Irrigation boosts harvests for Ugandan farmers facing drought
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Farmers in Agago District, Uganda, are earning more money from their crops thanks to government-supported irrigation systems.
Titus Okello, a farmer in Tee-Ogwang Village, earned 4.5 million Ugandan shillings from tomatoes grown with irrigation, despite recent heavy rains damaging part of his harvest. He expects to earn over 10 million shillings from his expanded garden, and plans to plant even more this October.
Okello is one of fourteen smallholder farmers in Agago benefiting from the micro-scale irrigation program, growing crops like tomatoes, onions, and cabbage during ongoing dry spells. These systems have helped address food and nutrition challenges in the district, where officials recently recorded 351 cases of severe malnutrition. Lanyero, another farmer, used income from vegetable farming to buy a maize-milling machine, creating an additional income source and helping her pay school fees.
District officials note that the irrigation systems are helping farmers produce food even when rainfall is unreliable. The Ugandan government aims to increase irrigated land to 1.5 million hectares by 2040 through programs like the Micro-scale Irrigation Programme, which shares the cost of equipment with farmers.
