Sugarcane Boom in Busoga Brings Roads, Crime, and Poverty Risks

Sugarcane has overtaken coffee and cotton as Busoga’s key cash crop in eastern Uganda, but its expansion is sparking serious concerns among officials and residents.

Busoga East Police spokesperson Michael Kasadha reports that plantations serve as hideouts for criminals, with bodies dumped there after killings. Recent cases include thieves fleeing into fields in Iganga’s Namunkeso Village. Fatal crashes involving overloaded, mechanically faulty sugarcane trucks are rampant, such as three deaths on Jinja-Kamuli Road and five in Mayuge District, plus boda boda fatalities in Jinja and Kamuli.

These trucks often break down on roads, left abandoned or moved at night to dodge checks, endangering drivers. Luuka District LC5 chairperson Simon Wakaze blames heavy trucks for wrecking roads, with cane waste clogging drains and locals digging up surfaces to free stuck vehicles, undermining maintenance efforts.

Wakaze links the crop’s long maturity to rising poverty, as smallholders skip food crops for cane, renting land or going hungry post-harvest. Parents send children to plantations for casual labor, fueling teenage pregnancies and school absenteeism. Jinja District Education Officer Eria Kisambira and Assistant RDC Samuel Kawuta confirm dropouts, with operations retrieving children from fields, some turning to theft off-season.

Bugweri Natural Resources Officer Fred Wamukunyu warns of swamp loss and tree clearance worsening climate vulnerability. Kakira Sugarcane Outgrowers Association chair David Christopher Mombwe counters that farmers plant border trees via an NGO and fund road repairs, urging police to target faulty trucks.

Source: Daily Monitor (Uganda) https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/news/national/how-sugarcane-growing-leaves-basoga-vulnerable-5389758