As the number of beneficiaries increase each financial year, the park authority says this offers opportunity for the frontline communities to improve on their livelihoods and the household incomes
By Willy Chowoo
Nwoya District.
On a quiet morning in Lagezi Cell, Tangi Ward, Purongo Town Council, the soft bleating of goats fills Acan Grace’s compound. It is a sound she now associates with hope, progress, and a future she once thought impossible.
Just a year ago, life for Acan was defined by uncertainty and fear. Living on the edge of Murchison Falls National Park, she constantly worried about elephant invasions that would trample her crops and threaten her family’s survival. Like many residents in Nwoya District, she bore the cost of living near a protected area—watching her hard work destroyed overnight.
But in September 2025, her story began to change.
Through the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) revenue-sharing program, Acan received a single goat. At the time, it seemed like a small intervention—just one animal among the 480 goats distributed to beneficiaries across 24 community groups in Purongo Town Council, Nwoya district. Yet for Acan, it was the beginning of transformation.
“I did not expect much at first,” she recalls, standing beside the now larger herd. Acan adds that, but I knew if I took care of it well, it could grow into something.”
Seven months later, in March 2026, the goat gave birth to twins. One male and one female.
“That is when I realised this was something real,” she says with a smile. “It gave me hope again.”
Today, Acan is no longer just a subsistence farmer struggling against wildlife conflict. She is steadily becoming a serious livestock farmer, expanding on her earlier efforts of rearing pigs and a few goats. The additional animals have strengthened her household income and provided a buffer against the losses she once faced from crop destruction.
“We want our herd to grow to at least 100 goats so that we can begin supplying farmers across the district with goats,” Acan says, reflecting her ambition to turn the small livestock project into a sustainable source of income for the community.
Her journey reflects a broader shift in how conservation is being experienced at the community level.
In nearby Lyec cam cell, Okello Stephen also received a goat under the same program. His goat gave birth in April 2026, but the kid did not survive. Despite the setback, he remains optimistic.
“These things happen,” he says. “I still believe it will multiply. I just have to keep trying.”
Okello has been into livestock farming before and now plans to transition into goat rearing as a business.
He is among the small-scale farmers at the border who had resorted to livestock farming as an alternative to survive elephant invasions. They would sell these goats to support their livelihoods.
Okot Ben, the chairperson of Purongo Town Council, says livestock farming has become an alternative farming practice for most of the communities surrounding the park.
“We want communities to embrace livestock farming as an alternative so that, if wildlife destroys their crops, they can sell animals to pay school fees for their children,” Okot maintains.
The Numbers Behind the Programme
Revenue-sharing programs, funded by tourism earnings from protected areas, are designed to support community projects and strengthen partnerships between conservation authorities and residents.
The Uganda Wildlife Act 2019, CAP 315 allows UWA to give 20% of the gate collections to the community living adjacent to the protected areas.
The initiative aims to support local development and improve livelihoods by funding projects that contribute to reducing human-wildlife conflict and enhancing community welfare.
Kizza Fredrick, Chief Warden at Murchison Falls Conservation Area (MFCA), believes that revenue sharing will improve household income: “The purpose of giving revenue to the community is to trigger household income.”
Uganda Wildlife Authority has given sh10.27 billion in revenue-sharing funds to district local governments surrounding protected areas of Murchison National Park, in three financial years, 2019/2020. 2020/2021 and 2022/2023.
The funds were given to the six districts of Kiryandongo, Pakwach, Masindi, Oyam, Nwoya and Buliisa.
The biggest share was in the financial year 2019/2020 which sh 4.19 billion representing 40% of the total funds disbursed in the three financial years. Kiryandongo district got the biggest share of sh2.68 billion and Oyam was least with sh978 million.
Nwoya received Shs715 million second highest after Kiryandongo at sh746 million in the FY 2022/2023, which was channelled into community projects, including livestock production.
While the financial year 2024/2025, UWA gave additional sh3.2 billion. Over the past five years, the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) has disbursed Sh13.42 billion to communities in the six districts bordering the Murchison Falls Conservation Area.
And Nwoya district has now received a total of Shs1.89 billion.
These programs are becoming a crucial bridge in Nwoya district—turning conservation from a source of conflict into an opportunity for development.
The funds are channelled into community enterprises selected by local members and distributed among frontline communities in the sub-counties neighbouring the park: Lii, Anaka, Got Apwoyo, and Purongo Town Council.
Proposed initiatives are first approved at the sub-county level, then forwarded to the district before submission to the Uganda Wildlife Authority.
Akena Geoffrey, the District Community Development Officer overseeing the programme, says the funded projects include beehives, grinding mills, coffee seedlings, goat rearing, and community multipurpose halls.
“The grinding mills have reduced the distance people travelling to process maize, while the multipurpose halls are also benefiting communities and individuals,” Akena says.
The beneficiaries from Lii sub county were supplied coffee seedlings and Beehives-for bees keeping project, Anaka were given goats and grinding mills while Got Apwoyo members requested for a multipurpose hall and Purongo town council was given goats.
Previously, the funds focus was on infrastructural development such as construction and improvement of local roads and community access network, and under education and health, it was mainly for the development and rehabilitation of local schools, health centres and dispensaries.
But the current focus is on supporting livelihoods. Although the district chairperson Okello Patrick Oryema says they are discussing with the park authority to consider fencing Schools along the Karuma-Pakwach highways
However, for beneficiaries like Akello, these figures translate into tangible change.
“Before, I used to see the park as a problem,” she admits. “Now I see that it can also help us.”
