Forest Products, Livelihoods and Conservation

170 Carved wooden drums and trade in Mpigi district, Uganda

INTRODUCTION

The wood carving industry in Uganda produces mainly musical instruments

while other carvings such as animals are imported from neighbouring Kenya.

Unlike in many African countries, where the use of traditional instruments has

given way to electronic sound and Western type musical instruments, most

areas in Uganda still have a rich cultural instrument tradition. In central Uganda,

wood carving is one of the important economic activities offering full time

employment to over 250 households in Mpigi district alone (Samula 2001).

Although it is a means of making a living, it is also a way of keeping culture

and indigenous knowledge alive. Wood carvers in central Uganda make musical

instruments such as short and long drums, bow harps and xylophones. This

chapter presents the findings of a study on the short and long drums, the

predominantly carved instruments in the area. The centre for making and

marketing of carved wooden drums is Mpigi district in central Uganda, especially

around Mpigi town. The stalls dotted along the Kampala–Masaka highway and

in Kampala city are basically sale outlets for drums.

The wood used for making these instruments is obtained from natural forests,

which have been harvested for a long time (Hamilton 1984; Taylor et al. 1996).

While subsistence production rarely has negative ecological or social impacts,

the same is not true of commercial trade in these wooden drum carvings made

from favoured tree species which in most cases take over 10 years to reach

mature and harvestable sizes of 20 cm diameter at breast height.

Commercial production of wooden drums in this area, where there are few

other economic opportunities, has become an important means through which

poorer rural people enter the cash economy (Samula 2001). Increase in the

drum making business in Mpigi district has raised concern about the population

structure and supplies of the tree species being used, the socio-economic

impacts and the ecology of the natural forests where they occur and are

exploited. As a result, two studies were undertaken between August 1998 and

January 2000 to determine the population structure of the tree species used,

their distribution, regeneration rates and the current demand and supply.

DESCRIPTION OF THE STUDY AREA

Location and physiognomy

Mpigi district is located between latitudes 00°00' and 00°30’N and longitudes

31°45' and 32°31’E (Figure 1). The altitude range is 1,150 m to 1,270 m above

sea level. The area occupies the lower slopes and floor of Nabukongole valley,

which has a permanent stream that drains southwards into Lake Victoria

(Howard 1991). The underlying rocks are of Pre-Cambrian origin belonging to

the Karagwe–Ankolean system and consisting of granitoid gneisses and schists

(Lingdale-Brown 1960).

Climate

Mpigi district lies outside the influence of early morning storms but receives

afternoon rainfall. The rainfall has bimodal distribution, that is, March to May

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