real- obligations. ize the potential for improving social and eco- Uganda’s trade deficit has been widening nomic conditions. Uganda ranks 130th out of despite improvements in the composition and 180 countries on Transparency Internation- value of exports. The trade deficit as a per- als’ 2009 Corruption Perception Index, while centage of GDP declined from an annual av- many African countries rank better (Tanzania erage of 12.9 per cent for the period 2000/01 126, Zambia 99, Swaziland 79, South Africa to 2003/2004 to 13.5 per cent for the period 56, and Botswana 37). 2004/2005 to 2007/2008. The balance of In order to enhance accountability in gov- payments has also been unfavourable, with ernment, the accountability sector was estab- a deteriorating trend in recent years. These lished in 2007 with the goal of promoting, results could partly be due to lower demand supervising and implementing accountability for Uganda’s exports in advanced economies, systems. The sector comprises the Ministry although this is partly being compensated for of Finance, Planning and Economic Devel- by increased regional exports. opment, the Inspectorate of Government,
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the Office of the Auditor General, theDi- to about US $ 182.1 million or Sh 493.3 bil- rectorate of Ethics and Integrity, the Ministry lion by 2012/17. The largest support received of Public Service – Inspection, the Ministry under this mode of external financing comes of Local Government, the Public Procure- from the World Bank Poverty Support Credit ment and Disposal of Public Assets Au- (PRSC) of USD 100 million, followed by UK thority, the Uganda Bureau of Statistics, the and EU general budget support equivalent to Uganda Revenue Authority and development USD 30 million and USD 20 million respec- partners. There is also a Stakeholders Forum tively. in which civil-society views are presented At the same time, next year project support and addressed. Civil society includes private disbursements are projected at US$ 745.7 business, media, anti–corruption NGOs and million, equivalent to Shs 1,945.8 billion, community groups, all of which play a vital which will further rise to US$ 794.2 million role in representing the views and experienc- or Shs 2,196.9 billion during 2013/14. Project es of public service beneficiaries and holding support is projected to decline the follow- public officials to account. ing three years and to be US$ 402.9 million, The legal, policy and regulatory framework or Shs 1,091 billion during the last year of that guides the accountability sector includes the Medium Term Expenditure Framework the Budget Act 2001, the Public Finance and (MTEF). The major benefitting sectors are Accountability Act 2003, the National Audit works and transport, education, public man- Act 2008 , the Leadership Code Act 2002, the agement and health. National Records and Archives Act 2001, the Meanwhile, amortization of external debt Public Procurement and Disposal of Public is projected at US$ 96 million, equivalent to Assets Act 2003, and the Access to Informa- Shs 250.4 billion in 2012/13. The level of ex- tion Act 2005. Other laws pending legislation ternal debt repayments is projected to remain include the Anti-Money Laundering Bill, the almost the same in US dollar terms over the Anti-Corruption Bill 2008, and the Whistle medium term. Net external debt repayments Blowers’ Bill. A special court has also been are higher than the amortization schedules set established to try corruption cases. out above due to payments of arrears. Amor- tization on domestic debt is projected at Shs 9.7 billion in each of the next five years. 3.3 Role of external actors/donors in development and climate change The government of Uganda is still unable to 3.4 Evolution of the political balance its budget and continues to depend character of the Ugandan state on external budget support, although the lev- A number of democratic institutions have el of support is declining. Budget support in been put in place in line with the 1995 con- the form of grants and concessionary loans stitution. The three arms of government, is projected to be US$ 281.3 million, equiva- namely the legislature, the executive and the lent to Shs 734.1 billion, during FY 2012/13. judiciary, are now in place and functioning, al- Budget support is projected to decrease mar- beit with varying degrees of respect for each ginally in US dollar terms in FY 2013/14 to other’s constitutional mandates. Parliament US$ 247.7 million or Shs 685 billion before continues to exercise its constitutional man- declining further over the remaining period date and has strengthened a number of insti-
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tutions for promoting democracy and good At the turn of the century, the reform pro- governance including the Electoral Commis- cess in Uganda was viewed by World Bank sion (EC), the Inspectorate of Government and international observers as one of the (IGG), the Auditor General (with enhanced most successful in Africa. However, over the powers) and the Uganda Human Rights past decade the initial success in decentraliz- Commission (UHRC), among others. ing and reforming the public sector has been However, the country’s culture of consti- gradually undermined, leading to a reversal tutionalism is not improving fast, and many of development and reform outcomes. While of the institutions established in the legisla- national political commitment was an essen- tive, executive and judicial branches of gov- tial prerequisite for initiating reform, the ab- ernment are struggling to fully embrace the sence of such political commitment became ideals, principles and practices of democracy. a source of vulnerability for the reform in a The media has been liberalized and is relative- political culture with a powerful legacy of au- ly free, with both the print and electronic me- thoritarianism and personal rule. dia providing citizens with ample opportuni- ‘The principal explanation for stalled re- ties to express their views on a wide range of form or reversals lies in the imperative of issues that affect their lives. At the same time, preserving the institutional foundations of Uganda has seen the dramatic emergence of neo-patrimonial politics’ (Robinson, 2006:13). non-governmental and civil-society organiza- Over the past decade the politics of regime tions willing and able to engage the arms of maintenance in Uganda has prevailed over government in policy debates and advocacy development objectives and the strengthen- of democracy and good political governance, ing of local government structures. As the albeit with challenges in the policy and reg- success of the reforms was increasingly at- ulatory framework. However, in general the tributed to the semi-autonomous institutions citizen body is not yet empowered enough to responsible for implementing governance engage effectively in demanding their rights reforms (e.g. the NAADS