HARISA phase two maps more Kigezi landslide scars, with boda geo-observers on the hills
Mbarara University of Science and Technology and Belgian partners say phase one logged more than 4,000 hazards. Phase two puts trained riders on the slopes.
A second phase of the HARISA landslide-mapping work is moving through Kigezi, with Mbarara University of Science and Technology and Belgian partners extending a hazard inventory that already lists more than 4,000 points from phase one. Researcher Yeeko Kisira has described a network of boda geo-observers — riders trained to log cracks, scarps and fresh slides on phones instead of waiting for a team from town. For villages on the Kabale and Rubanda slopes, that is often the difference between a warning and a burial. Phase two is still research, not a new retaining wall. Local leaders say the maps only help if district works departments use them when they approve houses and roads. _Based on project briefings in the Kigezi press, August 2026._