Uganda: How making soap can clean up a river

DW (English)

5 million people rely on Uganda's River Rwizi. Once clear and abundant, the now polluted waters threaten the entire river ecosystem. Industrial and plastic waste and sand mining are big problems that are being countered in part by soap making.

Transcript

00:00The river Rwizi flows through southwest Uganda.

00:06More than 5 million people directly depend on it as a source of water and to earn a living.

00:12The waterway, once a vibrant artery of life, now bears the scars of human activity.

00:17The whole river ecosystem is under threat.

00:20The river Rwizi faces three major challenges.

00:22The first is harvesting sand from the riverbed.

00:25You see those who are mining, who are sand mining in the riverbed, they are standing

00:31in the middle of the river, meaning that now the water levels have drastically gone down.

00:38And if this goes on for another 10 years ahead, there is a likelihood that we might end up

00:46not having any more water flowing through.

00:49And this will definitely affect quite a number because it feeds the national park and it

00:56is also feeding into Victoria.

01:00Apart from sand mining, population pressure is leading to encroachment of the riverbank.

01:05The National Environment Management Authority estimates about 60% of the river's catchment

01:10area has been degraded.

01:12Siltation caused by soil erosion has reduced the riverbank by 40 metres.

01:18Mining the soil along the banks to make bricks to keep pace with the area's rapid urbanisation

01:23is also destroying the river ecosystem.

01:28And water pollution, including industrial effluents and waste, are poisoning the river water.

01:34There are times in the year when at this point there are so many dead fish and chances are

01:41that these fish are dying because of industrial activities upstream.

01:48And we think something wrong is happening with the fish.

01:57Maybe they are feeding on poisoned water.

02:04This continuous discharge of toxins into the river endangers not only aquatic life but

02:09also communities that directly depend on the river as a source of water.

02:14Globally, over two billion people consume contaminated water and risk dire health consequences.

02:22The river Rwizi's plight is a reminder of the environmental implications of industrial activities.

02:32Another big challenge facing the river is plastic waste.

02:37And when I got to that point, I saw plastics.

02:41It had rained like in the past two, three days and all these plastics from the city

02:45was floating within a given section of the river.

02:49And I said, at an individual level, I think I need to do something.

02:52I recorded a video, posted it online and I got so many responses.

02:57And from that, I was able to persuade the people who were within Mbarara.

03:01We mobilised resources, got some materials, equipment and came and did the clean-ups.

03:05And from that, it's a routine activity that we have been doing every time we have the rains.

03:14The plastic waste, including bottles and polythene bags, are increasingly emerging as a hazard

03:19to all marine and human life.

03:21Uganda generates 600 tonnes of plastic waste each day but only 6% is collected.

03:28But amidst the challenges are glimmers of hope as individuals, communities and activists

03:33raise to the occasion to look for solution.

03:36The Waste Watch initiative ensures that all of the plastic collected from the river Rwizi

03:41is converted into funds to support the people who live along the river.

03:45All of the collected waste is packaged and sold to other companies for recycling.

03:49After compacting these bottles into bales, I supply them to a company called Standard

03:55Recycling.

03:56It is based in Kampala.

03:58They do different products out of them and one of them are pellets and the rest.

04:06Collecting and recycling plastic is not the only intervention people are undertaking to

04:10save the river.

04:11This group reuses soya and avocado waste from a refinery.

04:15It's a source of income for young men and women here.

04:20This material is hazardous and if not turned into a productive product, it could end up

04:27into the water streams and bodies and swamps.

04:30From here we bring it into our crusher where we crush it and mix it with natural oils from

04:37sunflower, soybean and palm oil and neutralise it into a usable product.

04:43The river Rwizi ecosystem must be protected, whether through government action against

04:48illegals and mining or individuals who restore the riverbank.

04:53In the last five years we have planted over 2,000 trees but about 500 species in total

05:02and what we are trying to solve is, you see, we are trying to stop that soil and sand from

05:09flowing into the river and making, reducing its weeds.

05:14And we hope that by the time we have planted like 5,000 trees, this whole area will become

05:21green and then the sand will not be coming to the banks and maybe the river will again widen.

05:32The journey to restore the river Rwizi is challenging, but with the dedication of these

05:37environmental warriors, there is hope for a cleaner river in the future.

Category

Transcript

Recommended