secretariat) and and to insist that these institutions meet their to local government structures, they became obligations. susceptible to political manipulation from The Ugandan state supported a series of central government. Over the past decade the economic and governance reforms during politics of regime maintenance has increas- the 1990s carried out in close collaboration ingly become associated with neo-patrimoni- with international aid agencies led by the al rule and re-centralization, challenging the World Bank. A high level of commitment sustainability of successful decentralization by the president and the wider Ugandan po- reforms. litical establishment, combined with donor The reversal of the decentralization reform support, was crucial for the initial success of in Uganda has been explained by its reliance these governance reforms. This combination on the personal commitment of President enabled the strengthening of ‘technocratic or Museveni over an extended time period and bureaucratic elites with some degree of in- the absence of a broader political constitu- sulation from political and societal interests ency to ensure its sustainability (Robinson, through the creation of specialised, semi-au- 2006). A contributing factor to the erosion of tonomous agencies responsible for reform the commitment to the decentralized imple- implementation’ (Robinson, 2006:13). mentation of policy reform may be the shift
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to multi-party elections in 2005. Increased control, and administration of justice in local competition in multiparty elections in 2007 council courts. and 2011 has increased the importance of at- Local government functions through a tributing success for development outcomes. unified system of elected authorities at var- This may ‘deepen rather than erode patrimo- ious levels, ranging from the village to the nial politics as newly mobilised constituencies city or district. The responsibility for local seek to access the benefits that were formerly planning, budgeting and implementation lies the exclusive preserve of politicians and of- primarily with the district/municipality and ficials associated with the NRM Movement’ sub-county/town council. The number of (Robinson, 2006:12). districts with approved three-year develop- The political base of the NRM movement ment plans increased from three in 1997 to has narrowed over the past decade, with all the 80 districts that existed in 2009. This is strong personal concentration power in the an indication that local government capacity hands of the President and a disproportion- increased during this period. In connection ate share of top political positions and civ- with national elections in 2011, the number il service appointments going to Ugandans of districts was increased to 112. While creat- with strong kinship roots in the west of the ing new districts is popular among the people country (Robinson, 2006). Over the past dec- living in the district and result in more votes ade Uganda has thus transformed itself from for the government, most technical observers one of countries in Africa that was most argue that it has resulted in increased expend- closely associated with the type of structural iture on public administration (UNCDF). reforms supported by World Bank and inter- national development agencies to a country based on the type of neo-patrimonial poli- 4.2 Local government capacity to tics commonly found in many other African deliver services states (Hickey 2003). There has been progress in institutional and human resource capacities in local govern- ment. Under the LGDP, the government designed and implemented a capacity-build- 4. DECENTRALIZATION AS ing programme for local government, which UNIQUE FEATURE OF UGANDA has led to improvements in service delivery. However, there are still gaps in staffing levels 4.1 Evolution of local government (at 65 per cent), which affects service deliv- In 1993 in Uganda the Decentralization Act ery. The most affected sectors include health, was passed through parliament as an instru- agriculture and engineering, which have failed ment to deliver sub-national development to attract, deploy or retain skilled personnel. and to bring services closer to the people. In spite of the introduction of equalization Decentralization envisioned good govern- grants to bring disadvantaged local govern- ance, democratic participation and control of ment to the level of service delivery com- decision-making by local communities. Under parable to the rest of the country, regional this policy, the following functions were de- imbalances still exist. This is demonstrated volved to local government: planning, budg- simply by disparities in poverty levels and so- ets, administration, fiscal management and cial development indictors. While nationally
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the proportion of the population below the recurrent activities of national importance, poverty line is 31 per cent, the incidence f whereas the equalization grants are extended poverty is highest in the Northern region at to new LGs and those that are disadvantaged. 66 per cent, followed by the Eastern at 46.8 The multiplicity of fund transfer mecha- per cent, Western at 34.4 per cent and Central nisms is a growing concern of local govern- at 27.2 per cent. The high incidence of pov- ment. Many of these mechanisms were not erty in the north is attributed to the insurgen- well adapted to the decentralized framework, cy, which disrupted economic activities in the which resulted in management and reporting northern and eastern parts of the country. challenges. In addition, there were concerns Gender inequalities are more pronounced over the different designs and conditionalities in the post-conflict areas of the north than of the different grants. in the rest of the country. Displacement and To address these challenges, the govern- resettlement have left many women with- ment introduced the Fiscal Decentralization out any access to land. Conflict has brought Strategy (FDS), which allows LGs some flexi- about a breakdown in traditional household bility and/or discretion to reallocate resources roles whereby women have had to become between and within sectors during planning primary breadwinners, although they lack the and budgetary processes. While a lot has been necessary skills. Many women and children achieved since the FDS was introduced, it has have been severely traumatized by the effects not been fully embraced. Most LG budgets of conflict. Disruption of social services has still comprise of more than 80 per cent of led to worse social outcomes, lower than na- conditional grants. tional averages, in literacy, malnutrition, ma- To address regional and district imbalanc- ternal mortality and fertility, among others. es, a number of affirmative action plans have Local government bodies (LGs) are funded been implemented at sub-national levels with through central