Our readers, we are back with the issue of colonialism, this time with a technical question asking: Could the Roots of Today’s Hunger in Karamoja Lie in Colonial Exploitation and Consumption?
As the Department for Critical Thinking and Alternative Analysis at the Karamoja Anti-Corruption Coalition, our point of departure is a 1982 study by Professor Mahmood Mamdani. In “Colonial Roots of Famine in North-East Uganda of Karamoja,” Mamdani argued that “The roots of the present famine lie in the intense colonial exploitation of the people of Karamoja, an exploitation that systematically destroyed not only the very basis of a pastoral way of life but also hampered the transition to an agricultural mode of existence.”
Evidence available shows that colonial intrusion into the productive economy of the Karamojong began with the forcible acquisition of land. By the time this process stopped, “access to nearly a fifth of what was formerly grazing and agricultural land was denied to the people of Karamoja” (See Kabiito, Bendicto 2021).
Forceful colonial land acquisition was such a protracted process that it took place in four phases, from the 1920s to the 1960s. During this period, between 1,500 and 2,000 square miles of land were transferred to the Kenyan colonial administration, while 486 square miles were fenced off and declared a game reserve—the present-day Kidepo National Game Park—among others (Kabiito 2021).
However, the game parks and reserves became vacation spots for the propertied classes, mainly foreign (Mamdani 1982), while the Karamojong were pushed to the eastern parts of the sub-region, which are drier (Ocan 1993).
Wilson, in “The Soils of Karamoja District” (1962), argued that the land forcefully acquired by the colonialists was suitable not only for grazing but also for the cultivation of cotton and cereals. The implication is that if the people of Karamoja had continued using that land for cereal cultivation or grazing, they might not have suffered from hunger to the same extent.
Our point is neither for nor against national parks. It is simply to answer the question asked: Could the Roots of Today’s Hunger in Karamoja Lie in Colonial Exploitation and consumption?
As a department for critical thinking, we know that how you define a problem determines the solution you advance. Therefore, there is a need to understand the historical roots of hunger in Karamoja in order to find concrete solutions to the real problems.
Ayub Mukisa, PhD, writes from the Department for Critical Thinking and Alternative Analysis at the Karamoja Anti-Corruption Coalition (KACC).
The post Dr. Ayub Mukisa: Karamoja: Could the Roots of Today’s Hunger Lie in Colonial Exploitation? appeared first on Watchdog Uganda.