East African Business Week (Kampala)
Pius Sawa
15 July 2008
Water shortage is a major challenge that faces most farmers in Uganda. Increasing temperatures have resulted into wells drying up and rivers are not providing enough water.
"These days the sun is too hot and we cannot stay in the farms for long," says Moses Timbiti, a farmer in Wakiso district.
Mr Timbiti says, the best they can do is to go to the farm at around five o'clock in the morning and leave at eight in the morning because the sun is too hot. Initially, women would leave their husbands in the farm and go back home to prepare food.
The man would have his lunch and continue with farm work till late in the evening. But due to high temperatures, they can only go back in the evening when the sun has set.
This means, little work is being done in the farms and therefore not enough crops are produced, both for food and for cash. Eventually this might lead to malnutrition and poverty of the farmers. According to Moses Timbiti, plantation farmers, that are farmers who are engaged in only one kind of crop, are the most vulnerable.
For example, a sugar cane farm or a maize farm contains high temperature levels exposing the crops to risks of firebreak outs. He says due to high temperatures plantation farms retain much heat and incase of any fire break outs, nothing can be saved, as the fire tend to spread at a very terrible speed.
He says Banana farmers in most areas in Uganda are facing the same risks. Many farmers lack management Skills. He says most farmers grow bananas on a large scale, but with increasing rates of temperatures they experience fires of which they cannot handle. When temperature are high, bananas and sugarcanes contain many dry leaves that covers the whole ground and will always accelerate the fire incase of a break out.
Another challenge, farmer's face is the foreseeable change of rainfall patterns. Godfrey Kigoye, an organic farmer owning five hectares in Wakiso district, says farmers used to follow the rainy seasons to prepare land in time. But, "The whole rain pattern has changed. I had to cut down all my stunted maize early this year after the rains disappeared. I had to make it fodder for my animals," says Moses Timbiti.
At the end of December 2007, early rains seemed to be enough, tempting farmers to plant. But short after, the rain disappeared, leaving all the crops dry. These effects are due to climate change. Moses defines climate change as the increase in temperature due to greenhouse gas emission into the atmosphere.
Organic farming methods
Most organic farmers in Wakiso and Mukono district are practicing contour farming which involves digging trenches across the farms to retain water and maintain the moisture in the soil. With contour farming, soil from the first trench is poured on the upper side of the slope. this is called "fanya juu" in Swahili meaning do it upwards.
While the soil from the second trench is poured downwards, and this is called fanya chini. The contours are made in a way that water doesn't percolate first in the soil, and it does not run down the slope, but it is retained to allow the crops absorb it gradually. This type of ploughing is suitable for vegetables.
They are also using mulching as another way to preserve moisture in the soil. The mulching is in two forms; life mulching, which contains cover crops like beans, lab lab, jack beans among others, and dead mulching where dry grass, straws and leaves are used to cover the soil.
Water Harvesting
At Katende Harambe farm, several methods are being applied to harvest water. There is the underground water tank constructed with bricks and cement to collect water from roofs. However, this technology is a bit expensive to a small-scale farmer, as it requires the purchase of construction materials.
On average this type of tank can store more than 30,000 litre of water. The water collected in this tank is clean and can be used for cooking, and drinking. But at Katende Harambe, it is used to feed the chicken, pigs, cows and irrigating crops and also washing utensils.
The most cost effective water harvesting technology is the runoff water-harvesting tank that is constructed on local materials. A pit, that can measure 8m by 4m and 8 feet deep is dug and dressed with a polythene bag. A PVC pipe acts as an inlet covered with a mesh to protect silt from entering the pit.
The top is then covered with poles and soil poured leaving a small square opening for drawing water. The farmers then plant vegetables or other simple crops on top, to maximize the space.
This kind of tank can store up to 10,000 litre of water, which can serve a small-scale farmer till the next rain season. Wood ash and powdered Moringa seeds are sprinkled in the water to let the dirt settle at the base and also to prevent mosquitoes from breeding.However this method needs constant repair after every one and a half years. Now a new technology has been developed to avoid this cost. A permanent structure is constructed around the pit to avoid animals and people falling in.
Godfrey Kigoye, from Namugongo village in Wakiso district, says this technology is yet to be adopted by most farmers in Uganda. Finally, there is also a simple water harvesting method, where a polythene bag is placed in a frame of timber to collect water from the top of animal pens.
Sekedo Sorghum
This is an improved variety that matures in only 100 days. Sekedo sorghum is drought resistant and is adaptable to all areas of Uganda. It has been developed in Serere district under the National Agricultural Research Organisation NARO and the seeds are now available to most farmers.
With good management, a farmer can harvest up to five tons from one hectare. Sekedo sorghum is being promoted in the semi- arid region of Karamoja. This region faces particular food shortage, as farmers struggle with the changing patterns of rain.
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