government grant transfers, some degree of success, including the North- local revenue and borrowing. In addition, ern Uganda Rehabilitation Programmes many LGs access donations from devel- (NUREP) I & II and the Northern Uganda opment partners. The Constitution of the Social Action Fund (NUSAF), the Karamoja Republic of Uganda provides for three cat- Integrated Disarmament and Development egories of grants, namely unconditional, con- Programme (KIDDP) and extensions of ditional and equalization. The Constitution equalization grants to address the imbalances also gives powers to local government to col- between districts. The government has devel- lect some tax and non-tax revenues. All these oped and is implementing the Peace Recovery sources are operations, although at different ad Development Plan (PRDP) for northern levels of contribution to LG budgets. LGs and eastern Uganda. The Luwero–Rwenzori have powers to collect property taxes, but few Development Plan (LRDP) is also being de- collect it effectively, and it is significant only veloped. in urban areas. Various local fees, licenses and The PRDP will consolidate the achieve- other minor revenues are collected. ments of previous affirmative action pro- The unconditional grants are at the dis- grammes in the region and enable the system- cretion of LGs, but the largest percentage is atic rehabilitation and long-term recovery of used to pay salaries. The conditional grants the post-conflict north of the country. This are earmarked for specific development and will reopen the area to meaningful produc-
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tion, as well as reinstating democratic govern- back to climate change as either a direct or ance in the area. indirect cause. Available evidence (Bashaasha et al. 2010) Disasters affect many people in Uganda, so far suggests that devolution of responsi- and emergency assistance is therefore nat- bility contributes to greater compliance with urally a highly sensitive political issue. The some natural resource management (NRM) NDP also reports that between 2000 and requirements. In particular, the involvement 2005, approximately 65.7 per cent of house- of locally accountable and representative holds in Uganda experienced at least one type authorities in enacting and enforcing NRM of disaster (UNHS 2005/06). The regional requirements appears critical for the legit- distribution is shown in figure 4 below. The imacy and success of such regulation. With tableshows that the Northern region was the regard to forest conservation, comparison of most severely affected because of the civil centralized and decentralized forms of for- strife. Here emergency assistance is associat- est management reveals ambiguous results. ed with the temporary resettlement of affect- There is evidence that forest conditions in ed people and refugees in camps, adding fur- some areas have declined following decen- ther to the political sensitivity of emergency tralization. The Bashaasha et al. estimates of assistance. the cost of natural resource degradation in Uganda’s current disaster management Uganda are as high as 17 per cent of gross policy was formulated in the early 1990s. It national income (GNI) per year, of which 6 has three objectives: first, to reduce the socio- per cent consists of forest degradation and economic and environmental impacts of dis- 11 per cent soil degradation. asters on people and the economy; secondly, to address the causes of disasters. The emer- gency policy distinguishes between ‘natural’ and human-induced causes of disaster; and 5. NATIONAL CLIMATE CHANGE thirdly, to promote and uphold the rights of POLICIES AND THEIR refugees. IMPLEMENTATION MODALITIES Because of the highly politically sensitive nature of emergency assistance, the responsi- 5.1 Emergency assistance policy bility for its coordination has been centralized OPM in OPM, represented by a junior minister. Disasters or emergencies refer to a series of The implementation of disaster management events that give rise to casualties, damage or policy has been devolved to seven regional a loss of property, infrastructure, essential disaster coordination offices that are linked services or means of livelihood on a scale to disaster risk reduction committees (DRR) that is beyond the normal capacity of the at the district and sub-district levels. These in- communities affected to cope with unaided. stitutions function in parallel with local gov- According to the NDP, the most frequent ernment institutional structures and are not disasters in Uganda include displacement integrated into the ongoing activities of local of persons, famine, earthquakes, epidemics, government. livestock and crop diseases, floods and land- Qualitative interviews with local govern- slides, and technological accidents, among ment staff and other key informants in So- others. Many on the list can clearly be traced roti, Amuria and Katakwi districts reveal that
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Figure 4. Percent of households that experienced more than one disaster (2000-2005)
100 88.7 90 80
70 63.3 65.4 65.7 60 53.3 50 Percent 40 30 20 10 0 Central Eastern Northern Western Uganda Region the DDR institutions are dormant and are limited preventive activities prior to the oc- only activated when there is an officially de- currence of disasters. The UNDP is currently clared emergency. Last time the DDRs were working with the OPM on disaster risk reduc- activated in the three districts was during and tion and management, as well as sponsoring in the immediate aftermath of the 2007 flood a 3.6M USD program on SLM. The UNEP in Teso region. During this period the DDR also is supporting the Ministry of Agriculture assisted by collecting information and mobi- to develop an early warning system and inte- lizing local people for the emergency agencies grate climate change into development pro- led by UNHCR and WFP. grams. As shown in table 1 (section 2) Teso has During an interview in OPM it was made experienced a series of floods and droughts clear that the Ugandan government has al- since 2007 that have been less severe in mag- located very limited resources to providing nitude and the number of people affected. relief and rehabilitation support in response For this reason these extreme climate change to emergencies. OPM therefore largely relies events were not officially declared emergen- on the UN emergency agencies, which only cies by OPM. As a consequence the UN mobilise their resources during major emer- emergency agencies were active in these later gencies. As a consequence communities that extreme events and the DDRs have remained are affected by extreme climate events that dormant. are limited in scope and space and only affect Uganda’s emergency response has by and a more limited number of people fall below large been one of response. The absence of the radar and remain without any govern- a credible early warning system has further ment support.
