Current institutional
arrangements
In light of the above developments, the network architec-
The vertical networking concept was based on the premise
ture was designed to follow a two-tier arrangement, com-
that by having an EIN with a supporting information sys-
prised of the horizontal (national) level and the vertical
tem that links all districts, NEMA would have a cadre of
(district) level.
trained personnel capable of adequately supporting the
environmental information needs for development, right
The horizontal Environment Information
from the lower planning levels. The District Environment
Network
Officer would become a so-called hybrid-manager with a
The horizontal network was made up of the seven depart-
mix of environmental and technical information manage-
ments regarded as being the most common sources of the
ment skills (Gowa 2001). The opportunity created by this
core datasets as identified in the 1995 review. These are in-
role is that such a person would have a solid understand-
dicated in Table 1. An eighth institution – the Department
ing of information systems as well as in-depth knowledge
of Physical Planning – has since been added. The institu-
of environmental management. These dual roles would
tions in the horizontal network worked closely with NEMA
bring about greater success in exploiting EIS to the ben-
to build their capacity in environmental planning, data and
efit of the environment.
information presentation and standards development.
As with the horizontal EIN, the initial phase of the pro-
The vertical Environment Information
gramme took the form of a pilot activity. Seven focus dis-
Network
tricts were involved; namely Arua, Busia, Kabale, Kas-
The vertical network mirrors the horizontal EIN but is based
ese, Mbale, Mbarara and Tororo. A number of capacity
at the district level. It is made up of the District Environ-
building activities took place including training in GIS
ment Officer and a team of district technical officers. There
and database management, and the provision of equip-
are also downward and upward linkages between NEMA
ment. The staff trained included the District Environ-
and the lower levels, specifically the sub-county, which is the
ment Officers and District Planners for each of the pilot
lowest administrative level or local government. This is in
districts. The EIN activities were eventually extended to
line with the decentralisation policy where districts as basic
20 other districts and 2 municipal councils, with these
planning units need to meet their own data requirements,
benefiting from the same capacity building activities as
while also contributing to the national-level datasets.
the initial seven.
Table 1. Institutions of the horizontal EIN and their data responsibilities
Institution Data/information provided
Department of Surveys and Mapping Topographic data and rehabilitation and expansion of the
geodetic network
Department of Statistics Socio-economic data
Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries Farming systems
National Agricultural Research Organisation Soil data
Department of Meteorology Climate data and rehabilitation of weather stations
Makerere University Institute of Environment and Natural Biodiversity data
Resources
Department of Forestry (currently National Forest Authority) Vegetation
Department of Physical Planning Land use data
The Uganda Case Study 9
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