Uganda’s agricultural heartland is a paradox: Despite being the backbone of the country’s economy and sustaining over 65% of the population, many farming regions remain stuck in poverty, according to the 2023/24 National Household Survey. In the third part of a four-part series, Joshua Kato explores the critical role of irrigation in determining crop yields and examines the underlying factors that perpetuate poverty in Uganda’s farming communities. A sea during the rainy season, a desert during the dry season; how low adoption of irrigation makes farmers poor…
When it rains on Mt Moroto ranges, Karamoja gets wet! Roads become impassable. Off the slopes of the mountain ranges, the rainwater flows downwards and river beds, as well as water catchment areas that were empty, fill up, creating a false sense of water availability.
In Teso, especially Katakwi and Amuria districts, swamps fill up, flooding farm lands. Water bodies like Lake Bisina and River Awoja flood, with water flowing downstream to Lake Kyoga.
“My farm is always flooded at a time when I should be planting,” lamented Bosco Otim, a farmer in Olilim, Katakwi.
Alfred Okot Okidi, the permanent secretary in the water ministry, said while the rainy season in the central and western parts of the country is ending, heavy rains are set to continue in the northeast, including Karamoja, up to the end of August.
But a few weeks after the heavy rains, the dry season kicks in, affecting livestock and crop production.
Charles Topoth, a weather analyst in Karamoja, said one of the reasons for failed crop seasons in Karamoja is unpredictable weather patterns.
“The over-reliance on rain-fed agriculture, without irrigation, remains a major barrier to achieving food security,” Topoth said.
Given that Karamoja experiences heavy rains, the sub-region has big potential for irrigation. “It is important that as the rains fall, farmers harvest and save water that they can use for drip irrigation,” Okidi said.
Big irrigation potential
According to the National Irrigation Policy 2017, 40% of global food is produced on irrigated land. However, only 0.5% of Uganda’s cultivated area is under irrigation.
This compares lowly to 3.6% for Tanzania, 2.0% for Kenya and 1.6% for Burundi.
The comfort of receiving rains to sustain two cropping seasons in a year has provided little impetus to the Government to invest extensively in irrigation. Little attention has been accorded to technological and human capacity development in irrigation.
“Despite the advantages that the country holds in the ease of undertaking irrigation development, the potential has not been harnessed,” the policy says.
Uganda’s rain-fed agriculture has progressively been constrained by frequent threats of and actual occurrence of droughts and floods, affecting efforts for increased production; fight against hunger and poverty.
Uganda’s vulnerability to climate change is exacerbated by a rapidly growing population, a factor that has increased pressure on natural resources (mainly wetlands and forest covers), leading to environmental degradation.
“Uganda has one of the highest irrigation potential in the world, with over 15% of her surface area covered by fresh water resources. The sum of the external and internal renewable surface water resources (the average annual river flow generated from precipitation) in Uganda amounts to 43.3 billion cubic metres per year, while the dependence ratio (proportion that originates outside the country) was about 69%,” the policy says.
There is a water source in every region of the country. For example, the central region has River Nile, River Mayanja, River Kafu, River Sezibwa plus Lake Victoria as the main water body.
The West has rivers like Rwizi in Ankole, Mubuku in Kasese, lakes Mburo and Albert, etc that can offer water for irrigation.
The north has River Aswa and River Nile, while Bukedi region has the River Mpologoma confluence, Teso has Lake Bisina and River Awoja plus Lake Kyoga. The policy explains that the present utilisation rate of the internal renewable water resource is low at just 2.8%.
The utilisation rate of the entire renewable surface water resources stood at 0.01% as of 2017.
“If the full irrigation potential was to be exploited, the demand for water would be increased by over 400% by 2030, translating into a utilisation rate of renewable surface water resource of 0.05%,” the policy says.
Research shows that thereis more usage of water by farmers in the west, especially among cattle keepers, the central region and Elgon areas, compared to Teso and Karamoja.
Enough water in Karamoja
Karamoja has a long rainy season between May and September. However, surprisingly, most of the water that falls here runs off the mountain ranges, downwards towards parts of Katakwi, Amuria and Abim districts.
Very little of it is harvested for future use, especially for livestock or crop production.
While districts like Napak, Nabilatuk and Kapelebyong, maintain some green, hence support agriculture even after the rains dry, others like Moroto, Kaabong, Kotido, Nakapiripirit and Amudat do not retain any water.
“Even the prepared water catchment facilities, for example, dams, dry up,” Patrick Lokonoi, a livestock farmer in Amudat district, lamented.
According to a joint report by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nation and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, whenever the dry season sets in, the few dams that retain water become overcrowded.
For example, during the dry season, livestock watering is usually in areas such as Rupa sub-county in Moroto district, leading to high grazing intensity of the surrounding range land.
According to the report, Nakapiripirit is the most stressed in regard to water for livestock, with only four dams in the district. Of the four dams, two are located in Namalu sub-county, making the larger part of the district unserved.
Govt efforts in Karamoja
In a bid to tackle the water scarcity problem, the Government and several development partners have undertaken several water development projects for Karamoja.
These include drilling of boreholes, construction of multi-purpose dams, valley tanks and ponds. Today, there are numerous water sources in the sub-region, offering numerous benefits to communities in Karamoja and beyond (Kenya and Southern Sudan).