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Local government is under a considerable Climate Change (UNFCCC) on 13th June pressure to assist, but it does not receive 1992 and ratified it on 8th September 1993. funding from central government for such Uganda has also ratified the Kyoto Proto- activities, and its assistance therefore often col, which provides the basis for an interna- remains symbolic. tional response to the challenges of climate The Government of Uganda has an- change. In addition, Uganda is also a party nounced that it has initiated the formulation to a number of Multilateral Environmental of a new National Policy for Disaster Risk Agreements (MEAs) that have a strong link Reduction and is also working on a program with climate change, including the United of action to implement the policy. It is not Nations Convention to Combat Desertifi- publicly known what the policy reform will cation (UNCCD), the Ramsar Convention, focus on or the extent to which it will ad- the Convention on Biological Diversity dress the implementation challenges of the (UNCBD) and the Montreal Protocol. In current policy. response to commitments under Articles 4 and 12 of the UFCCC, Uganda developed and submitted the Initial National Commu- 5.2 NAPA nication (INC) in 2002 and National Adap- National policies so far appear to have tation Programmes of Action (NAPA) in been motivated by the need to ratify in- 2007, produced by the Department of Me- ternational protocols. Uganda signed the teorology in the Ministry of Water, Lands United Nations Framework Convention on and Environment (MoWE) in its capacity
Table 2. Estimated Cost of NAPA Projects
Limited Country Project Title Area Wide Interventions Interventions
1 Community Tree Growing Project 3.2 5.5 2 Land Degradation Management Project 2.5 4.7 3 Strengthening Meteorological Services 4.2 6.5 4 Community Water and Sanitation Project 2.8 4.7 5 Water for Production Project 4.0 5.0 6 Draught Adaptation Project 2.0 3.0 7 Vectors, Pests and Disease Control Project 3.5 8.0 8 Indigenous Knowledge and Natural Resource 0.6 1.2 Management Project 9 Climate Change and Development Planning 0.5 1.2 Project Total 23.3 39.8
Source: NAPA Uganda, 2007
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as the National Climate Change Focal point 5.3 NCCP and implementation (NCCF) under the Convention. framework The drawing up of NAPA was an exter- A draft Climate Change Policy was formulat- nally driven policy process carried out by ed during 2012 and will take effect subject to a committee of representatives from the approval by the Government. The process of relevant central ministries with the task of formulating a new national Climate Change making Uganda eligible to receive funding Policy has been driven by a newly established from the Least Developed Country Fund Climate Change Unit (CCU) in the Depart- (LDCF). According to the GEF website, ment of Meteorology in the Ministry of a total of 49 NAPAs were formulated in Water and Environment (MoWE) that func- 2005-2009, and the LDCF has had a total tions as the National Focal Point for climate of US$415 million available to fund them. change under the United Nations Framework However, until now only US$177 million Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC). has been approved for 47 projects, attract- The Climate Change Policy Committee in the ing more than US$550 million in co-financ- Ministry of Water and Environment func- ing in the process (http://www.thegef.org/ tionally serves as a Steering Committee for all gef/ldcf ). Based on this, one can conclude climate change projects and provides advice that less than one project has been funded on climate change to the Minister of Wa- for each NAPA. Globally, the funding level ter and Environment. The Climate Change for NAPA has been significantly lower than Policy Committee currently consists of the expected. This is a direct consequence of following members: Finance, Royal Danish the political impasse and failure of United Embassy, OPM, MOH, MAAIF, Justice and Nations Framework Convention for Cli- Constitutional Affairs, Energy and Mineral mate Change (UNFCCC) to reach an agree- Resources, Works and Transport, the Na- ment. The priorities of Uganda’s NAPAs tional Planning Authority and MoWE. Oth- are shown in table 2 below. The extent to er organisations may be invited to CCPC which these projects have been funded is meetings. The policy formulation process has not known. been supported by international development According to UNFCCC guidelines, NA- agencies, including the EU, DFID, DANI- PAs should describe a country’s perception DA, World Bank and World Food Program of its most ‘urgent and immediate needs to (WFP). adapt to climate change’ (UNFCCC 2011: National Climate Change Policy places p2). While the Uganda NAPA was formally a priority on adaptation, mitigation, and re- subject to a process of participatory consul- search and observation. The policy priori- tation, in reality the identification and prior- tises climate change adaptation over climate itisation process was done by technical rep- change mitigation. This is in harmony with resentatives from central ministries. None of EAC regional climate change policy and log- the seventy participants in three CCRI work- ic, given Uganda’s stage of development, shops that were held in 2012 and 2013 who which is characterized by low levels of emis- represent nine local governments in TESO sion. Under adaptation, the policy recognizes and Karamoja regions knew about the NAPA eleven sector-specific and two cross-cutting policy and priorities. priorities that fall under nine different line ministries, as shown in annex 1. These line
