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According to Accounting for Pastoralists in Uganda, a 2020 report issued by the League for Pastoral Peoples, the area harbours about 5.5 million pastoralists.
The League for Pastoral Peoples, which does research and advocacy for pastoralists in Africa, identified in the report six major pastoral groups in Uganda that are most affected by conflicts as a result of climate change.
"There are at least six major pastoralist groups most affected by climate change: The Bahima/Abanyankole in Kiruhura, Mbarara, and Ntungamo districts in the Western region; the Karamojong in Moroto, Kaabong, Nakapiriprit, and Kotido districts in the Northern region; and the Basongora, Itesot, Baruli, and Banyarwanda in the centre of the country," it reads.
The climate change in the corridor has led to conflicts such as rising cases of gender-based domestic violence, diseases, and land conflicts as a result of migration to places with vast lands and pastures.
Central Uganda districts such as Mityana, Luweero, Kassanda, and Mubende, among others, have in the last decade been prone to land conflicts as a result of this migration.
The local residents in the districts say the migration of pastoralists to these districts has led to land conflicts between them and the original inhabitants.
"Most of the land conflicts we are facing have come as a result of the balalo (pastoralists) who have grabbed our land," Mugerwa Vincent, a resident in Mityana district, told this reporter during a visit to the district early this year.
Muegerwa further told this reporter that part of the problem has been on the side of absentee landlords who are original inhabitants of the district.
"We have lots of land that is vacant and not in use by the owners. So, when these pastoralists come and find this land empty, they end up settling on it only to be evicted by someone they have never heard of five or ten years later. In most cases, these are absentee landlords. They show up later when the pastoralists have already taken over the land," he narrates.
Uganda’s law protects a person who has settled on a piece of land for more than 10 years, and it is usually illegal to evict them.
The Government, through the Ministry of Lands, Housing, and Urban Development, has, according to Sekiito Moses, a commissioner at the Ministry, devised ways on how this problem can be solved.
He says that the government plans to pay off most of the landlords in these districts whose land has been settled by pastoralists.
"There are efforts the government is trying to put in place in order to solve this challenge. We plan on buying off most of the land that pastoralists in these areas have settled on. We have already paid off some landlords in districts such as Mubende and Kassanda, so the plan is on," he said.
One of the other challenges facing pastoralists in the area (the cattle corridor) is increasing cases of gender-based violence.
According to the Annual Police Crime Report 2022, there was a slight increase in the number of cases of domestic violence registered in 2022 in Uganda.
The report indicated that there were 17,698 reported cases last year, compared to 17,533 in 2021.
Districts in the cattle corridor, according to the report, are some of those where police recorded the most cases of gender-based violence in 2022.
Experts believe that poverty in those districts, which has come as a result of drought, has led to a scarcity of human necessities such as food, water, and pasture, which in turn has led to frustration and thus gender-based violence in homes.
"Gender-based violence has many causes, one of which is poverty, which brings about frustration. When a home is lacking the basics, this will mostly likely lead to frustrations, which at times may lead to gender-based violence," Samali Wakooli, the head of the gender department at the Office of the Directorate of Public Prosecution, told New Vision, a Ugandan newspaper, in an interview late last year.
She said to find a solution to gender-based violence, they are pushing for speedy processing of the Witness Protection Bill into law.
Samali said the legislation will give the witness facing a great risk of losing their life protection from being harmed, arguing that this will encourage those affected by gender-based violence to come out openly about the matter.
A visit to the NEMA website will give you a glimpse into some of the government's efforts. The organisation has been encouraging people across the country, including those in the cattle corridor, to plant trees. However, there seems to be reluctance on the part of the inhabitants.
Uganda’s cattle corridor faces all these challenges and more. But people in these areas live on day by day.