Adopting to the Times

Farmers Get Climate Smart to Beat Changing Weather Patterns

Written by: Prisca Amarorwot

In the heart of Northern Uganda, the community of Atyak in Gulu stands on the verge of a climate crisis. A region that was once celebrated as the “food basket of Uganda”, known for its fertile soils and predictable rainfall, it now faces a harsh reality of climate change.

According to the 2024 Ministry of Water and Environment report, Northern Uganda experienced the highest rate of severe drought of about 60% farmland in the country. The region is  heavily dependent on rain-fed agriculture, and now faces a brutal cycle of droughts, floods, soil degradation, and unpredictable weather patterns that threaten not only food security but also livelihoods and cultural survival.

Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) through Climate Smart Jobs (CSJ) programme has offered hope to the hopeless. CSA and CSJ led to the rebirth of people’s faith in the region which assured them that the crisis can be overcome. 

Focus Group Enterprises (FGEs), BENAAP Business Solution Limited in Atiak and Amuru District respectively, have provided a platform to farmers who rear goats using CSA practices. This revealed how the community can adapt, survive, and even thrive amidst the Climate crisis in the region.

The dependence of agriculture on rain makes communities extremely vulnerable to climate variability. Prolonged dry spells have become common across the district of Amuru, Agago, and Lamwo. Many communities now experience one short and unreliable rain season instead of two predictable ones. 

Crops such as maize, beans, and groundnuts often fail due to insufficient moisture, and livestock suffer from lack of pasture and water. In extreme cases, Boreholes and shallow wells dry up, forcing women and children to walk long distances in search of water.

While drought affects some areas, others experience severe flooding. Heavy downpours and river overflows in districts like Nwoya, Gulu, and Amuru often destroy crops and infrastructure. The flooding of River Aswa and other streams displaces families, erodes farmlands, and damages roads and bridges. 

Understanding Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA)

Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) is an approach that aims to transform and reorient agricultural systems to effectively support development and ensure food security under changing climate conditions. 

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), CSA rests on three main pillars namely; Increasing productivity and incomes to ensure food security, enhancing resilience (adaptation) to climate shocks and stresses, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions (mitigation).

This program proves to be vital for Northern Uganda because it directly addresses the challenges facing farmers. It enhances food security through drought-tolerant crops, moisture conservation, and climate-shock-tolerant livestock; strengthens livelihoods by increasing yields and market access; and builds resilience by improving soil fertility, conserving water, and promoting biodiversity.

Farmer Group Enterprises (FGEs): BENAAP Business Solution Limited

In Northern Uganda, CSA has taken different forms. In Atiak Sub-county, Amuru District, BENAAP Business Solution Limited comprising nine members (7 female and 2 male) are rearing local and hybrid goats that are climate-tolerant. Climate-Smart Agriculture is more than a set of techniques; it is a philosophy of resilience. 

It enables farmers to maintain food production even when the climate is unpredictable. By improving soil health, conserving water, and promoting biodiversity, CSA strengthens communities’ ability to withstand and recover from climate shocks.

The general secretary of BENAAP Business Solution Limited, MS Alal Beatrice, said that through a partnership with Climate Smart Jobs (CSJ) programme, the group received 52 goats (50 female and 2 male), comprising of two different breeds namely, Savannah and the Local breed. This combination was intended to help in cross- breeding and resilience in goat breeds. 

The members of BENAAP Business Solution Limited who were trained through CSJ support and Palladium are offering a living example of how local farmers are applying CSA principles through the Focus Group Enterprises (FGEs) model. The FGEs model organizes farmers into cooperative groups that pool resources, share knowledge, and access markets collectively.

“For instance, the BENAAP Business Solution Limited’s members contributed a total of eleven million Ugandan Shillings (11 million) which was used for constructing goats’ house and fencing. They have also ventured into goats rearing, a practice that has proven both climate-resilient and economically rewarding” said Ms Beatrice Alal, the general secretary of the group.

While CSA theory offers hope, this application through local models like the Focus Group Enterprises (FGEs) and BENAAP Business Solution Limited that truly bring the concept to life.

One of the key priorities for CSJ is to help Ugandans adapt, mitigate the impact of climate change, and jobs created must be resilient to changing climatic conditions. The Uganda’s population dependence on Agriculture, combined with changing climate patterns and unsustainable land management, contributes to why Uganda is in its 12th position as the most vulnerable country to climate change globally.

Uganda’s Agricultural sector is exposed to pests, diseases, rains, floods and droughts spells projected to increase incidence and severity under climate change, and thus without adaptation, climate change will make the economic transformation for Uganda impossible.

In Northern Uganda, Climate Smart Jobs is supporting private-sector and farmer-led solutions, ensuring that CSJ focuses on market systems development, support for small and medium enterprises facilitating access to finance for climate-smart products and services.

The CSJ program aims to provide durable adaptation which requires profitable activities that smallholders and local enterprises will sustain without perpetual donor support.

“We ventured into goats’ rearing because it requires less water, feeds, and space compared to cattle, making it more adaptable to dry conditions” Ms Alal Beatrice, said

“However, prolonged droughts tend to reduce pasture availability, floods spread diseases, and heat stress affects animal health” she added.

According to the member of BENAAP Business solution Limited, Ocan Betty highlighted that eleven goats had miscarriage due to hot temperatures, fatigue, dehydration, and others died after eating poisonous feeds due to drought.

To address the challenge of the scarcity of animal feeds, group plans to procure Hammer mill for preparing feeds during dry periods.

In Conclusion Farmer Group Enterprises (FGEs) such as BENAAP Business Solution Limited has demonstrated that it’s possible to tackle climate crisis with programme such as CSA.

Small groups especially those led by women, can convert goats’ rearing into venture that survive climate shocks and generate income.