【Elephants and baby elephants in Uganda】
Preface
Although it is on the African continent, Uganda is known as the "highland water town", because most of the whole territory of Uganda is located on the East African plateau, and there are many lakes, with an average altitude of 1000-1200 meters, so it has such a nickname. With a total area of about 240,000 square kilometers and a total population of about 48 million, Uganda is located in eastern Africa but straddles the equator, with Kenya to the east, Tanzania and Rwanda to the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to the west, South Sudan to the north, and Kampala, the capital.
【Location and Zoning of Uganda】
However, due to years of war, Uganda's social stability and economic development were almost paralyzed, and it was not until 1986 that the situation eased somewhat, but the most direct way to solve the fundamental problem is to rely on capital, industry, technology and market opening. Since Uganda is a member of the Commonwealth, there was a lot of expectation, but the greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment, and the Commonwealth members, including the United Kingdom and Canada, seem to have turned a blind eye to Uganda.
【Kampala, the capital of Uganda】
If you look at our relationship with Uganda, the most growing has been in the last decade, when we have become a major source of foreign direct investment, loans and grants to Uganda since 2019, as well as a major exporter of Ugandan goods. In the field of electricity, for example, Uganda's installed electricity capacity has grown very quickly thanks to our help. Here are only bananas, freshwater lakes, sausage trees, tourism and other representative things to talk about another style of Uganda.
[That's how children in Uganda fetch water]
First, the banana is inseparable
Uganda is known as the "Banana Country", bananas are not only an important fruit in the daily life of the locals, but also one of the main specialties of Uganda. Bananas in Uganda have a variety of uses, such as making crafts and beer. Locals even eat a special banana – a banana that is not sweet and eaten in a special local sauce after it is cooked or roasted, and is one of the food rations that Ugandan people make up for the lack of cereals.
【Ugandan child with banana in hand】
In fact, bananas in Uganda are originally divided into two categories: one is eaten as a fruit, that is, bananas for fruit, but the planting area is relatively small; The other type is used as food, commonly known as bananas - it needs to be eaten as rice, so the planting area is much larger, here is a brief talk about Uganda's famous banana rice.
【Uganda's Fruit and Vegetable Market】
In Uganda, bananas are never left when entertaining guests. From the moment guests enter the house, the host will first toast a glass of delicious banana juice and then serve a browned banana snack. When it's time for the main meal, the host arranges for the guests to eat a banana rice called "matoki".
【Dried bananas being made】
Matoki is a non-sweet banana variety, peeled and mashed into a puree, steamed and mixed with red bean juice, peanut butter, and if you want to eat meat, you can also add braised chicken nuggets, beef curry, etc., some guests think that mattoki is "the best meal in the world" - this of course varies from person to person, but mattoki is indeed one of the main dishes (food) of Uganda's state banquet.
[Uganda: Bananas can really be eaten as a meal]
In addition to eating bananas, Ugandan people are also very good at making banana leaves into various characteristic tourism handicrafts, such as weaving kang mats, baskets, and chair cushions from banana leaves; For example, it can be made into rice bowls, plates, dishes, and even pictures. These handicrafts are very popular in Uganda and have become one of the main commodities sold to tourists from all over the world.
[Bring me a banana]
Second, the endless lake
Uganda's main lakes are Lake Victoria, Lake Albert, Lake Edward, Lake Kioga, etc., on the whole, Uganda's rivers and lakes cover an area of nearly 37,000 square kilometers, more than 15% of the total land area, so freshwater fishery resources are much richer than most African countries, and it is also one of Uganda's important export commodities.
【Lake Victoria in Uganda】
For example, Lake Victoria
Lake Victoria is the largest lake in Uganda, the second largest lake in the world (after Lake Superior in North America), the largest freshwater lake in Africa, and is known as the "Pearl of Africa". Lake Victoria covers a total area of about 69,400 square kilometres, mostly in Uganda and Tanzania and a small part in Kenya.
【Lake Victoria in Uganda】
The lake area of Lake Victoria presents an irregular quadrilateral, the longest from north to south is about 330 kilometers, the widest from east to west is about 240 kilometers, the shoreline is more than 3,200 kilometers, the altitude is about 1,130 meters, the average depth of the lake is about 40 meters, and the maximum known depth is 82 meters. The point is – Lake Victoria is not only beautiful, but also rich in fish, and even supports nearly 30 million people in several countries along the lake.
【Neighboring Countries of Lake Victoria】
Taking animals as an example, in addition to a wide variety of native species of cichlid, Lake Victoria also has a large number of Nile perch, which can easily weigh more than 40 kilograms per Nile perch, and there have been records of 94 kilograms of super fish, in addition to many animals such as crocodiles and hippos in the lake.
【This is lake volleyball】
Take Lake Edward, for example
Also known as Lake Amin, it is one of the lakes in the Great Rift Valley, located in the border region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda, and is named after King Edward VII of the United Kingdom. Lake Edward is about 77 kilometres long from north to south and 42 kilometres wide from east to west, making it a "miniature lake" compared to Lake Victoria – just over 2,300 square kilometres.
【Lake Edward, Uganda】
However, Lake Edward has its own characteristics: in addition to being rich in freshwater fish, it is also known for its large number of hippos. According to Ugandan data, there are at least 4,000-5,000 hippos in Lake Edward, accounting for about two-thirds of the total number of hippos in Uganda. Hippos are very sensitive to heat and can be immersed in water throughout the day, with only their nostrils and eyes exposed, in fact they can usually dive for about 6 minutes with their breath closed, but they can't swim in the water - they still walk on their legs.
