Shading the Land
Nwoya Farmers Use Trees-planting to Boost Crop Production
Written by: Franciska Adoch
In Northern Uganda, Climate Change is one of the region’s stress factors to agriculturalists.
Climate shifts in the region are often characterized by prolonged drought and unpredictable rainfall cycles and this is intense across various districts like Amuru, Gulu, Lamwo, Nwoya and Pader respectively. What once came in steady, predictable, now arrives late, falls harsh or fails. For small holder farmers whose life depend on land have opted for alternative survival mechanisms.
According to the World Bank report of 2022, Uganda loses nearly 800 square kilometers of wetlands every year, eroding the region’s natural waters which leaves communities more vulnerable since more than 90% of agriculture is rain-fed.
The cost of Climate change has shown visible effects through withering fields of maize, beans and cassava.
To overcome this, Climate-Smart Agriculture has proven its ability to shape the future of farming in Northern Uganda. And this has shown how climate shifts require worked on smartly.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation(FAO),Climate-Smart Agriculture is an integrated approach that seeks to increase agricultural productivity and incomes ,strengthen adaptation to climate variability and reduce greenhouse -gas emission.
In Uganda, CSA has come to mean a combination of practical and affordable techniques which are drought tolerant and the ability to connect farmers to markets and access to the required information. In addition, CSA has also offered local solutions to the stressing factors for example, In Nwoya and Gulu, Famers are learning agriculturally conserve the environment through agroforestry, mulching and other mechanisms.
“New agroforestry plots are helping us farmers plant boundary trees that protect fields from wnd and provide firewood to people in the community”, Steven Akullo a farmer in Gulu said
“Water pans and solar-powered irrigation system are also allowing homestead garden to produce vegetables even during the dry months”, Akullo added
Northern Uganda Transforming the Economy through Climate smart Agriculture (NU-TEC) Programme reveals both the scale of the challenge and the purpose of the program. Building on the existing initiative, Climate Smart Jobs (CSJ) program was launched in 2023, funded by UK Government through Palladium, CSJ aims to raise household income for at least 130,000 families by promoting climate resilient enterprises. Its focus is to make adoption profitable by supporting private-sector innovation especially among women and youth
Climate – Smart Jobs take various shapes from training youths on how to install solar irrigation pumps to a woman running running a small feed-processing mill and so many others.
“Through CSJ, I have gained hands-on skills with passion and I don’t regret and see myself becoming self employed and employing my other fellows in our community” Lucy Akello, a grain miller in Gulu said.
Such occupations run resilience to livelihoods by linking producers, buyers and financial institutions and this has turned CSJ into an ecosystem instead of a relief effort in the community.
Through Commercial Agent Model, Climate Smart Agriculture and Climate Smart Jobs are shaping local entrepreneurs as drivers of environment suitability in Gulu.
“Due to the long dry spells in our region I do this on purpose that we should all have a collective effort to fight climate change and this is proved by various famers groups we have here” Norma Allen, a farmer in Atiak Town Council said.
According to Chairperson of the Atiak United Cassava Growers, Amuru Jacob highlights that the region has various groups all set for the same cause and some of the groups are,Lulai Farmers’ Group, Rubanga Ber Holy Family VSLA and Farmers Group and Latyeng Farmers Group. The groups began conserving the environment by buying bulky drought tolerant seeds, running demonstration plots and selling aggregated produce to urban markets.
“Through collective efforts, we negotiate fairer prices and reduce post-harvest losses”, Norma Allen said.
This is a testament that farmers in Atiak are not waiting for the perfect weather,they are building resilience on precious land and ensuring smart jobs for even one. When the community adopt CSA and create jobs around it, they reduce poverty,restore degraded land and rebuild confidence in the land.
However, financial constraints and poor access roads have limited the development of the initiative. Without affordable credit or sustainable technical support most group farmer struggle to scale there success.
The government’s recent announcement of a Shs 1.3 trillion national Climate-Smart Agriculture programme expected to benefit nearly four million Ugandans is therefore a timely opportunity for strengthening community aggregation, subsidise early access to drought-tolerant seed and water-harvesting technologies, and create incentives for private agents to reach remote areas.
In conclusion, if local organisation can be matched with sustained financing and market-oriented delivery models like the Commercial Agent Model, Northern Uganda can shift from surviving erratic seasons to building a climate-resilient economy.
The rains may remain unpredictable, but with Climate-Smart Agriculture and Climate-Smart Jobs, farmers across the north are learning how to harvest a more secure future one built not on chance, but on change.
