| dc.description.abstract | Wetlands are one of the important ecosystems in the world. They provide a wide range of ecosystem services related with water regulation and are considered important for tourism. Many people worldwide depend on wetlands for their livelihood and wetlands are valued by their social and economic because they support activities such as agriculture, industries and tourism. Namatala wetland is one of the wetlands in Uganda that is experiencing rapid degradation through encroachment in order to get land for settlement, agriculture and urbanization. Despite the government's involvement to protect and conserve the wetlands, people have persisted on settling and doing agriculture in the wetland which has resulted into reduced water for domestic use and increased flooding that has affected peoples live in a way that is not properly known. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the impacts of wetland degradation on the social- economic welfares of people in Mbale District, Namatala wetland. The study was conducted in the Namatala, Namabasa and Masaba parishes of industrial division sub-county of the Mbale district in Eastern Uganda. The specific objectives of the study are to; identify the human activities leading to of wetland degradation in Namatala wetland, assess the extent at which people are affected by wetland degradation and identify how people are copying up with the effects of wetland degradation. The study employed a cross-sectional descriptive study type that was carried out in Mbale to collect both qualitative and quantitative data. Cross sectional design involved collecting data at one point in time. Qualitative data were obtained through field observations, face to face interviews with the local households and key informative persons that were chosen randomly during the visit and quantitative data was obtained using a questionnaire that was developed in a kobo tool. The data obtained was then analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The human activities leading to degradation were vegetable, rice, beans and maize growing. The effects of wetland degradation were flooding, food insecurity and reduced pasture. People are coping up with the effects by creating channels, planting trees and constructing culverts. The study showed that the people were to a greater extent affected by the degradation. Responsible authorities should put in place strict laws on wetlands and people should be encouraged and educated to carry out agriculture at the edges of the wetlands so as to mitigate occurrence of more severe related effects. | en_US |
