Impacts of sand mining on community livelihoods in Kayabwe town council, Mpigi District.

Abstract

The topic of study was “impacts of sand mining on community livelihoods in Kayabwe town council, Mpigi district”. The main objective of the study was to determine the impacts of sand mining activities on the community livelihoods in Kayabwe Town Council, Mpigi District. The specific objectives of this study were to map out the sand mining sites, to find out the market centers for the mined sand, to investigate the individuals’ affected livelihoods by sand mining among the residents of Kayabwe Town Council. The study used a cross section design and a mixed research approaches that is quantitative and qualitative. The methods of data collection employed were; field reconnaissance, onsite physical observation, interviewing, recording, sampling, questionnaire, photographing, literature review, documentary analysis and mapping. Different data collection tools were also used under the above methods such as GPS and GIS tools, remote sensing, notebooks, digital phones, questionnaires, observation checklist and many others. The results of this study revealed that sand mining occurs in the study area which is attributed to presence of sand deposits. Kawango, Nabusanke, Kisama, Nkozi B and Bukonoka were some of the villages evidenced with sand mining activities. The study also revealed that, the market centers for the mined sand are local, regional and international. However most of the sand market centers are within the Kampala Metropolitan area. The results of the study further revealed construction industry as the primary consumer of sand with 90%. The study concluded that, sand mining largely affects individuals’ livelihoods with arable farming being the most affected followed by afforestation and agroforestry. The study recommends the need for more effective sensitization and education of the communities about the negative impacts of uncontrolled sand mining activities.