Okino says the extreme temperatures experienced in the region, account for the low survival rates of young coffee plants and flower abortion in mature coffee trees leading to poor yields and losses.
Coffee farmers in the Acholi
Sub-region have appealed to the government for the supply of affordable irrigation
equipmentto tackle drought amidst climate
change effects on the environment.
Coffee growing has significantly increased
in the Acholi subregion over the past years, with more than 5,000 farmers reportedly
engaged in the venture.
However, some farmers say
prolonged droughts, experienced annually in the subregion between November and
late March, are affecting coffee farming and the quantity of coffee seeds harvested.
Alfred Ojok, a coffee farmer in
Pamin Yai Sub-county in Nwoya District says while the region experiences
rainfall, the season from November until April is much drier and greatly
impacts coffee growing.
Ojok notes that the majority of
the coffee trees in the sub-region flower around November when the rains are
already ceasing leaving most farmers who rely on rain-fed agriculture in dilemma.
He says that despite some
farmers' attempts to rely on tree shade, mulching, and intercropping with
bananas, these efforts are not sustainable. Ojok urged the government to
consider supplying affordable irrigation systems such as drip irrigation to
support smallholder coffee farmers in the region and combat the long dry spell.
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Night Alanyo, another coffee
farmer and member of the Pamin-Yai Coffee Growing group in the district equally
shares similar concerns. Alanyo says due to the high temperatures experienced
in the sub-region, the survival rate of young coffee is always low since most
farmers rely on rain-fed agriculture.
She says the extension of an affordable
irrigation system coupled with seedlings would solve the challenges of drought
affecting farmers in the sub-region.
Nicholas Okino, the Coffee extension
officer at Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) acknowledges that drought
remains the biggest challenge for coffee farmers not only in Acholi but
throughout Northern Uganda.
Okino says the extreme temperatures
experienced in the region, account for the low survival rates of young coffee plants
and flower abortion in mature coffee trees leading to poor yields and losses.
According to Okino, UCDA has however
been helping farmers by offering technical support and supplying banana suckers
and shade trees to provide cover for the coffee plants.
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He notes that while UCDA has catered
for coffee seedlings to farmers, issues of drought remain a big problem that hasn’t
been addressed and called for urgent government intervention if the coffee
sector in the region is to flourish.
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State minister for Northern
Uganda Rehabilitation Kenneth Omona during the World Coffee Day celebration
held in Gulu City in October, called on the government to consider a special
affirmative action for coffee growing in the region.
He also noted that there is a
need for the government to expand the extension services to farmers in the region
to boost coffee growing.
The government through UCDA intensified
interventions on commercial coffee growing in the region especially mid-Northern
Uganda in 2012 and has since provided over 30 million coffee seedlings. According
to UCDA statistics, currently, 127,184 households in Northern Uganda are
growing coffee and producing 962,278 60kg bags of coffee beans per year.