23 DIIS WORKING PAPER 2013:17 Ministry of Water and Environment, National Climate Change Policy, 2012. Ministry of National Climate Change and Environment, Policy, Water Figure 5. Institutional architecture for climate change action in Uganda for Institutional architecture 5. Figure Source:
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ministries are represented but not exactly rep- planning and coordination of national-level licated at the local government and lower lev- activities, including linkages with meso-level els, making coordination and implementation institutions. at the lower levels of government questions In addition to the CCD, three national for research. Under mitigation, the policy rec- ministries or authorities (Finance, NPA and ognizes ten sector-specific and two crosscut- MOLG) ensure policy implementation. Each ting priorities that fall under six different line ministry, department and agency with a role ministries, as shown in annex 2. to play in the implementation of the policy The NCCP proposes to strengthen the responses is expected to designate a depart- current climate change unit (CCU) and pro- mental focal point and is accountable for the mote it to the level of a sectorial government implementation of the prescribed policy re- department named the Climate Change De- sponses that concern it. The Implementation partment (CCD) under the Ministry of Wa- Strategy details the accountabilities of the ter and Environment. This department is to various ministries, departments and agencies serve as the National Focal Climate Change concerned around indicative climate change organ. The policy also proposes that the Nat- programmes. They are expected to report ural Resources Department should serve as on their progress in the implementation of the climate change focal point at the district their respective tasks and in the attainment of level, with all other departments ensuring that their expected results. On the basis of these climate change issues are integrated into the reports, the CCD is tasked with preparing a district development plans. The policy prom- consolidated progress report on the overall ises to provide an implementation structure implementation of the climate change policy. to detail the accountabilities of the various The proposed implementation structure ministries, departments and agencies con- of climate change is summarized in Figure cerned. 5. As shown, the NCCP has finally embraced The NCCP emphasizes the multi-sectorial the local government system as the key im- nature of climate change and seeks to main- plementation modality. At district level, the stream climate change as cutting across other policy provides for district-level focal points development policies. At the national level it with an environmental committee, and for is proposed to carry out such mainstreaming departments. through the establishment of a National Cli- mate Change Policy Committee, with the task of coordinating policy implementation and of ensuring information flows on resource 6. DISCUSSION allocations for the implementation of the policy, as well as a National Climate Change 6.1 Compliance of climate change Advisory Committee to ensure working level policy and Decentralization Act? coordination and provide technical input to The first of the questions raised in the intro- the National Climate Change Policy Com- duction to the working paper was whether mittee. The work of these two coordination Uganda’s climate change policies are compli- mechanisms has been guided by the Climate ant with the Decentralization Act and current Change Implementation Strategy, the ob- local government institutional structures. jective of which is to enable more effective Up till now, the answer has been a clear no,
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Table 3. Compliance of Climate Change Policies with Decentralization
Policy Compliance with decentralization? Analysis why
Emergency No. Centralised coordination with concentrated local Central government need to be response institutions is not integrated into local government. seen to act. Resettlement camps highly politically sensitive.
NAPA No. Implemented through projects managed by central Driver of reform was to ministries in parallel with local government. become eligible to receive UN funding for climate change projects.
NCCP Yes. Implementation of policy fully integrated with local Policy formulation process government structures. guided by joint government–multi-donor committee. Policy re ects analysis rather than funding availability.
