The micro-scale irrigation is a government support to smallholder farmers in purchasing the irrigation equipment to enable them transition from subsistence farming to commercial agriculture.
Nwoya District Chief Administrative officer Nantume Jenepher while addresing stakeholders at Nwoya District Headquarter on on the state of service delivery on December 20, 2024-Photo By Simon Wokorach
96 smallholder farmers have received micro-scale irrigation equipment from Nwoya District Local government to
sustain production.
The micro-scale irrigation is government support to
smallholder farmers in purchasing irrigation equipment to enable them to transition from subsistence farming to commercial agriculture.
The initiative under the department of agricultural
infrastructural mechanization in the Ministry of Agriculture aims to create 1.5
million hectares of irrigated land by 2024.
With the cost depending on the nature of the farm, the
government funds between 25% and 75% of the cost of irrigated facilities while
individual farmers pay between 2 million and 8 million shillings.
The farmer will now be able to harvest water from a nearby
water point to his or her farmlands to sustain production during the dry spells
without interference targeting horticultural crops and coffee.
The Nwoya District Agricultural Engineer Tabu Justine
disclosed on Tuesday in an interview that the district has received a total of
1.34 billion shillings to implement the programs.
He noted that the district has already procured solar
irrigation facilities worth 800 million shillings targeting 200 farmers before
the financial year 2024/2025 ends with 96 of them supported.
The beneficiaries have so far contributed over 150 million
shillings as co-funding to the initiative while additional 30 irrigation
facilities have been procured by the district for distribution.
Ronny Opiyo, a resident however commended
the government for supporting small-scale farmers but noted that land opening remains challenging to small holder farmers in the area.
Nantume Jenepher, the District Chief Administrative Officer,
noted that, while Nwoya presents a huge opportunity for commercial agriculture,
most of the households are trapped in subsistence farming.
She argues that the over-reliance on rainfall-fed
agriculture will continue to affect production in the region amidst changing
weather patterns the equipment is lying idle in the district store.
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She however asked the beneficiaries to make good use of the
irrigated facilities to enhance their production to sustain the market.
Simon Wokorach
Freelancer