【Lake Edward, Uganda】
On the whole, Uganda has a rich variety of light fish, with more than 500 species of fish in natural waters alone, but the main commercial fish are more than 10 species such as Nile perch, African crucian carp (tilapia), silver carp, fatty carp, new wave fish, tiger fish, etc., but Uganda's fishery is dominated by traditional fishing, and the operation area is concentrated in five large lakes, including Lake Victoria, Lake Edward, Lake Albert, and Lake Kioga.
Lake Edward, Uganda
3. Upside-down sausages
Friends who have been to Uganda may be surprised that there is a local tree full of "sausages", not only the locals like to eat, but also one is full, because the fruit of this tree looks like a sausage, which can be eaten and used to make wine, and the taste is relatively sweet, so it is called the sausage tree.
【Sausage Tree in Uganda】
This sausage tree is very special, and the fruit is hung on it, because of its special pollination method: the flowers of the sausage tree generally bloom in the evening, releasing a smell similar to that of rats, which attracts a large number of bats to pollinate, and the reason why it hangs upside down is to facilitate the pollination of bats, which like to barb.
【Sausage Tree in Uganda】
The sausage tree is one of Uganda's national treasures. In addition to being an important source of food for the Ugandan people, the sausage tree also plays an important role in Uganda's traditional culture and religious ceremonies, and is often used in various celebrations, rituals and other activities. This kind of tree can only survive in a dry place like Africa, many friends say that we have seen this fruit and tree in Guangdong, Hainan and even Yunnan and other places, in fact, it is just a shape, can not be eaten just for ornamental use.
【Sausage Tree in Uganda】
Why talk about the sausage tree in Uganda? It's not that I want to tell you how delicious this kind of thing is, in fact, how can it be particularly delicious, this is a solution to rely on the sky to eat when there is no way. What I'm really talking about here is this: although more than 70 per cent of Uganda's population is engaged in agriculture, there is little mechanization, let alone industrialization of the entire industrial structure, and if industrialization is completed, Uganda will have a maximum of 15-20 per cent of the population growing in agriculture.
【Sausage Tree in Uganda】
Farmers in Uganda, for example, have to work on the same plot of land year after year, and have no energy to open up new land, which is extremely bad for the soil and affects crop yields. A certain level of mechanization could help Uganda's farmers develop more of the uncultivated land that Uganda has with its many lakes and vast land resources.
【Rural Situation in Uganda】
In the agricultural industry, the proportion of machinery and equipment used does not exceed 35% of the overall proportion; In the construction industry, the proportion of machinery and equipment used does not exceed 38%; In the processing and manufacturing industry, no more than 56% - if all of them count on the United Nations to assist, it's not impossible, but I don't know that there will be relevant funds and equipment in the Year of the Monkey, and it can be done once or twice, three times or four times? Any piece of machinery and equipment needs to be maintained, replaced, or even replaced.
【Current Situation of Agriculture in Uganda】
Fourth, the endless scenery
Even in the special period of 2020-2021, Uganda can receive more than 1.3 million tourists from all over the world every year - wildlife sanctuaries in Uganda, numerous beautiful lakes, and rich cultural resources, which are the main purposes of tourists traveling to Uganda.
【Uganda's Beautiful Natural Scenery】
For example, the Uganda Carp Festival, which is held annually in Uganda in June, brings nearly 10,000 visitors and locals from all over the world to the shores of Lake Victoria to watch dances and performances, and taste the local cuisine.
【Bus station in Kampala, the capital of Uganda】
Elizabeth National Park, for example, is an important protected area in Uganda with lush rainforests, abundant wildlife and birds, especially chimpanzees.
[Chimpanzee stretching in Uganda]
Kampala, for example, is the capital of Uganda and has many historical buildings, museums, and cultural heritage, such as the Independence Monument, the National Museum, and Kampala Cathedral.
【People in Kampala, the capital of Uganda】
For example, the Amber Palace, a unique and special building in Uganda, was built in 1901 by Indian craftsmen using red bricks and semi-precious jade, making it an important tourist attraction in Uganda.
In terms of tourism development, Uganda is very serious, not only participating in the "East African three" that is, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda single tourist visa and other convenient tourism programs, but also attracting international funds to improve the various tourism facilities that Uganda needs, according to Uganda's tourism development plan: by 2025, Uganda's tourism foreign exchange income will exceed 2.5 billion US dollars, the contribution rate to GDP will reach about 15%, and the annual tourist growth will increase to 4 million to 5 million per year.
【Common tourist towns in Uganda】
epilogue
In recent years, Uganda has been relatively isolated and helpless, and only we have in-depth cooperation with him in terms of trade and investment, from about 750 million US dollars in bilateral trade with Uganda in 2018 to about 1.3 billion US dollars in 2023. The upside-down sausages and endless scenes can only describe some of the outlines of Uganda in the midst of rapid cooperation.
【Uganda's Murchison Falls】
Since the first Chinese-funded enterprise was registered with the Uganda Investment Authority in 1993, by 2023, the investment cooperation of mainland enterprises in Uganda has covered almost all industries such as energy and mineral development, trade, digital TV operation, agricultural development, leather processing, footwear and plastic products manufacturing, steel and other building materials production, and hotels.
【Sunrise in Uganda】
According to our customs data, the main categories of goods we export to Uganda include footwear, pharmaceuticals, electrical fittings and parts, etc.; Uganda exports to us mainly leather from cattle and horses, aquatic products and wool. However, there are some aspects that we have helped Uganda without asking for anything in return – Chinese companies have built important and core infrastructure in Uganda, including the Karuma Hydropower Station, the Isimba Hydropower Station, and the Kampala-Entebbe Airport Expressway.