The recent rise in sugar prices has given rise to numerous unrest, numerous demonstrations and widespread discontent in the towards the government. His Excellency President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni responded by once again attempting to push his long-standing proposal to grow more sugarcane on land currently occupied by the Mabira Forest Reserve. He then provided a number of reasons to support this proposition. However, his proposal has once again sparked nationwide turbulence and discontent, given that the government has an obligation to protect and maintain national forest reserves, an obligation the president appears to be neglecting. Furthermore, the Mabira Forest Reserve is the largest tropical rainforest in East Africa and provides great ecological and economic (in terms of tourism) benefits to the country. All Ugandans, lay people and politicians, from both the ruling party and the opposition, agree that sugar prices must be curbed. However, the president is alienated by his proposal to use Mabira's land for sugarcane cultivation. In fact, never has the President encountered such strong opposition to a proposal he has made than the one he currently faces regarding the Mabira proposal. Nonetheless, the president gives some substantial reasons for his proposal, reasons that cannot simply be ignored. Apart from the fact that this project would generate around 3,500 jobs and bring into the treasury around UGX 11 billion; Other reasons include, above all, the fact that the Mabira Forest Reserve land is the only piece of government-owned land closest to the sugar factory. This would therefore ease the cost of transporting the harvested sugarcane to the factory, thereby reducing production costs, which in turn would lower the prices of...... middle of paper ..... .cting of the forest reserve. Additionally, as the project does not result in permanent damage to the land, whenever new methods of sugar supply are obtained in the future, the land can be returned to the reserve and used to regrow the forest. This sugar problem has presented us with an example of the natural struggle that exists between the need to protect and preserve the environment and the need to meet human demand for resources, food and agriculture. There certainly should not be one factor that ultimately takes precedence over the other. All of these factors are to some extent equally important and whenever conflict arises between them, solutions seeking to harmonize these factors should be sought and implemented rather than choosing to do nothing or act recklessly . Works Cited Rulekere, Gerald. The politics of sugar. UGPulse, 2011. Web. 11/29/11.