Am proud to be a ugandan. My interest today is to discuss the impact of vulcanicity in uganda
My country-Uganda is a landlocked country located in East Africa, its boards include Kenya in the East, Sudan in the North, Dr. Congo in the west and Tanzania in the south,
Uganda delivered its name from Buganda kingdom which covers a large portion of southern Uganda including capital-Kampala.
During my geography lessons in high school, my class teacher told me that, Vulcanicity or volcanic activity is a process by which magma under the earth’s surface goes under a high pressure and when it gets to the surface and loses its gases.
Volcanic eruptions in our country Uganda has resulted into formation of volcanic highlands with fertile soils for agriculture.
Examples of volcanic Mountains in Uganda include;
- MOUNTAIN ELGON in kapchorwa, Elgon has good fertile volcanic soils which have highly influenced the glowing Arabic coffee and bananas. Other farmers round the Elgon region also grow crops such as onions, cabbages and Tomatoes.
The common language spoken by the Elgon citizens is lumasaba.
- MOUNTAIN MUFUMBIRO stretches from kabale district to kisoro district. This mountain also has fertile soils favoring the growth of many crops include Bananas, Sugarcanes, rice and millet as well. Coffee is the main cash crop exported to earn foreign exchange while food crops are mainly consumed by the communities, in order for them to earn a living.
image source
Last year when I went to Kapchorwa, I realized that the area has got good climatic conditions which favorable for the growth of both subsistence and commercial farming in the area.eg.
The Temperate conditions on mountain Elgon have highly influenced the growth of wheat, Maize, pyrethrum at Mnafwa and Bududa districts, and I found out that most people in these areas are earning a living through farming.
Most Vulcanic highlands have influenced mining activities and most teenagers have been employed in these mining centres.
This is because most volcanic scenaries expose minerals on either the earth’s surface or at times participated in the formation of some minerals.
In Uganda, People extract salt from Lake Katwe which found in Kasese district while the people of kasese obtain limestone from Tororo and Hima hills.
Igneous rocks formed by vulcanicity such as Granites and Basalt influence quarrying. The granite rocks in many parts of kumi, kisoro and Buganda are excavated and crashed and are used in the construction of tarmac road and houses. In kampala Granites are excavated from Muyenga(BUKASA), kawanda, and kulambilo quarries.
Volcanic features such as Lake Katwe in Kasese & Nyamunuka crater lakes, Kitagata hot springs, lake Bunyonyi-lava dammed lake in Kabale or kisoro and volcanic mountains such as mountain Elgon have magnificent scenery which attracts tourists. Tourism has earned Uganda a lot of foreign exchange, which has been used to construct roads and other important investments.
Volcanic mountains influence the growth of forests & luxuriant unique vegetation. This has promoted tourism and lumbering.eg on mountain Elgon in kapchorwa, there is a tropical forest, bamboo & temperature forests. People in the area exploit the forest resources to earn incomes with which they improve their standards of living.
Volcanic mountains are catchment areas for rivers .The heavy rainfall and melting ice on Some mountains have influenced the evolution of radial drainage pattern .From mountain Elgon in Manafwa/Kapchorwa, rivers, Manafwa, Sironko, Trukwell originate and these is a tropical and these are sources of water for domestic use ,Eg River Manafwa provides water for irrigation at Doiho rice scheme.
Rivers from mountain Elgon in Kapchorwa /Manafwa like R.Sironko,and R.Manafwa and the lava
Dammed lakes like Bunyonyi and Mutanda in Kabale/ Kisoro which owe their formation to vulcanicity, are fishing grounds .Tilapia is a fish caught and is used as a valuable source of proteins.
Vulcanicity has facilitated water transport in some areas eg Lake Bunyonyi, Mutunda in Kabale/Kisoro
And river Manafwa in Mbale are used for navigation, passengers and merchandise are transported along these water bodies hence stimulating transport, trade and commerce.
Volcanic highlands facilitate the formation of Orographic rainfall on the wind ward side of the mountain. The western slopes of Mt Elgon in Manafwa for example receive a lot of rainfall. This facilitates growth of variety of crops like Bananas, Beans &Arabica coffee. Livestock farming is also practiced due to the growth of luxuriant pastures along the slopes.
The HOT springs at kitagata in Bushenyi, Kibiro& Ssempaya at FortPortal are a potential for development of geothermal energy, Fortportal & Ntungamo use the hot water as medicine for a cure of diseases like anaemia, backaches, skin diseases, importance and others