though when the new climate change poli- ministrative constraints, these constraints are cy takes effect, this is likely to change. The not very different from those hampering the working paper reveals that neither emergen- central administration. While far from per- cy policy nor NAPA uses local government fect, local government is well placed to sup- political and administrative institutions for port climate change adaptation. their implementation. The newly formulated NCCP, which has not yet been approved by the government, is compliant with the De- 6.2 Political nature of Ugandan state centralization Act. and policy reform The fact that climate change policies have In the introduction we set out to examine the been implemented in parallel with existing extent to which the nature of the state de- local decentralization structures cannot be termined whether or not climate change poli- justified with an argument that there is inade- cies were compliant with the Decentralization quate capacity in local government. Act. In section 3.4 we analysed the changing As discussed in section four, all districts nature of the Ugandan state and described in Uganda had approved three-year District how the commitment to reform and devo- Development Plans (DDP) by 2009. These lution of power and responsibilities to local DDPs are decided by the district councils government during the 1990s gradually erod- consisting of councillors elected from each ed during the 2000s. The section concluded of the sub-counties within the district. In a that the attribution of success for develop- well-established district the DDP is imple- ment outcomes to central government during mented by 15-20 technical departments, cov- the past decade has come to override reform- ering a wide range of services. While local and development-specific concerns. government continues to be hampered by Formulation of the comprehensive Decen- various financial, regulatory, capacity and ad- tralization Act in 1993 and the subsequent
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devolution of power, financial resources and with the Decentralization Act. First, it is po- responsibilities for service delivery are con- litically important to be seen to respond to sistent with our analysis of the nature of the emergencies and to ensure that assistance is Ugandan state in the 1990s discussed in sec- seen to be attributed to central government. tion five. As one of the most reform-compli- Secondly, control over when and when not ant countries in Africa during the 1990s, the to declare an emergency is important. His- new local government institutions received torically, emergencies in Uganda have been considerable capacity development support closely linked to civil conflicts. Thirdly, but from UNCDF, World Bank and other inter- not least, the resettlement of displaced peo- national donor organizations. However, this ple in camps as a consequence of emergen- does not explain why the government did not cies is politically highly sensitive because of allow the emergency policy formulated dur- its security aspects. ing the same period to be compliant with the NAPA is the first national policy that is ful- Decentralization Act. As discussed earlier, all ly dedicated to adaptation to climate change. decisions with regard to the coordination of As described in section five, policy formu- emergency assistance are centralized within lation was driven by a need to be compliant the OPM’s office, which is headed by its own with the United Nations Framework Con- Minister. While the overall trend towards the vention for Climate Change requirements recentralization of power to central govern- in order to be eligible for funding from the ment fits well with how NAPA was formu- Least Developed Country Fund. Policy for- lated and implemented, the political analysis mulation therefore became centralized, with is inconsistent with the fact that the NCCP little more than token instrumental consul- embrace the local government system and tation among so-called stakeholders outside in many ways resembles the types of reform the central ministries and UN consultants. that Uganda was known for during the 1990s. As discussed in section 5, central ministerially managed projects are the chosen implementa- tion modality of NAPA, though it ignores the 6.3 Drivers of climate change Decentralization Act and local government policies structures. Interviews with key informants in Our analysis of climate change policies in the ministries suggest that, to the extent that section 5 revealed significant differences in the NAPA priority projects were funded, a the formulation process and drivers in this larger proportion of the funding was used on process between the three policies. At the research or central ministry activities. Priori- same time we found a strong coherence be- ties suggest that activities that reached local tween the interests of those driving the poli- farming communities were largely based on cy process and its implementation modalities. transfers of technologies made to assist farm- Given the high political sensitivity of emer- ers adapt to climate change, such as modern gency assistance, the formulation of emer- drought-tolerant crop varieties. gency policy during the early 1990s was close- As examined in section 5, the NCCP for- ly followed and guided by the government. mulation was guided by a Climate Change We argue that there are three sets of reasons Policy Committee that comprises represent- why the governance of emergency assis- atives from the OPM, Ministry of Finance, tance policy is centralized and non-compliant six line ministries and a donor representative
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(Danida). The policy formulation process was the implementation mechanism of the disas- supported by a group of international devel- ter unit in the OPM’s office. The emergency opment agencies, including the EU, DFID, unit in the OPM’s office is seriously underfi- DANIDA, World Bank and World Food Pro- nanced and therefore limited in its ability to gram (WFP). respond to emergencies on its own. Its track Given this very high level of support for record is largely one of formal and official policy development, it is not surprising that coordination, while the UN and internation- the NCCP implementation framework is al and national NGOs are the organizations compliant with the Decentralization Act. The that are taking the lead in emergency respons- NCCP implementation framework fully em- es on the ground. The emergency unit at the braces the decentralised governance struc- PMP’s office seems to be more interested in tures, which will greatly enhance the chanc- taking the credit for responding to emergen- es to establish local forums for dialogue and cies than actually making a difference for the co-production of the ideas needed to address people affected. rural people’s challenges in adapting to cli- It is therefore not surprising that central mate change. government funding for climate change adaptation does not feature in the District Development Plans of the three CCRI 6.4 Implication of the gap between study districts, Soroti, Amuria and Katakwi. climate change policies and However, the consequence of such a top- decentralization down project-planning and implementation In the previous section we have tried to un- approach to climate change adaptation is derstand why a centralized mode of imple- a heightened risk that the support is irrel- mentation was chosen for emergency assis- evant for the community. Compared with tance and NAPA policies. In the following we project implementation by the central minis- examine some of the negative impacts of this try, , implementation through local govern- choice. ment institutions is much better placed to The fact that the decentralised emergen- create opportunities for political and tech- cy assistance institutions are not integrated nical dialogue leading to joint priorities and with normal local government structures co-produced social or technical approaches clearly has a negative influence on their- ef to climate change adaption. NAPA therefore ficiency. Qualitative fieldwork in Teso region has, in our assessment, done more harm and indicated that the DRR committees at the good in some respects. The rushed external district (LC5) and sub-country (LC3) levels UN and central ministry-driven policy for- were dormant and were only reactivated as mulation process ignored the decentralized a response to floods. The role of the RRD policy and technical level. This is likely to has largely been to make assessments of the have delayed the formulation of the nation- current situation and to assist in mobilizing al climate change policy and funding for the people to receive assistance from internation- meso-level government institutions that are al emergency NGOs. With no budget and best situated to provide and enable an envi- little or no interaction with or influence on ronment that can assist smallholder farmers decisions made by the OPM office, the role in their efforts to adapt to the effects of cli- of the RRD can hardly be characterized as mate change.
