Jim Joel Nyakaana

Travel & Documentary Photographer

jim-joel.com

Life in a Flood Zone: Kampala's Nakivubo Channel

Follow Hire

Location: Uganda

Nationality: Ugandan

Biography: Two of my great passions in life are travel and photography. I believe that travel broadens one's view of the world. Starting out as a wedding photographer in 2006, my travels to many parts of Uganda to photograph traditional weddings, made me... MORE

The picture was taken in Septe...the city’s drainage.

1 of 12 © 2024 Jim Joel Nyakaana

The picture was taken in September 2021 in the north of Kampala. Local residents attribute flooding to the construction of a new mall on Gayaza Road and the new city bypass, as well as increased periods of heavy rainfall and its impact on the city’s drainage.

The picture is taken in Februa...onths before at the same spot.

2 of 12 © 2024 Jim Joel Nyakaana

The picture is taken in February 2022 during the dry season, showing a marked difference to only a few months before at the same spot.

Workers utilize Nakivubo Channel to clean car tires.

3 of 12 © 2024 Jim Joel Nyakaana

Workers utilize Nakivubo Channel to clean car tires.

After a short period of rain, t...s the channel during the rains.

4 of 12 © 2024 Jim Joel Nyakaana

After a short period of rain, the channel is turned into a fast-moving river and the car tire washers cannot access the channel during the rains.

A man uses water from the Chan...ellers pass in the background.

5 of 12 © 2024 Jim Joel Nyakaana

A man uses water from the Channel to clean shoes, while another cleans tires, and the urban dwellers pass in the background.

A woman cleans and dries clothes on the edge of the Channel.

6 of 12 © 2024 Jim Joel Nyakaana

A woman cleans and dries clothes on the edge of the Channel.

Taxis (small buses) line the e...rt system must move and adapt.

7 of 12 © 2024 Jim Joel Nyakaana

Taxis (small buses) line the edge of the Channel. When flooding occurs, the city's busy public transport system must move and adapt.

A group of men chat while cleaning and arranging items for sale.

8 of 12 © 2024 Jim Joel Nyakaana

A group of men chat while cleaning and arranging items for sale.

A bridge over Nakivubo Channel...ng into the Channel.

9 of 12 © 2024 Jim Joel Nyakaana

A bridge over Nakivubo Channel at Kyagwe Road. A series of freshly cleaned shoes are displayed for sale along one of the few barriers protecting pedestrians from falling into the Channel.

During dry periods urban resid...s to escape the sun.

10 of 12 © 2024 Jim Joel Nyakaana

During dry periods urban residents utilize the Channel to traverse the city quickly, and some hide under the bridges to escape the sun.

A man in a red hat walks along...ge lest the water drowns them.

11 of 12 © 2024 Jim Joel Nyakaana

A man in a red hat walks along the Channel. After a short period of rain, the water level has visibly risen and the water is moving rapidly. At this moment, no one can afford to rest under the bridge lest the water drowns them.

Flooding plays havoc with Kamp...;s (motorcycle taxis) to rise.

12 of 12 © 2024 Jim Joel Nyakaana

Flooding plays havoc with Kampala’s public transport and causes a lot of traffic at flooding points as well as costs of Boda Boda's (motorcycle taxis) to rise.

Private Story

Life in a Flood Zone: Kampala's Nakivubo Channel

Copyright Jim Joel Nyakaana 2024

Updated Feb 2022

Summary

Flooding as a climate risk facing Uganda, a case study of Nakivubo Channel

Flooding is the greatest climate risk facing Uganda. At least 50,000 people are directly impacted by flooding every year - the aftermath of which includes displacement, destruction of property, endangered economic activity, poor physical and mental health, and loss of life. Erratic rainfall and its consequences have significant implications for the people and built environments of the country's low-lying capital, Kampala, much of which was built on former wetlands at the base of the city's seven hills. The photo project features Nakivubo Channel, a tributary channel, and adjacent streets, the only drainage channel to run through the city’s central business areas, which is badly in need of improvement and expansion. During prolonged heavy rainfall, the Channel floods, hitting Kampala’s already marginalized urban residents hardest. During dry periods, however, the channel takes on different meanings and purposes, existing as a piece of transitory urban infrastructure that people can use to engage in informal economic jobs and traverse the city. Kampala looks and feels very different in the aftermath of heavy rains. The project displays the Channel at different points of the year, including flooding after heavy rainfall in September 2021, the hot and dry month of January 2022, and the beginning of the rainy season in February 2022, in advance of expected heavier rainfall in March. The project explores environmental injustices, the negotiation of rapidly shifting urban space, and the different ways in which people use, and adapt, their everyday lives in response to the ongoing global climate emergency and its consequences.

36

Also by Jim Joel Nyakaana —

Story [Unlisted]

Streetware X Mivumba Berlin-Germany. Nov 2021.

Jim Joel Nyakaana / Berlin

Feb 21, 2022

Story [Unlisted]

Caption this, Kampala Uganda. May 2019.

Jim Joel Nyakaana / Array

Feb 21, 2022

Story [Unlisted]

Research

Jim Joel Nyakaana / Kampala

Feb 21, 2022

Story [Unlisted]

Ubuntu DNA Expressions of generosity

Jim Joel Nyakaana

Feb 15, 2022

Story [Unlisted]

Camp Kigali activating the archive

Jim Joel Nyakaana

Oct 26, 2021

Story [Unlisted]

The Uganda Railway, a retrospective walk through time.

Jim Joel Nyakaana

Oct 26, 2021

Story [Unlisted]

Bigambo bibebitono tukole bukozi,2021. (Let us talk less and work more, covid season 19.)

Jim Joel Nyakaana / Array

Oct 26, 2021

Story [Unlisted]

munna kampala

Jim Joel Nyakaana / Array

Sep 30, 2020

Sign-up for
For more access