Challenges to the Environmental
Information Regime in Uganda
Data issues minimize uncertainties regarding unconfirmed or con-
Despite the efforts to organise and systematise the en- tradictory assessments; and
vironmental data collection process there still exist data measure sustainable development by linking environ-
gaps and challenges. Lack of and inconsistent collection mental parameters to socio-economic aspects of devel-
of data on key natural resources and their processes leads opment.
to information gaps, thus rendering it difficult to make
accurate predictions. For instance, despite its likely im- Capacity, expertise and equipment
portance to the economy and livelihood security, there is Another challenge being faced is the technical expertise
still limited information on the impact of climate change and specialized equipment required to manipulate some
in Uganda. Up-to-date data on soils is also lacking and yet of the data. As indicated earlier, there are manpower con-
this is the country’s major natural asset. straints at the national and lower levels due to normal
staff turnover. Trained staff often leave, and if the skills
Standardization and harmonization of data are issues gap is not promptly plugged it leads to a shortage of ap-
that lead to unreliability, incompatibility, inconsistency, propriate technical competence. This therefore requires
non-uniformity and conflicting data sets. Although a regular training, re-training and also strategic planning
number of public institutions are now providing data at to anticipate these staff movements. Training is also criti-
a cost, there are still limited incentives to do so as the cal in determining the sophistication of the analysis and
resources collected have to be remitted to the national outputs that can be generated. This issue is important
treasury from where they are difficult to claim by the data especially when it comes to translating the EIS outputs
generating sector/institution. Despite the importance of into planning guidelines or policy statements.
data dissemination, there has been and still is very little
in the way of documented policies or procedures. In order Even where equipment is available, in some cases it is not
to stimulate a cohesive approach among institutions, in effectively nor efficiently utilised and maintained. Main-
January 1997 NEMA produced draft guidelines address- tenance accounts for a substantial proportion of the en-
ing issues of data dissemination including confidential- tire information systems life-cycle and should be a major
ity, pricing and responsibilities of both data producers concern for organisations. Research shows that systems
and users. These guidelines need to be published so as to maintenance costs range between 70–80 per cent of the
be of practical use to the individual institutions. budget (Powell 2007). Another opportunity to be explored
is for equipment to be leased and not bought, as is the
Other reasons that have contributed to these problems are case in countries such as South Africa or in Europe.
the high costs of data collection, storage and dissemina-
tion; difficulty of quantifying some of the environmental Other challenges experienced include inadequate net-
variables; and lack of appropriate indicators to measure work infrastructure (high Internet connection fees, low
these variables. Encouraging private sector involvement bandwidth, and weak links), general infrastructure prob-
would be one way of reducing the high costs associated lems (unreliable power), inadequate financial support es-
with data collection. However there is limited incentive pecially after the end of donor support, poor information
for them to do so. retrieval skills among users and inadequate linkages with
partner organizations. In Mbale only the management of
NEMA has made some progress in (addressing the issue the district (the Chief Administrative Officer, Planning,
of environmental indicators and in) developing a set of and Finance units) have access to the internet on their
environmental monitoring indicators. These are intend- computers (Nakayenze 2008). DEOs in Jinja, Nakason-
ed to measure environmental quality and trends and how gola and Masindi have no internet access and this applies
they relate to sustainable development (NEMA 2005). to many other districts around the country (Nabihamba
The indicators are intended to streamline the data collec- 2008, Kunobere 2008, Nsimire 2008).
tion process by allowing institutions to:
collect information that accurately reports on the state Networking issues
of the environment; The data collection and information management infra-
harmonize measurements so that monitoring results structure in the country is still very weak. Networking
can be shared and compared; and coordination mechanisms between data producers
improve communication between sub-sectors and the and users could be better systematised at all levels. The
lead environmental agency (NEMA); principle of networking revolves around collaboration
The Uganda Case Study 21
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