By Lawrence Mulondo
The Government has unveiled sh448b irrigation project to mitigate effects of climate change and increase productivity in the agricultural sector.
Phase one of the project is located in Namalu, Nakapiripirit district, Unyama Irrigation Scheme in Amuru and Sipi in Bulambuli district. These will supplement the eight irrigation schemes in place.
Under the five-year project, there will be 96 solar-powered small-scale irrigation schemes around the country. This will be implemented by the Ministry of Water and Environment together with the agriculture ministry, the Microfinance Support Centre and respective local governments. The medium irrigation schemes have a total of 2,900ha of land each and the solar-powered small-scale schemes have about 10ha of land.
The irrigation schemes, under a government programme codenamed Farm Income Enhancement and Forestry Conservation Programme (FIEFOC), are designed to draw water from nearby rivers. The project is jointly funded by the Government (sh73b), a loan from the Islamic Development Bank of sh320b and sh55b loan from the Arab Bank for Economic Development. Presiding over the launch in Mbale city on Thursday, water minister Dr Sam Cheptoris said Uganda mainly depends on rain for agriculture and livelihood, which is extremely dangerous for food safety.
“Uganda’s capacity to adapt to the effects of climate change is low, which is attributed to limited options of livelihoods and lack of support to climate change adaptation mechanisms, among others,” he said. Cheptoris said the irrigation schemes are expected to increase productivity and implored farmers to switch from rain-fed agriculture to irrigated agriculture in order to increase productivity.
“We expect that this project will bring in more money and improve the livelihoods of the beneficiaries and their families,” he added.
The minister asked locals to pay taxes so as to get enough resources to improve the irrigation capacity from less than 3% to 100%.
“There is a lot of corruption in this country. People should desist from stealing money that the Government borrows and let it serve the intended purpose,” he said. J
ohn Magezi Ndamira, the national programme co-ordinator for FIEFOC, said under the schemes, the Government is to put up infrastructure including reservoirs, canals and storage facilities. Ndamira said compensation under the project will be for only the land where infrastructure, including canals, reservoirs and office buildings, will be located, adding that the rest of the land remains farmers’ land. “Compensation rates for people’s property used under the project is set by the districts, who later engage the chief government valuer for approval,” he said.
Ndamira added that they are starting with low-lying areas where water flow can be supported by gravity as they look for more resources before they move to high lands that need power to pump water. He said the project is to also benefit those in the agribusiness value chain such as transport, warehousing markets and input dealers. Steven Tibijuka Byantware, the director of crop resources in the agriculture ministry, said the project is in line with the agricultural value chain development strategy, which forms a chapter in the National Development Plan III He said under the strategy, the President advised that attention should be given to enterprise selection and ensuring that people are guided on proper enterprises, the right seed and the right stocking materials that make people earn from their investment.
James Muhwezi, the manager in charge of partnerships and resource mobilisation at Microfinance Support Centre, said the Government has been financing people to invest in agriculture for a long time, however, the question has always been irrigation due to the effects of climate change. The Islamic Development Bank regional hub manager, Dr Issahaq Umar Iddrisu, was optimistic about the project in propelling the country to a middle-income status. Need for irrigation Irrigation helps to increase agricultural production.
The yields for irrigated crops are expected to be two to three times higher. Irrigated land produces 40% of global food. Currently, Uganda’s ratio of cultivated area under irrigation to the irrigation potential is only 0.5%. This compares lowly to 3.6% for Tanzania, 2.0% for Kenya and 1.6% for Burundi. From the irrigated fields, the yields are stable and reliable. Assured production targets can be met and also reduces fluctuations in the year-to[1]year yields and the risk of crop failure due to drought. Uganda has one of the highest irrigation potential in the world, with over 15% of the country’s surface area covered by fresh water bodies.
