PROMOTING AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION AND WATER RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN UGANDA

In view of the growing population and advancing climate change in Northern Uganda, the need for irrigated crop production and consequently the pressure on water resources for agricultural purposes has increased significantly. How farmer trainings on irrigated agriculture and improved water resource management can help.

While irrigated agriculture is still underdeveloped, it can serve to produce crops during the dry season (January to March) and thus generate additional income for small-scale farmers. At the same time, integrated water resource management is necessary to ensure the sustainability of water supply in the face of declining overall availability.

Since 2020, AFC-GOPA is hence supporting small-scale irrigated agriculture as well as water resource management within the GIZ programme “Promoting Rural Development in Northern Uganda (PRUDEV)”.

We support around 1,020 small-scale farmers, organised into 53 groups, in the field of irrigated agriculture as well as nine district governments and a relevant number of local communities in improved water resource management. The capacity development of farmers is implemented via 26 communitybased trainers, which are trained and coached by AFC local staff and external experts. It focuses on organizational development, irrigation technologies, good agricultural practices, market development and the set up and strengthening of inclusive business models. The irrigated production puts a special focus on horticulture during the dry season (cabbage, tomatoes, onion, green pepper, eggplant and watermelon), when market prices and marketing opportunities are high. Our activities support the dissemination of adapted technologies for smallscale irrigation in order to increase water efficiency and labour saving (e.g. solar water pumps; drip and sprinkler irrigation; water harvesting). All experiences are gathered into two business models – a low cost and a medium cost – that indicate step by step what is needed to set up a profitable small-scale irrigation system. These business models will be handed out to all important stakeholders in Northern Uganda.

In order to improve the sustainability of water supply, we advise the district local governments on how to include the water resource management into the district planning. In coordination with the districts and lower local government, we supported communities in the elaboration and implementation of community action plans and wetland management plans for improved water resource management. While this work includes a significant part of technical advice, the focus is on the facilitation of consensus building, which allows community members to tackle problems under a shared vision.

During its first year of operation, the project achieved a significant improvement in the application of good agricultural practices in vegetable production as well as group dynamics and leadership. The second dry season focused on improving the irrigation technologies, quality of inputs (seeds, fertilizers) and marketing. When trainings take place on demonstration plots, farmers apply the learnings in their own fields, increasing their gross income by more than 200% so far. Sharing and transferring experiences between groups and towards other stakeholders has been done extensively. For the current year, the implementing team emphasises on planning of the production process and farming as a business. Activities run until September 2023.

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