Buvuma District


Buvuma District is a district in the Central Region of Uganda. The district is coterminous with the Buvuma Islands archipelago in Lake Victoria and does not have territory on mainland Uganda.

Location

Buvuma District is bordered by Jinja District to the north, Mayuge District to the east, Tanzania to the south, and Buikwe District to the west and northwest. Kitamilo, the district headquarters, is approximately south of the city of Jinja, the nearest large metropolitan area.

Overview

Buvuma District is made up of 52 scattered islands in the northern part of Lake Victoria. The largest island is called Buvuma, the name adopted by the new district, which was created by Act of Parliament on 1 July 2010. Before that, it was part of Mukono District. Administratively, the district is subdivided into nine administrative units:
  1. Bugaya Sub-county
  2. Busamuzi Sub-county
  3. Bweema Sub-county
  4. Nairambi Sub-county
  5. Buvuma Town Council
  6. Buwooya Sub-County
  7. Lwajje Sub-County
  8. Lubya Sub-county
  9. Lyabaana Sub-county

    Population

In 1991, the national population census estimated the population of the district at 18,500. During the 2002 national census, the population of Buvuma District was estimated at 42,500. In the 2014 National Population and Housing Census, the population stood at 89,890.

Economic activities

The four main activities in the district are: Fishing Tourism Logging and Manufacture of charcoal. Subsistence agriculture is practiced by the inhabitants of the islands. The majority of the islanders depend a lot on fishing. Overfishing is a concern. The district has twenty-six gazetted forest reserves, although many are threatened by unregulated logging and burning to make charcoal. Little livestock farming is practiced in the district, with the majority of livestock consumed locally in the district.