It is early on a sunny Monday morning in Busuna village in Uganda’s Tororo District, through which the Malaba River flows. Sixteen-year-old Consolata Atieno uses a slasher to cut tall grasses, separating her family’s rice blocks. The teacher sent me home for school fees, but my mother was not there. She has taken my elder sister to the hospital, so I came here to help on the farm,” says Consolata. One block of their rice farm is ready for harvesting, while the other two are a few weeks from maturity.
Nearby, an older woman in her late seventies weeds her young rice farm, months away from harvesting. Down the path, three women work on Joseph Okello’s farm, uprooting weeds and cultivating with small hoes. Further along, two older women shell rice while two young men load sacks onto their shoulders for transport.
In Kenya, Hellen Sambaya, a mother of six, works along the River Yala with other women to search for gold. “We collect sand from the gold harvesters here in Litambiza village, Kakamega County,” Hellen explains. These women recycle the leftover sand after men have extracted gold.
Hellen has been earning a living from River Yala for over ten years, discovering gold deposits around the river. “We find the remains of the sand that the miners have already processed, then we wash the sand with clean river water to find some gold,” she explains. On a good day, she earns up to 2,000 Kenyan shillings (around 15 USD). “Gold mining is better than working on someone’s farm, where I am paid only 250 shillings (2 USD) for a whole day’s work,” Hellen adds. With her earnings, she has managed to buy a dairy cow, chickens, and goats. Hellen used to grow vegetables and sugarcane along the riverbanks until floods started swallowing up the farms.
Hellen Sambaya
“We wash the sand with clean river water to find some gold.”
Meanwhile, in Uganda, Scovia Awori has earned 5,000 Ugandan shillings (about 1.5 USD) for working on someone’s rice farm for a few hours, either weeding or harvesting. The rice farms are owned mainly by men who rely on cheap female labour. “Women use their earnings to feed their children, pay school fees, and buy livestock like goats and cows, which are good investments,” says Richard Obbo, Busuna ‘B’ rice farm supervisor.
Betty Awor, a mother of 12, has leased three acres of rice fields to support her family. “Rice farming is good because when the harvest is good, I can get ten bags of 90 kilos from one acre, and we sell one kilo at 2,500 Ugandan shillings (0.7 USD). This has enabled me to look after my children and husband,” Betty explains. She pays the landowner one sack of rice after harvesting and is allowed to use the land for a whole year.
These stories are of tremendous difficulty, yet they are not unique. They reflect the challenges hundreds of women face in Kenya, Uganda, and the Nile Basin, compounded by environmental risks that ultimately threaten their livelihoods.
In its 2016 Hazard, Risk, and Vulnerability Profile, the Tororo District identified sand mining, conversion of wetlands into cropland, and riverbank encroachment as common forms of environmental degradation. These issues extend beyond Tororo District, affecting the entire Nile Basin. According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report Sand and Sustainability: 10 Strategic Recommendations to Avert a Crisis, sand mining accelerates the erosion of riverbanks, causing rivers to change course and destroying nearby farmland.
Activities like gold mining can be environmentally taxing. However, women are more likely to engage in sustainable practices due to their roles as primary caregivers. The UN Women report Turning Promises into Action: Gender Equality in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development highlights that conservation efforts are more successful when women are involved in environmental management.
On the agricultural side, climate change has caused floods that have reduced arable land. “The floods have swallowed most of the land near the river. You cannot grow any vegetables when the rains begin,” says Kakamega farmer Phanice Mmbone.
In Busuna village, farmers have abandoned rice farms close to River Malaba due to flooding. “We are now three miles away from the river,” says Richard Obbo. “The water is too much; it can cover a tall person. That is a disaster for farmers around here.”
Faced with these challenges, communities are seeking solutions to mitigate the impact of climate change. Joseph Okello proposes digging trenches to manage the flooding. “If the government could dig two big trenches down there, the water wouldn’t reach our rice fields,” he suggests. Obbo supports this, explaining that the confluence of River Malaba with another river causes severe flooding during the rainy season, blocking the flow of water and inundating farms.
Phanice Mmbone
“The floods have swallowed most of the land near the river.”
Wetlands and swamps naturally mitigate floods by absorbing excess water. However, increased population and urbanisation have led to encroachment on these crucial water retention areas. According to the Daily Monitor, governments have started addressing these issues by evicting people from wetlands and swamps to mitigate flooding. Yet, evicting people without providing alternative livelihoods can lead to further socio-economic challenges, necessitating comprehensive solutions that balance environmental restoration with community welfare.
To address these issues sustainably, Dr Stella Wanjala, co-founder of Women in Water and Natural Resource Conservation, suggests providing alternative livelihoods to allow riverbanks and wetlands to regenerate.
“We know that some women are always farming on the riverbanks. They earn their livelihoods but in a destructive way,” Dr Stella warns.
“Governments and donor agents should provide alternatives like poultry farming or beekeeping. They can sell honey, eggs, and poultry to generate money that can help them.”
The intertwined stories of the Malaba and Yala rivers and Consolata, Hellen, and Betty illustrate the critical intersection of climate change, environmental degradation, and food security. As they strive to secure food for their families, these women highlight the importance of supporting community-driven and female-led environmental initiatives, ensuring a sustainable and equitable future for the people of the broader Nile Basin.
If this support continues to be lacking, the women of the rivers will continue to struggle and provide, to the detriment of the river and, in the long term, their own. As Dr Wanjala cautions: “Yes, they earn a living, but for how long?”
This article is part of The Niles Issue #19, The Feminine & The Nile, produced by Media in Cooperation and Transition (MiCT) with financial support from the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI). It is part of the initiative The Niles: Strengthening Media Capacities and Networks in the Nile Basin, supported by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and commissioned by the German Federal Foreign Office (AA). The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect those of SIWI, GIZ, the German Federal Foreign Office, or MiCT.