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A considerable number of projects address- while the NCCP policy formulation process ing climate changes have been implemented was highly inclusive, only limited consultation over the past five to six years. However, a with local government stakeholders seems to consequence of no adequate policy imple- have taken place. Whereas the district-level mentation framework is that development structures are provided for in the policy, it is agencies have funded and implemented pro- less clear how they are linked to the nation- jects through central state institutions or al-level structure and the lower (sub-coun- NGOs. A GTZ study (GTZ, 2010) identified ty)-level structures to deliver on climate and logged the interests of 84 climate change change action. The extent to which it is the actors across government (23), development district council or MWE that sets priorities partners (22), NGOs (20), research institutes within the district also remains unclear. (16) and the private sector (3). The majority During a CCRI meeting in 2013 involv- are engaged in the environment, energy, agri- ing politicians and technical staff from nine culture and climate change-specific sub-sec- districts in Tesso and Karamoja, the NCCP tors, with cross-cutting climate change issues. implementation framework was presented The support can be categorized into four and subsequent discussions recorded and areas: (i) policy and capacity building, (i) ad- transcribed. Participants were overall very aptation, (iii) mitigation and (iv) cross-cutting pleased with the integration of support for issues. climate change adaptation in district planning and budgeting. However, no one had been consulted in the design of the implementa- 6.5 NCCP: bridging the gap between tion framework, and some were critical of the policy and practice? appointment of the district environmental In principle, the implementation framework officer as the focal point for climate change for the NCCP can be said to bridge the gap at the district level. They were concerned that between policy and practice. However, the the environmental officer would not have the extent to which this will happen in practice political clout to mainstream climate change will only been seen during actual implementa- into the agenda across many departments. tion. At least three issues are causing concern Thirdly, the group of international donor and could influence the implementation of agencies that supported the formulation of NCCP. the NCCP were also involved in a joint pro- The first issue is that there seems to have ject: the UNDP/CIF-led and multidonor- been little discussion about how the NCCP and government-funded area-based climate and the emergency assistance policy relate to change adaptation project in Mbale district. each other. It is unclear how the integration This project is seen as a pilot project with of the NCCP within local government struc- the aim of developing an appropriate way to tures will affect the emergency assistance support climate change adaptation. In our policy. In fact, when the Uganda CCRI team assessment, the UNDP/CIP project com- interviewed the key emergency assistance of- prises a range of technically relevant climate ficer in the OPM, the officer was not aware change activities and relevant experiences of the new NCCP and was never consulted with participatory approaches for involving during its formulation. rural citizens in these activities. However, The second issue relates to the fact that, its implementation as a project, using paral-
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lel structures to those of local government, undermines its relevance as a model for the climate change policy. The usual criticism of donor-funded projects applies to this project as well: (i) local politicians have little owner- ship of the project, as they have not been in- volved in its design and management and are unlikely and unable to take over the funding of project activities; (ii) a large part of the project cost is made up of project staff and international consultancy fees, something that is highly unlikely to be how local gov- ernment would prioritise their budget; and iii) the funding level of the project is magnitudes higher than the kind of budget that local gov- ernment is likely to have available for imple- menting the climate change policy.
6.6 Lack of understanding of climate change action by meso level institutions The fact that local government has until now largely been bypassed by emergency assis- tance, NAPA and most donor agencies and NGO-implemented projects is, however, not the same as saying there is a complete lack of activity. The CCRI’s qualitative fieldwork in Soroti, Amuria and Katakwi districts re- vealed that local government technical staff at district and in particular at sub-county level are acting in various ways to the challenge of climate change, even when there is no poli- cy guiding their action or budget line fund- ing their activities. Understanding meso- and local-level institutional responses to climate change in the absence of relevant policies and budgets is urgently needed to inform the implementation of the proposed climate change policy. This will be the subject of a second CCRI working paper, to be finalized in early 2014.