As the number of beneficiaries increase each financial year, the park authority says this offers opportunity for the frontline communities to improve on their livelihoods and the household incomes.
Hangi Bashir, Assistant Commissioner for Communications at UWA, says revenue sharing is a deliberate intervention aimed at improving community livelihoods.
“We want to ensure that local people appreciate and benefit from tourism activities within conservation areas and national parks,” Hangi explained.
The revenue-sharing program started in 2019
Relief from Elephant Intrusion
For years, farming communities living around Murchison Falls National Park, particularly in Nwoya District, lived under constant fear of elephant raids. The frequent movement of elephants from the park into neighbouring villages destroyed crops, disrupted livelihoods, and in some cases claimed human lives.
Many farmers abandoned cultivation of crops such as maize, rice, and groundnuts, which they considered too risky to plant because a single night raid by elephants could wipe out months of hard work.
The destruction has left hundreds of affected residents demanding compensation from the government and the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) for lost crops and lives.
Acan is among those who experienced the devastating impact of human-wildlife conflict. Over the years, elephants destroyed her crop gardens, leaving her with significant losses. She also lost one of her casual labourers to an elephant attack.
But today, the story is beginning to change for communities bordering Murchison Falls National Park on the northern side.
Following the extension of an electric fence by UWA across Purongo Town Council, farmers say they are experiencing relief from years of constant elephant incursions.
For the first time in years, small-scale farmers are returning to crop production with renewed confidence.
“We are happy because this year we have not seen a single elephant intrusion in Lagezi Cell. I planted four acres of maize, and they are all safe,” Acan says.
Maize is among the crops many farmers had abandoned because of the risk posed by elephants.
For Okello from Lyec cam cell in Kiber ward, the absence of elephant raids has restored confidence among residents.
After years of living with uncertainty, he says the community is beginning to farm without fear.
“We always fear that the elephants would come again, but we are okay now. I planted three acres, and they are doing well,” Okello says.
The improved security has allowed farmers to focus on rebuilding their livelihoods, with many hoping that continued protection from wildlife intrusion will encourage more households to return to farming.
Murchison Falls Conservation Area Manager Kizza attributed the success to moving from digging trenches to the new technology of electric fencing.
“The good news is that where we have put an electric fence, somebody can breathe. Kizza adds that, “the women have told us that, they can account for their husbands.”
Their husbands (men) used to sleep in their farms during harvest to safeguard their gardens from the intrusion of the elephants at night.
But now. the park authority has erected a 78 km electric fence in Oyam and Nwoya districts, with 15 km in Oyam district, and 5 km each in Kiryandongo and Masindi districts covering 88 km of the projected 140km. The authority is also in the process of erecting a 50-km electric fence in Buliisa District with 41km now completed.
The electric fencing has not only reduced crop destruction but also brought stability to the family by reducing household conflict.
“I went to Nwoya, and a certain woman told us that now, we don’t have as many quarrels at home with the in-law, because atleast now, there is life,” Kizza says.
The park authority says they plan to extend the electric fence to cover the remaining sub counties of Anaka and Lii to stop one of the long human-wildlife conflicts with the community at the frontlines with the park.
Revenue sharing is not the only benefits from the frontline communities but there are other like the community conservation.
The Executive Director of UWA, Dr. James Musinguzi, says the authority remains dedicated to supporting communities around the parks, not only through a revenue-sharing program but also via other community conservation.
Management challenge.
However, not every story has been smooth. Despite the beneficiaries receiving training on the management of the livestock, many challenges still persist.
Some of the goats have died, as beneficiaries say the goats were supplied when they were sick.
“We had to use a lot of money to treat our goats, and they were given when they were weak,” Okello notes.
For Acan’s group, Lubanga Lakica, 3 of the 20 goats given have died. “They had serious cough and eye disease when they were brought; they infected my other goats as well,” Acan explains.
The local leaders in the town council attribute this to a lack of local suppliers within the district or sub-region, which made the district to outsource external suppliers.
Okot says the suppliers sometimes delay due to long distances, which greatly affect the health of the animals.
“This happens because we don’t have enough goats in the district; they tried to purchase locally, but ended up buying only 20,” Okot explains.
The supply of livestock is the responsibility of each local government. There are cases where some beneficiaries sold their animals due to management challenges.
The district agricultural expert acknowledged that there were a few reported cases of deaths, but it was mainly as a result of poor management by the beneficiaries and the challenge of adaptation to the new environment
Dr Isiah Odokorwot, the district veterinary officer for Nwoya district, said despite training the receivers, some had challenges with housing, and as a result, they lost the animals.
“All these goats were vaccinated before delivery, but aspects of management with some beneficiaries where they had no housing; but it has subsided now,” Dr. Odokorwot adds.
Dr Odokorwot said some of the goats were suffering from respiratory infections.
“After a week, I started getting reports, and I followed, and what I found out that some had respiratory issues, which could be due to the transportation.” He adds.
Oryema, the district chairperson says they will embark on mindset change campaign for all the target frontiers so that the project changes their livelihoods.
“We shall do mindset change before we resume giving out goats to the community, for transparency and accountability of the project,” he added.
Back in Lagezi, Acan understands that challenges are part of the journey. Yet her resilience is rooted in experience—she has seen what is possible.
Her growing herd stands as Quit, which is evidence of that shift. Each goat represents more than livestock; it symbolises a changing relationship between people and the wildlife around them.
Where there was once conflict, there is now cautious coexistence. Where there was loss, there is now opportunity.
And for her, it all began with one goat.