However, farmers say, this is not enough. Six sources of water exist in Karamoja for livestock depending on season. Boreholes and ponds fall in the first category of water sources utilised by small stock (goats and sheep), mainly those that remain at home (manyattas) when other herds move in search of pasture and water.
Valley tanks, dams and rivers and are shallow wells dug in dry river beds provide the second category of water sources for livestock in Karamoja.
Rivers are mainly utilised during rains, while during desperate periods, river bed sand dugout wells are utilised to water livestock.
The main dams used by livestock in the region include Moroto and Napak; Kobebe, Arechek and Nakicumet. Since their construction, these dams have barely dried, and have become convergence points for livestock when the water scarcity problem intensifies in the surrounding districts.
Kobebe dam, for example, hosts the Matheniko and some Tepeth pastoral communities from Rupa sub-county and slopes of mountain Moroto respectively located in Moroto district, Jie pastoral community from Kotido district and Turkana pastoralists from Kenya.
Nakicumet dam is used by the Bokora and the Pian pastoral communities from Napak and Nakapiripirit (particularly those from around Lorengedwat and Nabilatuk sub-counties) respectively.
Water quality in dams is generally poor due to high sediment and siltation arising from degraded areas around the dams where animals congregate as they wait to water and cutting of trees that leaves the soil bare.
This leads to soil erosion and transportation of sediments into the dams. All dams are highly exposed to strong winds thus high evapotranspiration, leading to reduced residence time of water in the dam.
Small efforts, big yields
To harness some of the water resources in Teso, a government project that aims to enhance agricultural productivity and transform the smallholder economy was started.
Contracted to Nexus Green Ltd, the project’s scope includes the construction of 687 irrigation sites across the region by end of August 2025.
Farmers in the area, once plagued by unreliable rainfall, are now enjoying impressive harvests, thanks to consistent irrigation.
The success has significantly improved household incomes, with some farmers now earning as much as sh45m per season.
Patrick Okotel, the project’s water engineer, said they are using solar-powered water pumps to draw water onto the farms.
“We are seeing incredible results,” he said.
“Our farmers can now earn up to sh45m per season, which is very good,” Okotel, said.
However, because the systems rely on sunshine, sometimes the distribution is slow whenever it is cloudy.
Mini-irrigation scheme
With the cost depending on the nature of the farm (closeness to water source, terrain of the land, soil suitability, acreage to be irrigated, etc) and the varying prices of irrigation equipment, the Government will pay between 25% and 75% of the total cost of the irrigation equipment, but with a maximum contribution of sh7.2m per acre.
This implies that the farmer may pay between sh2m and sh8m per acre depending on the nature of the farm and the irrigation equipment that they choose.
Irrigation technologies
Vickie Nakyagaba, who works with Holland Greentech, said before one makes a choice of what technology to install, they must be sure of the amount of water they have.
She said this is because some systems need a lot of water.
“Having a stable water source is a major factor that positively contributes to the sustainability and success of any agricultural project,” Nakyagaba said.
Here are the irrigation systems that one can install according to what crop they want or are growing;
Drip irrigation: This is the most effective way to irrigate many different plants, including bigger plants like coffee and also the small ones like vegetables.
This is because water drops directly at the point it is needed thus minimising water wastage. It is also the ideal system to water in clay soils because the water is applied slowly, allowing the soil to absorb the water and avoid runoff.
Micro-irrigation: Is a low-pressure, low-flow-rate type of irrigation that can reduce the likelihood of overwatering a landscape. This form of irrigation delivers water directly to where it is needed most — the root zone of plants.
This system is suitable for crops like strawberries that do not need water lodging.
Surface or flood irrigation: This is one of the common systems used in Uganda, but one needs to know that it requires more water than what is needed by the plant.
Water evaporates, seeps into the ground and percolates down to the groundwater where it is out of reach by plant roots.
Nakyagaba said this system uses gravity to distribute water over the field by following the contour of the land. In surface irrigation, water will flow downhill from an area of higher elevation reaching all the crops.
Sprinkler/spray irrigation: Water is applied in a manner similar to rainfall. The water is distributed through a network that may consist of pumps, valves, pipes and sprinklers. Irrigation sprinklers can be used for residential, industrial and agricultural use.
What best farmers are doing
In Bukedea, Teso sub-region, Alfred Okiring, a best farmer in 2015, dug a deep well to support an irrigation system for his orchard.
“During dry seasons, I would suffer because all my crops would dry up. The water I used to collect was not enough. Rain harvesting is not sustainable, especially in places like Teso, which is more of a semi-arid area. The dry spell is long,” he said.
Okiring learnt valuable lessons after seeing farmers in the Netherlands having permanent sources of water.
Upon returning from the trip, he used the sh7m he won from the Best Farmers Competition to buy two water tanks, each with a capacity of 10,000lts plus hose pipes.
Okiring also topped up the money and he drilled water from underground.
He then bought a generator that he uses to pump water from underground. Okiring also lobbied some other individuals who donated two more water tanks each with a 10, 000lts capacity.
In Soroti district, Teddy Wabomba Wanzunula also sank a deep well from which he draws water for her farm.
“Water is no longer a problem on my farm year in and year out. All this was because of my trip to the Netherlands,” she says.
Using part of her sh30m that she was awarded as one of the winners, Wanzunula set up a watering system on the farm.