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7. BIBLIOGRAPHY
CIA Factbook, 2013: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world- factbook/geos/ug.html GoU, 2007. Climate Change: Uganda National Adaptation Programmes of Action. Department of Meteorology, Ministry of Water, Lands and Environment FAO, 2007. The State of the World’s Forests. FAO of the United Nations, Rome. FAO, 2009. State of the world fisheries report for 2008. Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00153 Rome, Italy. FAO, 2010. Guidance, Intentions and Commitment to Climate Change in Uganda (2010-2014), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Kampala. GoU, 2007. Climate Change: Uganda National Adaptation Programmes of Action. Kampala, Uganda. GOU, 2009. Uganda climate change case studies. Department of Meteorology, MWE. Kampala, Uganda. GoU, 2010. The State of Uganda’s Population Report 2010. Kampala Uganda. GoU., 2002. Initial national communication to the UNFCCC. MWE. Uganda. Kampala Hisali, E., Birungi, P., and Buyinza, F., 2011. Adaptation to climate change in Uganda: evidence from micro level data. Global Environmental Change, pp 1245-1261. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2001. Climate Change 2001: Synthesis Report. A Contribution of Working Groups I, II, III to the Third Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, R.T. Watson and the Core Team, Eds., Cambridge University Press, Cambridge and New York. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. 2001. Climate change: the scientific basis (http:/www.ipcc.ch/) James, P., 2010. Using Farmers’ Preferences to Assess Development Policy: A Case Study of Uganda. Development Policy Review , 2010, 28 (3): 359-378. Overseas Development Institute Library of Congress, 2013. Country studies: Uganda. http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field%28DOCID+ug0005%29 Hepworth, N. and Goulden, M., 2008. Climate change in Uganda: understanding the implications and appraising the response. Edinburgh: LTS International McSweeney, C. New, M., Lizcano, G, 2008. UNDP Climate Change Country Profile: Uganda. http://country-profiles.geog.ox.ac.uk Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) 2010. Agriculture Sector Development Strategy and Investment Plan (DSIP), (2010/11-2014/15).
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Ministry of Water and the environment (MWE), 2007. Climate Change. Uganda’s National Adaptation Programmes of Action. Summary for Policy Makers. Kampala, Uganda. Ministry of Water and the environment (MWE) 2012. Uganda national Climate Change Policy. Final Draft. Kampala, Uganda. MWLE [Ministry of Water, Lands and the Environment] 2002. Uganda initial national communication to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Kampala Uganda. National Encyclopedia: http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/economies/ Africa/Uganda-AGRICULTURE.htm Ochieng, R. 2007. Predicting malaria’s changing course in east Africa. http:// www.idrc.ca/uploads/user-S/11999105261malaria_e.pdf Osbahr, H. Dorward, P, Stern, R and Cooper, S. 2011. Supporting agricultural innovation in Uganda to respond to climate risk: linking climate change and variabilty with farmers perceptions. Experimental Agriculture, 47, pp 293- 316 doi:10.1017/S0014479710000785 Oxfam Great Britain, 2008. Turning up the Heat: Climate Change and Poverty in Uganda. Online ISBN 978-1-84814-039-4 Republic of Uganda (RoU), 2010. National Development Plan (2010/11- 2014/15), National Planning Authority, Kampala, Uganda. Shongwe, Mxolisi, Jan Van Oldenborgh, G, Van den Hurk, B. 2010. Projected Changes in Mean and Extreme Precipitation in Africa under Global Warming. Part II: East Africa. Journal of Climate, pp 3718 – 3733, Volume 24. American Meteoroligcal Society. DOI: 10.1175/2010JCLI2883.1 Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS), 2011. Uganda Census of Agriculture (UCA) 2008/09. Statistics House, Kampala, Uganda. UNFCCC, 2011. National Adaptation Programmes of Action. http://unfccc. int/national_reports/napa/items/2719.php
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Annex 1. Climate change adaptation priority areas and institutional Location
Sector - Speci c Priority - Core sectors Responsible Ministry
1. Agriculture and Livestock Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) 2. Water Ministry of Water and the Environment (MoWE)
3. Fisheries and aquaculture MAAIF 4. Transport and works Ministry of Works and Transport 5. Forestry and wetlands Ministry of Water and the Environment 6. Biodiversity and ecosystem Ministry of Tourism and National Heritage services 7. Health Ministry of Health (MoH) 8. Energy Ministry of Energy 9. Wildlife and tourism Ministry of Tourism and National Heritage 10. Human settlements and social Ministry of Lands and Urban Planning infrastructure 11. Disaster risk management Ministry of Disaster and Preparedness
Cross-cutting priority: 1. Gender issues and child Ministry of Gender and Social Development welfare
2. Vulnerable groups “
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Annex 2. Climate change mitigation priority areas and institutional location
Sector - Speci c Priority Responsible Ministry
1. Land use, land use change and Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and forestry (LULUCF) Fisheries (MMAIF) 2. Land use and land use change Ministry of Water and the Environment (MWE)
3. Reduced Emission from Ministry of Water and the Environment Deforestation and forest (MWE) Degradation + (REDD +) 4. Wetlands Ministry of Water and the Environment (MWE)
5. Agriculture Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MMAIF) 6. Energy generation Ministry of Energy 7. Energy utilization Ministry of Energy 8. Transport Ministry of Works and Transport 9. Waste management Ministry of Lands and Urban Planning 10. Industrial sector Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives
Cross-cutting priority: 1. Barriers to technology ? transfer 2. Large-scale diffusion of clean, ? low-carbon technologies
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